Chapter 4
I stood so fast the chair slammed backward.
Samuel grabbed my arm.
“Daniel, don't.”
Carol looked directly through the window.
She knew I had seen her.
Then she turned and walked toward a black SUV.
I ran for the door.
Samuel followed.
“Call the police!”
Carol opened the driver’s door.
“Carol!”
She stopped.
Not because she was afraid.
Because she wanted me to come closer.
She lifted Sophie’s backpack.
“Looking for this?”
“Where did you get that?”
She smiled.
“Rachel gave it to me.”
My blood ran cold.
“That bag disappeared months ago.”
“Maybe you should pay more attention to your house.”
I stopped several yards away.
Samuel was already on the phone behind me.
“Put the bag down.”
Carol hugged it to her chest.
“You ruined my daughter’s life.”
“Your daughter hurt Sophie.”
“She disciplined an impossible child.”
I could barely believe what I was hearing.
“She dragged her across the floor by her hair.”
Carol shrugged.
“And what did you do to Rachel?”
I froze.
She smiled wider.
“You dragged her too.”
“I stopped her from attacking Sophie.”
“You attacked your wife.”
Samuel shouted from behind me.
“Police are coming.”
Carol’s smile vanished.
She tossed the backpack onto the pavement.
Then she climbed into the SUV.
Before driving away, she lowered the window.
“You should ask Sophie why Rachel was angry yesterday.”
Then she sped off.
I wanted to chase her.
Instead, I picked up the backpack.
Samuel stopped me.
“Don’t open it.”
He was right.
Everything was evidence now.
Police arrived minutes later.
Detective Cole came too.
She photographed the backpack, then opened it with gloves.
Inside were crayons.
A little sweater.
A juice box.
And a white envelope.
Across the front, in Rachel’s handwriting, were four words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED.
Cole opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Sophie was asleep in the closet.
The timestamp was from six weeks earlier.
My vision blurred.
Someone had photographed my daughter while she slept on the floor.
There was another photograph.
Sophie sitting at the kitchen table with tears on her face.
Another.
Sophie standing against a wall.
Another.
I turned away.
“I can’t.”
Cole immediately lowered the photographs.
“You don’t need to look.”
“Why would Rachel keep these?”
Samuel answered before Cole did.
“Control.”
The detective glanced at him.
He continued.
“Some abusers document punishment because they feel justified. Sometimes they use images to intimidate the victim later.”
Cole nodded.
“That’s possible.”
My stomach twisted.
There was one final item inside the envelope.
A folded note.
Not written by Rachel.
The handwriting was uneven.
Childlike.
Cole unfolded it.
I recognized Sophie’s letters.
I AM SORRY DADDY.
I WILL BE GOOD.
DON’T SEND ME AWAY.
My legs gave out.
I sat on the curb.
“She thought I was going to send her away.”
Cole crouched nearby.
“Daniel.”
“I married Rachel.”
“This is not the time—”
“I brought her into Sophie’s life.”
“You also stopped what you saw and called police.”
“After how long?”
Cole didn’t answer.
Because none of us knew.
At Laura’s house that evening, Sophie was coloring at the dining table.
I didn’t show her the note.
I didn’t mention the photographs.
I sat beside her.
“Can I ask you something?”
She nodded.
“What happened yesterday before I came home?”
Her crayon stopped.
I regretted asking immediately.
“Never mind. You don’t have to—”
“I found Mommy’s necklace.”
I stared.
“Emily’s necklace?”
She nodded.
“The little heart.”
Emily had worn a gold heart necklace almost every day.
It was one of the pieces missing from the cedar box.
“Where?”
“In Rachel’s purse.”
My chest tightened.
“What happened after you found it?”
“Rachel said it was hers now.”
Sophie’s voice got smaller.
“I said Mommy gave it to me.”
“She did.”
“She got mad.”
Sophie touched her hair.
That was why.
The attack I walked into had not started over a tantrum.
Sophie had found stolen property.
“Did Rachel say anything else?”
“She said Mommy was dead and dead people don’t own things.”
I closed my eyes.
Laura quietly left the room.
She was crying.
Sophie looked worried.
“Daddy?”
“I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry I touched Rachel’s purse.”
“No.”
I took her hand.
“You never apologize for finding something that belongs to you.”
She stared at me.
Then she asked a question I wasn’t expecting.
“Can we get Mommy’s necklace back?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t know how.
But I meant it.
The next morning, Detective Cole called.
“We searched Rachel’s car.”
My pulse jumped.
“Did you find the necklace?”
“No.”
My heart sank.
“But we found something else.”
“What?”
“A prepaid phone.”
“And?”
“There are messages between Rachel and another person.”
“Carol?”
“No.”
Cole paused.
“The contact is saved as M.”
I frowned.
“Who is M?”
“We’re trying to determine that.”
Then her voice changed.
“Daniel, the messages mention Sophie.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“What do they say?”
Cole read only one.
May you like
Enough to make my blood freeze.
“She saw the papers. Make sure the kid keeps quiet until Daniel signs.”
