Chapter 2
After the police cars disappeared, I locked every door in the house.
Lily was still at school.
For the first time in my life, I was grateful she had not been home to see what her father and grandmother had done.
I helped Mom onto the couch and cleaned the blood near her hairline.
“You need a doctor.”
“I need to show you this first.”
She reached inside her coat and removed a folded sheet of paper.
It was the only page she had kept separate from the envelope.
The heading read: CONFIDENTIAL ASSET TRANSFER.
My eyes moved quickly over the paragraphs.
Ryan planned to become the sole manager of Lily’s trust.
The trust had been created by my late father.
It contained nearly two million dollars, but Ryan could not touch it unless I died or was legally declared incapable of caring for Lily.
“He wasn’t only trying to take my daughter,” I said.
“No,” Mom replied. “He was trying to take everything your father left her.”
A knock shook the front door.
I jumped.
“Police,” a voice called.
Officer Grant had returned alone.
He told us Ryan and Diane would probably be released on bail before morning.
Then he placed a clear evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a silver key.
“We found this in your husband’s wallet. It’s labeled Unit 214. Does that mean anything to you?”
I shook my head.
Officer Grant could not let me keep the key, but he gave me the name of the storage company written on its tag.
After he left, I called the company.
The clerk confirmed Ryan had rented Unit 214 eight months earlier.
Eight months.
That was when Ryan had begun telling me our marriage problems were all in my imagination.
It was also when Diane had suddenly become interested in Lily’s school schedule.
Mom stared at the phone.
“We need to know what’s in that unit.”
“We can’t enter without permission.”
“You’re his wife.”
“That doesn’t make it legal.”
Before Mom could answer, my phone rang.
Lily’s school.
“Mrs. Carter,” the principal said, “a woman claiming to be Lily’s aunt is here to pick her up.”
My heart stopped.
“Lily doesn’t have an aunt authorized to collect her.”
“I thought so. We have Lily in the office, and security is speaking to the woman now.”
“What does she look like?”
The principal described a tall blonde woman in a red coat.
I had never seen her before.
Then the principal lowered her voice.
“She has a notarized letter with your signature.”
Another forgery.
“Call the police. Do not let her leave.”
Mom and I raced to the school.
By the time we arrived, the blonde woman was gone.
She had escaped through a side exit after security asked for identification.
But she had left the forged letter behind.
The name on it was Claire Carter.
Ryan’s younger sister.
A woman he had told me was dead.
That evening, Ryan called from jail.
I almost refused the call.
Then I answered.
“You sent Claire to Lily’s school,” I said.
Ryan breathed heavily into the phone.
“My sister wasn’t trying to hurt Lily.”
“You told me she died twelve years ago.”
“I told you what Mom wanted you to believe.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire knows what happened to my father.”
The line crackled.
Then Ryan spoke so softly I almost missed it.
“Emma, my mother is the one who planned the custody case. If she gets out before I do, take Lily and run.”
The call ended.
Behind me, Mom made a frightened sound.
I turned.
Someone had pushed an envelope through the mail slot.
May you like
Inside was a photograph of Lily sleeping in her bedroom.
The picture had been taken that morning.
