Chapter 5
For almost ten seconds, neither Dad nor I spoke.
The only sound was Lily breathing in the back seat.
Then I asked the question.
“Where is Rebecca?”
Dad looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
“That didn’t sound like you don’t know.”
“I know what Daniel wants you to think.”
“What happened to her?”
Dad gripped the steering wheel.
“Nothing that I caused.”
My stomach twisted.
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
“Then give me one.”
Dad looked toward Lily.
“We need to get her somewhere safe.”
“You keep doing that.”
“What?”
“Using Lily to delay telling me the truth.”
His face tightened.
“You’re right.”
I waited.
He took a slow breath.
“Rebecca called me two weeks after your wedding.”
“You said she was scared Daniel would find her.”
“She was.”
“What did she want?”
“Help.”
“With what?”
“She believed Daniel was following her.”
A chill ran through me.
“She saw the same car outside her apartment three nights in a row. Someone had tried her back door. Her new employer received anonymous emails accusing her of stealing.”
“Daniel?”
“She believed so.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I helped her leave.”
I stared at him.
“Leave where?”
“I promised not to tell anyone.”
“Dad.”
“Emily, she was terrified.”
“That was six years ago.”
“And promises don’t expire because they become inconvenient.”
I almost shouted.
“Daniel just accused you of making a woman disappear!”
Dad turned toward me.
“And if police ask me, I will tell them everything.”
“Tell me.”
He hesitated.
“She moved to Oregon.”
I blinked.
“That’s it?”
“New apartment. New job. Changed her number. I connected her with an old friend who worked with domestic violence survivors.”
“So she’s alive?”
“The last time I spoke to her, yes.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
I sat back.
The tension in my chest loosened slightly.
“Why didn’t you tell Daniel?”
“Because he had no right to know.”
“Did he think you hurt her?”
“No. He knew I helped her.”
“Then why say she disappeared?”
“To scare you.”
I looked out the window.
It worked.
At the police station, detectives took everything seriously.
Especially the basement.
Especially the financial documents.
Especially the tracking device.
Officer Ramirez, the woman who had spoken to me at the house, introduced us to Detective Marcus Hale.
He looked at the photographs Dad had taken.
Then at me.
“Mrs. Carter, I need to ask you something difficult.”
“Okay.”
“Did your husband have access to your Social Security number?”
“Yes.”
“Signature?”
“Yes.”
“Online banking?”
“Yes.”
“Email passwords?”
“He used to.”
“When did you last change them?”
I couldn’t remember.
Detective Hale looked at Dad.
“You should change yours too.”
Dad nodded.
“We’re already working on it.”
Then I told him about Helen.
The detective’s eyebrows rose.
“She has original documents?”
“She says she does.”
“Do not meet her alone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Dad glanced at me.
I ignored him.
Detective Hale asked me to send screenshots of the messages.
Then he called Helen.
She didn’t answer.
He left a voicemail.
Five minutes later, she texted me.
NOT POLICE.
I showed him.
He sighed.
“Typical.”
“What does that mean?”
“She wants to help without feeling like she’s helping law enforcement.”
“Can you force her?”
“Not based on a text message.”
“What do I do?”
“Let me handle contact.”
Then a uniformed officer came into the room.
“Detective?”
Hale stepped outside.
When he returned, his expression had changed.
“Daniel posted bond.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Dad stood.
“How?”
“Bond was set quickly because the initial charges are misdemeanors pending further investigation.”
“He assaulted her and shoved a child.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Dad.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
Detective Hale continued.
“There will be no-contact conditions.”
“That piece of paper won’t stop him.”
Dad’s anger filled the room.
The detective didn’t argue.
“That’s why we’re discussing safety planning.”
I felt suddenly dizzy.
Daniel was free.
He knew we had opened the basement.
He knew Dad had Lily and me.
And he had spent years tracking me.
“Can he go back to the house?”
“Possibly, depending on the bond conditions and ownership. I strongly recommend you do not.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“We can arrange an escort later if you need property.”
I nodded.
Then Dad’s phone rang.
Mom’s hospital.
He answered.
His face changed immediately.
“What happened?”
I stood.
“What?”
Dad listened.
Then looked at me.
“We’re coming.”
He hung up.
“Mom?”
“She had another cardiac episode.”
Everything else disappeared.
We drove to the hospital.
Lily woke halfway there.
“Where are we going?”
“To see Grandma.”
“Is she okay?”
I couldn’t answer.
Dad did.
“The doctors are helping her.”
At the hospital, we learned Mom was stable.
But weak.
She had been waiting for another procedure.
A procedure delayed because of an insurance dispute.
The same dispute connected to the missing money.
Guilt crushed me.
If I had asked more questions.
If I had looked at the accounts.
If I hadn’t trusted Daniel.
Dad saw my face.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t make yourself responsible for what he did.”
I swallowed.
“I should’ve known.”
“He worked hard to make sure you didn’t.”
We sat beside Mom.
She looked tiny in the hospital bed.
Lily climbed carefully into a chair and held her hand.
“Grandma?”
Mom opened her eyes.
“Hey, bug.”
Lily started crying.
Mom smiled weakly.
“Why the tears?”
Lily looked at me.
I shook my head slightly.
Not now.
But Mom saw the mark on Lily’s elbow.
Then my cheek.
Her expression changed.
“What happened?”
Dad said, “Margaret—”
“What happened?”
I sat beside her.
“Daniel was arrested.”
Mom stared at me.
Then, instead of surprise, I saw something else.
Relief.
I noticed.
“Mom?”
She closed her eyes.
“Oh, Emily.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew?”
Her eyes opened.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“What did you know?”
She looked at Dad.
Then at me.
“I saw him grab you once.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Christmas.”
Two years earlier.
Christmas at my parents’ house.
Daniel and I had gone into the garage to argue.
He had grabbed my arm.
Hard.
Mom had opened the door.
Daniel let go immediately.
I told her we were joking.
“I believed you because I wanted to,” she whispered.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
I took her hand.
“No.”
“Yes. I should’ve pushed harder.”
“We all should’ve,” Dad said.
Mom looked at him.
Then me.
“He made you stop calling.”
I nodded.
“He said you hated him.”
“We did.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
Mom gave the smallest smile.
“But not at first.”
“I know.”
She squeezed my hand.
Then she said something that changed the room.
“Did you find the account?”
Dad and I both stared at her.
“What account?” I asked.
Mom’s face went pale.
Dad leaned closer.
“Margaret.”
She looked confused.
“The emergency account.”
“We found records of it.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“The other one.”
My pulse jumped.
“What other one?”
Mom glanced toward Lily.
Dad asked Lily to go with him for hot chocolate.
When they left, I leaned closer.
“Mom.”
She whispered, “I opened a separate account for you three years ago.”
“Why?”
“In case you ever needed to leave.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“You knew that much?”
“I suspected.”
“How much?”
“About sixty thousand.”
I covered my mouth.
“Where is it?”
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“I checked it two months ago.”
Her voice trembled.
“It was empty.”
My hands went cold.
“Daniel?”
“I don’t know how.”
“Did he know about it?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Your father.”
I stared toward the door.
Mom noticed.
“No. Thomas didn’t take it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because someone logged in using my credentials.”
“So?”
“Your father never had them.”
“Who did?”
Mom’s eyes filled with shame.
“You.”
I stared at her.
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Then Daniel used my information.”
“That’s what I thought.”
She reached shakily toward the bedside drawer.
“There’s something else.”
She pulled out a folded note.
“I received this before I came to the hospital.”
It had no signature.
Only one sentence.
STOP HIDING MONEY FROM YOUR SON-IN-LAW.
My skin crawled.
“When did you get this?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell Dad?”
“Because I thought it was some stupid scam.”
“Mom.”
“I know.”
A knock sounded.
Dad came back with Lily.
And behind them stood a nurse.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
“Yes?”
“You have a visitor.”
Dad frowned.
“Who?”
The nurse looked at me.
“She says she’s family.”
A woman stepped around her.
Helen Carter.
Daniel’s mother.
She looked like she hadn’t slept.
Her expensive coat was wrinkled.
Her hair was messy.
She held a large brown envelope against her chest.
Dad moved in front of us.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Helen looked at him.
“I know.”
Then she looked at me.
“I brought the originals.”
I stood.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel is out.”
“We know.”
Helen’s face crumpled.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
She handed me the envelope.
“He didn’t post his own bond.”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone paid it.”
“Who?”
Helen looked terrified.
“I don’t know.”
Dad took the envelope but didn’t open it.
Helen continued.
“Daniel called me twenty minutes ago.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked where Lily was.”
My body stiffened.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Lily’s little voice came from beside Dad.
“I do.”
Every adult in the room turned.
May you like
She pointed toward the hospital window.
“Daddy’s car is outside.”
