Chapter 6
I wanted to believe Michael Trent was only Rachel’s lawyer.
Then Detective Cole showed me the hotel records.
Rachel and Michael had stayed at the same hotel three times.
Different rooms were booked.
But security footage showed Rachel entering Michael’s room after midnight.
The first visit happened eight months earlier.
The second happened on my birthday.
The third happened the weekend Rachel told me she was visiting her mother.
I stared at the screen.
“Turn it off.”
Cole closed the laptop.
I wasn’t heartbroken the way I expected.
I was furious.
Not because my wife had cheated.
Because while I had been working overtime to support our family, she had been planning something with another man.
Something involving Sophie.
“Does he know about the abuse?”
“We don’t know.”
“He was in my house.”
“Yes.”
“Sophie heard them discussing the property.”
“Yes.”
“And he told Rachel to keep Sophie quiet?”
“We believe he sent that message.”
I stood.
“Then arrest him.”
Cole remained seated.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because the message is suspicious. It’s not a confession to abuse.”
“He said keep a five-year-old quiet.”
“That could mean many things legally.”
I hated that she was right.
“What about the fraud?”
“That’s being referred to financial crimes.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So everybody gets their own department while Sophie gets nightmares.”
Cole’s expression softened.
“I understand your frustration.”
“No, you don’t.”
She let that pass.
Then she slid a paper across the table.
“Rachel filed for a protective order against you this morning.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She alleges you assaulted her and have a history of violent behavior.”
My blood ran cold.
“She’s lying.”
“You did admit striking her.”
“After she attacked Sophie.”
“And dragging her.”
“After she lunged at Sophie again.”
“I know.”
“Then why am I the one getting papers?”
“Because courts allow people to file.”
I looked at the document.
Rachel claimed I had hit her “multiple times during the marriage.”
False.
She claimed I controlled the money.
False.
She claimed I had threatened her life.
False.
Then I saw the last paragraph.
My heart stopped.
She was asking the court to prohibit me from possessing firearms.
I didn’t care.
Then I saw what else she requested.
Temporary removal of Sophie from my care pending investigation.
I nearly tore the paper in half.
“She wants Sophie?”
“Technically she’s arguing Sophie is unsafe around you.”
“She isn’t Sophie’s mother.”
“She is her stepmother.”
“She abused her!”
“And there’s an active criminal investigation supporting that.”
“Then how can this happen?”
“Because she filed it.”
I stared at Cole.
“Can she actually take Sophie?”
“Not without a judge deciding there’s a basis.”
That wasn’t enough.
I called Samuel.
He sent me to a family-law attorney named Claire Bennett.
Claire was direct.
“Do not contact Rachel.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not contact Carol.”
“Fine.”
“Do not contact Michael.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Fine.”
“Do not post anything online.”
“I don’t post.”
“Good.”
She leaned across her desk.
“And when we go to court, tell the truth about everything you did.”
“I already told police.”
“Tell the judge too.”
“You mean hitting Rachel.”
“Yes.”
I looked away.
Claire’s voice stayed calm.
“Rachel’s attorney will use it. If you minimize it, we lose credibility.”
“I was protecting Sophie.”
“Then explain that.”
The hearing was set for the next morning.
I barely slept.
Sophie curled beside me in Laura’s guest room.
At 3:00 a.m., she whispered, “Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Are police taking you too?”
I turned toward her.
“Why would you think that?”
“Grandma Carol said they would.”
“When?”
“Before.”
“Before Rachel got arrested?”
She nodded.
“She said if I told anybody, you would go to jail.”
I felt sick.
“She was trying to scare you.”
“Will you go?”
“I’m going to tell the truth.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Five years old.
And she understood evasive answers better than adults.
“I don’t think I’m going to jail.”
She touched my cheek where Rachel had slapped me.
“Did I make you hit Rachel?”
“No.”
“Because I told?”
“No, Sophie.”
I held her hand.
“Nothing that happened is because you told.”
The next morning, Rachel entered court wearing a simple blue dress.
Her cheek still showed faint swelling.
She looked fragile.
Carefully fragile.
Her attorney led her past me.
Rachel never looked directly at Sophie.
But as she passed, she whispered something.
So quietly I almost missed it.
Sophie didn’t.
She froze.
I turned.
“What did she say?”
Rachel kept walking.
Sophie’s face drained of color.
“What?”
I knelt.
She whispered four words.
“She said Grandma knows.”
Before I could ask more, Claire touched my shoulder.
“Daniel.”
I stood.
“What?”
She was staring across the courtroom.
May you like
Carol had just walked in.
And around her neck was Emily’s missing gold heart necklace.
