Chapter 4
I did not scream.
I did not move.
For one long second, I stared at the photograph on my phone.
Lily was asleep inches from me.
Her stuffed bunny beneath her chin.
The curtains behind us were slightly open.
Someone had been outside.
Recently.
I slid out of bed and dropped to the floor.
I called 911.
Then I crawled toward the window.
The backyard security light was on.
Nothing moved.
“Daddy?”
Lily stirred.
I hurried back.
“Everything’s okay.”
It wasn’t.
I picked her up, carried her into the bathroom, and locked the door.
“Is Vanessa here?”
“No.”
“Then why are we hiding?”
I didn’t answer.
The dispatcher stayed on the phone.
Police arrived six minutes later.
They searched the yard.
One officer found footprints in the wet flower bed beneath my bedroom window.
Another found a cigarette near the fence.
Vanessa didn’t smoke.
At least, I had never seen her.
The detective arrived just before 3 a.m.
He looked at the photograph.
“Did the number send anything else?”
“No.”
“Recognize the voice?”
“No.”
“Anyone connected to Vanessa who might threaten you?”
“Her sister is terrified of her.”
“Anyone else?”
I thought about our marriage.
Friends.
Neighbors.
Coworkers.
Vanessa kept people at a distance.
I had mistaken it for independence.
Now every blank space in her history frightened me.
The detective took screenshots.
Then he asked to speak with me outside Lily’s hearing.
My mother came over and sat with her.
In the kitchen, Detective Harris folded his arms.
“We checked the flash drive.”
“And?”
“The video is real.”
My chest tightened.
“But?”
“It does not show who recorded it.”
“It came from Vanessa’s office.”
“That matters.”
“Then arrest her for Claire’s death.”
“We can’t do that based on possession of a video.”
“She was following my wife minutes before she died.”
“Maybe.”
I stared at him.
“Maybe?”
“The video could have been sent to Vanessa later.”
“Why would she hide it?”
“That is one of many questions.”
I hated his calmness.
But I understood it.
He had evidence to protect.
I had a child to protect.
“Did you question her?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That she found the flash drive years ago among Claire’s belongings.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
Harris held my gaze.
“Grant, listen to me. If Vanessa is involved in anything beyond what happened to Lily, I need to prove it properly.”
I forced myself to breathe.
He continued.
“The good news is she’s not being released tonight.”
“Why?”
“Child endangerment allegations, the recordings, the closet, witness statements, and concerns about evidence tampering.”
“What about me hitting her?”
“You’ll be interviewed separately. Several witnesses saw the full sequence. That doesn't erase what you did.”
“I know.”
“You may still face consequences.”
“I understand.”
I meant it.
I could accept consequences for my own action.
What I could not accept was letting Vanessa near Lily again.
Harris leaned closer.
“The more urgent problem is that whoever took that photograph knew police had removed Vanessa.”
“So she has help.”
“Possibly.”
My mother entered.
“She does.”
We both turned.
She held her phone.
“Brooke just texted me.”
I took it.
BROOKE: I’m sorry. I should have told Grant years ago. Ask Vanessa about Daniel.
I called Brooke.
No answer.
Harris tried.
Nothing.
“Who’s Daniel?” he asked.
I shook my head.
My mother did too.
The detective searched his phone.
Then stopped.
“Vanessa has a brother.”
My stomach twisted.
“She told me she was an only child except for Brooke.”
“She has a half-brother named Daniel Mercer.”
Harris showed me a record.
Thirty-nine.
Multiple addresses.
Prior arrests for stalking, criminal trespass, and assault.
My mother sat down.
“Where is he?”
Harris looked grim.
“That’s what I want to know.”
At sunrise, police installed a temporary patrol outside the house.
I packed a bag for Lily.
We were not staying there.
My mother wanted us at her home.
Harris advised against any predictable location.
So my brother Mark offered his lake property nearly an hour away.
Only family knew about it.
I agreed.
Before we left, Lily stood in the hallway staring at a framed wedding photograph of Vanessa and me.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Are you still married to her?”
“For now.”
“Do married people have to live together?”
“No.”
She touched the frame.
“Good.”
I took it off the wall.
Then dropped it into a moving box.
At the lake house, Lily finally ate breakfast.
Two pancakes.
A banana.
Half my toast.
I almost cried watching her.
“How hungry were you at home?”
She shrugged.
That answer scared me.
“Did Vanessa stop you from eating a lot?”
“Only when I was bad.”
“What made you bad?”
Lily counted on her fingers.
“Crying.”
My throat tightened.
“Dropping stuff.”
Another finger.
“Talking when her shows were on.”
Another.
“Asking about Mommy.”
She stopped.
My mother sat beside her.
“What happened when you asked about Mommy?”
Lily stared at her plate.
“She got mad.”
“Why?”
“She said Mommy was selfish.”
I gripped my coffee mug.
“What else did she say?”
“That Mommy made Daddy sad.”
I closed my eyes.
Vanessa had been rewriting Claire for my daughter.
One little punishment at a time.
Lily suddenly looked up.
“Grandma?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Did Mommy really not want me?”
My mother burst into tears.
I dropped to my knees beside Lily.
“Who told you that?”
She shrank.
“Vanessa.”
“When?”
“A lot.”
I felt something inside me crack.
“She was lying.”
“Are you sure?”
“I have never been more sure of anything.”
I grabbed my phone.
I had hundreds of old photos.
Videos.
Claire holding newborn Lily.
Claire singing horribly off-key while changing diapers.
Claire laughing as Lily crawled toward the dog.
I played one.
Claire leaned toward the camera.
“Lily Rose, your mommy loves you more than all the stars.”
My daughter stared.
Then she touched the screen.
“Again.”
I played it again.
And again.
And again.
For nearly an hour.
By the end, Lily was crying.
So was I.
But for the first time, they were not terrified tears.
They were grief.
Real grief.
Something we were allowed to feel.
At noon, Harris called.
“We found Brooke.”
My heart jumped.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s alive.”
The way he said it made me sit down.
“What happened?”
“She went to a motel outside Fort Worth last night.”
“Why?”
“She says Daniel contacted her.”
“And?”
“He demanded money.”
“For what?”
“Silence.”
My stomach turned.
“About Claire?”
“She won't tell me over the phone. She wants to speak with you.”
“Why me?”
“She says she has something Claire gave her.”
I drove back with Mark while my mother stayed with Lily.
The meeting happened at a police station.
Brooke looked nothing like Vanessa that morning.
No makeup.
Hair tangled.
Eyes swollen from crying.
She stood when I entered.
“Grant…”
“Sit.”
She did.
Detective Harris remained beside the door.
I sat across from her.
“What did Claire give you?”
Brooke reached into a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was an old silver necklace.
Claire’s.
I recognized it immediately.
She wore it almost every day.
I had been told it was lost in the crash.
“How do you have that?”
Brooke began shaking.
“Claire gave it to me the week before she died.”
“Why?”
“She knew I was Vanessa’s sister.”
My chest tightened.
“She knew?”
Brooke nodded.
“She asked me to meet her.”
“And you did?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Brooke covered her face for a moment.
Then lowered her hands.
“She said Vanessa was obsessed with you.”
I felt sick.
“She said Vanessa had been reading private messages at work, printing your photographs, memorizing your schedule.”
Harris wrote something down.
“She said Vanessa kept saying Claire didn’t deserve her life.”
I stared at Brooke.
“What does the necklace have to do with this?”
“There’s something inside.”
I grabbed it.
The pendant looked normal.
Brooke pointed to the edge.
“Twist it.”
I did.
A tiny seam opened.
Inside was a microSD card.
Harris immediately took the necklace.
Brooke continued.
“Claire told me if anything happened to her, I should give that to the police.”
I shot to my feet.
“You had it for four years?”
Brooke sobbed.
“I was scared!”
“You let me marry her!”
“She threatened me!”
“You let her move into my house with my daughter!”
“I know!”
I slammed both hands on the table.
Harris stepped forward.
“Grant.”
I backed away.
Brooke whispered, “Daniel helped her.”
Every hair on my arms lifted.
“With what?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Yes, you do.”
Brooke cried harder.
“I know he followed Claire.”
The room went silent.
“Why?”
“Vanessa paid him.”
“For pictures?”
“At first.”
My jaw tightened.
“And later?”
Brooke stared at me.
“I heard them arguing after the funeral.”
I could barely speak.
“What did they say?”
“Daniel said he hadn’t agreed to scare Claire that badly.”
My heart stopped.
Brooke looked at Harris.
“And Vanessa told him it didn't matter anymore because she got what she wanted.”
Nobody spoke.
Harris took the memory card to a technician.
Twenty minutes later, he returned.
His face had changed.
“What’s on it?” I asked.
“Audio recordings.”
“Of Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Play them.”
He hesitated.
“Grant…”
“Play them.”
He placed the device on the table.
Static.
Then Claire’s voice.
“You need to leave me alone.”
Vanessa answered.
“You stole a life you don’t appreciate.”
“I’m calling the police.”
“Go ahead.”
“You’re sick.”
Then Vanessa laughed.
And said a sentence that made my blood freeze.
“You should be more careful driving home in the rain.”
The recording ended.
I stared at Harris.
“That was before the crash?”
He nodded.
“Six days.”
Brooke began sobbing.
I felt no victory.
No rage.
Just cold.
Then Harris’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression hardened.
“Where?”
A pause.
“When?”
Another pause.
Then he looked directly at me.
“What happened?” I asked.
Harris hung up.
“Daniel Mercer was spotted forty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
He hesitated.
My pulse exploded.
“Where?”
“Near the lake road.”
The world disappeared.
I called my mother.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then Mark called.
She didn’t answer him either.
I ran for the door.
Harris grabbed his radio.
“Units are already moving.”
I called a third time.
This time someone answered.
Nobody spoke.
“Mom?”
Silence.
“Lily?”
A man chuckled softly.
May you like
Then said, “You married the wrong sister, Grant.”
The call ended.
