Chapter 5
Adrian called from jail the next morning.
I did not answer.
He called again.
Then Eleanor.
Then Harold.
Then numbers I did not know.
My attorney, Rebecca Cho, arrived with coffee and fury.
“I froze your accounts,” she said. “Changed locks. Filed for a protective order. Police have the condo.”
I stared at her.
“I married a monster.”
“No,” Rebecca said. “You married a man who hid among monsters.”
That distinction mattered.
Barely.
Detective Stone came back with updates.
Lila was awake.
Sophie was dehydrated but stable.
The basement had contained cameras, medicine, forged papers, and old financial ledgers.
Maya had told police everything she knew.
Then Stone said, “There is another issue.”
I braced.
“Your condo was not the first place.”
Rebecca went still.
“What?”
Stone opened a file.
“Lila recognized a woman’s name on one of the medication logs. Nora Bell.”
Maya gasped.
I looked at her.
“Who is Nora?”
Maya’s voice shook.
“My cousin. She disappeared before Lila.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Stone continued.
“We found three names. Nora Bell. Lila Reyes. And Danielle Price.”
Rebecca whispered, “Three women?”
“At least.”
My stomach turned.
“What did they want from them?”
Stone looked at me carefully.
“Children. Property. Silence.”
That afternoon, Rebecca showed me Adrian’s latest voicemail.
His voice was low.
“Claire, listen. You don’t understand. My mother made us do it. Harold is the real danger. If you help me, I can protect you.”
I deleted it.
Then I looked at Rebecca.
“Get me divorce papers.”
She nodded.
“And everything else?”
May you like
I looked toward Lila’s room.
“Everything else, we burn down in court.”
