Chapter 4
Daniel was out the door before anyone could stop him.
One of the officers followed.
“Mr. Whitmore!”
Andrew ran after them.
I stayed with Sophie because she was clinging to my waist so tightly I could barely move.
Vanessa stood between two officers.
Her confidence had returned.
That frightened me.
Daniel turned at the front door.
“Emily.”
I looked at him.
“Take Sophie upstairs. Lock the bedroom door.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You’re leaving your daughter with the thief?”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I’m leaving her with the woman who protected her when I didn’t.”
My throat tightened.
He did not wait for a response.
He left.
Andrew went with him.
The police separated Vanessa from us.
An officer escorted her toward the formal living room.
Another remained downstairs.
I took Sophie upstairs.
She was silent until we reached her bedroom.
Then she broke.
Not a few tears.
Not quiet crying.
She collapsed against me.
“I’m sorry.”
I held her.
“For what?”
“For not telling Dad sooner.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“Mommy said he would leave if I told.”
My heart sank.
“What else did she tell you?”
Sophie looked at the closed door.
Then whispered, “She said Daddy loved his company more than me.”
I sat on the edge of her bed.
“That isn’t your fault.”
“She said if he knew everything, he would send me away.”
“Sophie, listen to me.”
She looked at me.
“Your dad made a terrible mistake tonight.”
My cheek still hurt.
I would not lie for Daniel.
“He hurt me because he believed something that wasn’t true.”
Sophie cried harder.
“But that does not mean he is going to send you away.”
“How do you know?”
“Because when you told the truth, he listened.”
She stared down at her hands.
I wanted to believe my own words.
But the truth was that I did not know Daniel as well as I had thought.
I had known the man who paid me.
The man who said good morning.
The man who left generous Christmas bonuses.
The man who traveled.
I had not known the husband who could strike someone in anger.
I had not known the father whose daughter had become terrified while he was gone.
And I had certainly not known the family whose money might now be tied to a criminal scheme.
A knock sounded at the door.
Sophie jumped.
“Emily?”
It was the officer.
I opened it slightly.
“Ma’am, we need to speak with you about the assault and the stolen property accusation.”
“Now?”
“If you’re able.”
Sophie grabbed my hand.
“She stays.”
The officer nodded.
“That’s fine.”
He took my statement in the upstairs sitting area.
I told him everything.
The accusations.
The velvet box.
The slap.
The basement.
That was where I hesitated.
“What happened in the basement?” he asked.
Sophie looked at me.
I swallowed.
“Mrs. Whitmore locked me down there.”
“How often?”
“Several times.”
“Why?”
“She said I was disrespectful.”
“What did that mean?”
“Sometimes I questioned missing cash. Sometimes I refused to clean rooms that had already been cleaned. Sometimes I asked why she deducted money from my paycheck.”
The officer frowned.
“She controlled your paycheck?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Mr. Whitmore paid through a household account. Mrs. Whitmore managed it.”
“Did you ever report this?”
“No.”
“Why?”
I looked at Sophie.
“Because I needed the job.”
That was only part of it.
The rest was humiliation.
Vanessa had spent years convincing me nobody would believe a housekeeper over a Whitmore.
And until tonight, she had been right.
A voice shouted downstairs.
Then something crashed.
The officer stood.
“Stay here.”
He hurried out.
Sophie grabbed me again.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
Another crash.
Then Vanessa screamed.
“YOU CAN’T KEEP ME HERE!”
The officer outside our room ordered us to stay back.
A minute later, everything went quiet.
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered immediately.
“Did you find him?”
“No.”
His voice sounded breathless.
“We’re driving to Cedar Ridge.”
“Police are with you?”
“Two units are ahead of us.”
“What about Mexico?”
“The message may be fake.”
“May be?”
“Andrew says Vanessa used fake transfer notices before.”
“Why?”
“To scare people into acting fast.”
That sounded exactly like her.
Daniel went quiet.
“Is Sophie okay?”
“She’s shaken.”
“Can I talk to her?”
I handed over the phone.
Sophie whispered, “Dad?”
Daniel’s voice changed immediately.
I could hear him even without the speaker on.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“At me?”
“Never.”
“You hit Emily.”
Silence.
Sophie had not softened it.
Daniel answered after several seconds.
“I know.”
“That was bad.”
“Yes.”
“You have to say sorry.”
“I will.”
“And mean it.”
“I do.”
Sophie stared at me.
“Okay.”
Then Daniel said something that made her start crying again.
“I should have protected both of you.”
Sophie whispered, “Find Grandpa.”
“I’m trying.”
The call ended.
She handed me the phone.
Before I could say anything, a new call came in.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then something made me answer.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
“Hello?”
A breath.
Then a man’s voice.
Weak.
“Emily?”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
Sophie looked up sharply.
The man coughed.
“Emily… don’t tell Vanessa.”
My hand went cold.
“Mr. Whitmore, where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“They took my phone.”
“How are you calling?”
“Someone left one.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
His breathing sounded ragged.
“Listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“My son doesn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Vanessa isn’t after the company.”
I looked toward the hallway.
“What is she after?”
Robert whispered, “Sophie.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“What?”
“Don’t let her take Sophie.”
I looked at the little girl.
She saw my face change.
“Emily?”
Robert kept speaking.
“There’s a box.”
“What box?”
“In my house.”
“Where?”
“Behind Evelyn’s portrait.”
I knew Evelyn was Robert’s late wife.
There was a large portrait of her in his study.
“What’s inside?”
“The reason Vanessa married Daniel.”
My mouth went dry.
“What reason?”
Robert coughed again.
Then I heard a door open on his end.
A woman’s voice.
“Who gave you that phone?”
Robert whispered one final thing.
“Tell Daniel Sophie’s mother already knew.”
The call disconnected.
I stared at the screen.
Sophie tugged my sleeve.
“Was that Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
I did not answer.
Because I did not understand it myself.
Sophie’s mother already knew.
Vanessa was Sophie’s mother.
Or at least that was what everyone had always said.
I called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
I texted him.
GRANDPA CALLED ME. HE’S ALIVE. CALL NOW.
Then I heard shouting downstairs again.
This time it was different.
“Officer down!”
My stomach dropped.
Sophie grabbed my arm.
The upstairs officer drew his weapon.
“Get in the bedroom. Lock it.”
“What happened?”
“Now.”
We rushed inside.
I locked the door.
Sophie began trembling.
“Emily—”
“Closet.”
We hid inside her walk-in closet.
Seconds later, heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs.
Not police footsteps.
Someone was running.
A door slammed open down the hall.
Then another.
Sophie pressed both hands over her mouth.
The footsteps got closer.
Stopped outside her room.
The handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then a man’s voice said, “Sophie?”
She looked at me.
I didn’t recognize the voice.
He knocked softly.
“It’s okay. Your mom sent me.”
Sophie’s eyes widened.
I pulled her behind the clothes.
The man tried the handle harder.
“Sophie, open the door.”
Silence.
Then he kicked it.
The door shook.
Again.
Wood cracked.
Sophie buried her face against me.
I grabbed the heaviest thing I could find.
A metal shoe rack.
The third kick broke the lock.
The bedroom door crashed open.
Footsteps entered.
Slow now.
The closet handle turned.
I raised the rack.
The door opened.
A tall man in a black jacket stepped inside.
I swung.
The rack hit his shoulder.
He cursed.
I shoved Sophie toward the bathroom door on the opposite side of the closet.
“Run!”
She ran.
The man grabbed my hair.
I screamed.
He dragged me backward.
“You stupid—”
A gunshot exploded from the hallway.
The man froze.
Then another voice shouted.
“Police! Let her go!”
He released me.
I fell.
Sophie screamed from the bathroom.
The man raised his hands.
The officer forced him to the floor.
I crawled toward Sophie.
She threw herself into my arms.
Within minutes, more police were upstairs.
One officer had been struck downstairs but remained conscious.
Vanessa was gone.
She had somehow escaped during the confusion.
The man they arrested refused to identify himself.
But Sophie did.
She stared at him from behind me.
“I know him.”
The officer looked at her.
“Who is he?”
Sophie pointed.
“He drives Mommy sometimes.”
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
“Vanessa escaped.”
“I know.”
His voice sounded panicked.
“The police just told me.”
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“Your father called.”
Silence.
“What did you say?”
“He called my phone.”
“Where is he?”
“He didn’t know.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Daniel breathed out shakily.
“Thank God.”
“He told me something.”
“What?”
I looked at Sophie.
“He said Vanessa is not after your company.”
Daniel went quiet.
“What is she after?”
“Sophie.”
There was a long silence.
Then he whispered, “Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“He said there’s a box behind your mother’s portrait at Robert’s house.”
“What box?”
“He said it contains the reason Vanessa married you.”
Daniel’s breathing changed.
Then headlights swept across Sophie’s bedroom window.
A car had pulled into the driveway.
Police shouted downstairs.
I walked carefully toward the curtains.
“What is it?” Daniel asked.
I looked outside.
A black SUV was parked at the curb.
A woman stood beside it.
Long coat.
Blonde hair.
For one impossible second, I thought it was Vanessa.
Then she stepped beneath the streetlight.
She was older.
Thinner.
And crying.
Sophie came beside me.
She looked through the window.
The color vanished from her face.
Her lips began trembling.
I whispered, “Do you know her?”
Sophie nodded.
“Who is she?”
The little girl stared at the woman.
May you like
Then whispered words that made no sense.
“That’s the lady Mommy told me was dead.”
