Chapter 7
Ryan moved before I did.
He shoved me behind him.
The man near the back door lifted both hands.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone."
"Then get out," Ryan snapped.
Diane pounded the front door.
"Open this door!"
The man looked toward her.
"I'm not with Diane."
That stopped all of us.
Ryan stared at him.
"Who are you?"
The man reached slowly inside his jacket.
Ryan grabbed a fireplace poker.
"Don't."
The man froze.
"Wallet."
"Use two fingers."
He did.
Then he tossed a leather wallet across the floor.
Ryan opened it.
Federal investigator.
Special Agent Marcus Cole.
I stared at him.
"Federal?"
"Yes."
Diane was still outside.
"Ryan!"
Marcus nodded toward the door.
"If you let her inside, she will destroy whatever you found."
"How do you know what we found?"
"Because Thomas contacted me before he died."
Ryan's face changed.
"What?"
"I was investigating Victor Lane."
Diane stopped pounding.
Maybe she heard the name.
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Victor wasn't only involved in financial fraud. We believe he ran an extortion network for years."
"What does that have to do with my mother?"
"She helped him."
Ryan shook his head.
"No."
Marcus looked at him.
"Before she married Thomas."
The entire history of the Hart family seemed to crack open again.
"Victor and Diane were partners," Marcus continued. "Romantically and financially."
I looked toward the door.
Diane stood perfectly still outside.
Listening.
"Thomas discovered part of it after Ryan was born."
Ryan whispered, "My father knew?"
"Some."
"Did he know Victor was my biological father?"
"Yes."
Ryan closed his eyes.
Marcus continued.
"Thomas spent years quietly paying restitution to people Diane and Victor had harmed."
I thought of Thomas.
Kind.
Quiet.
Always tired.
Maybe that exhaustion had been guilt.
"What happened when Victor went to prison?" I asked.
"Diane testified secretly."
Ryan looked shocked.
"Against him?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To save herself."
Diane suddenly shouted through the door.
"He's lying!"
Marcus didn't react.
Ryan walked closer to the window.
"You knew him?"
Diane pointed at Marcus.
"That man wants to destroy our family."
Marcus said quietly, "Ask her why Victor received evidence that Thomas was cooperating with federal investigators."
Ryan stared at his mother.
Diane's face hardened.
"Open the door."
"No."
"Ryan."
"Did you tell Victor?"
"Your father was going to ruin everything."
"Did you?"
Diane screamed, "I protected you!"
Ryan stepped away from the window.
He looked exhausted.
Almost empty.
"That's your answer to everything."
"Because it's true!"
"No."
His voice shook.
"You protect yourself."
Marcus pointed toward the black case.
"Thomas's documents could be enough to reopen several parts of the investigation."
I thought about Lily.
"Diane said Victor has been watching us."
Marcus's expression darkened.
"How long?"
"She didn't say."
He looked toward her.
"Diane, is Victor here?"
She said nothing.
Marcus stepped closer to the door.
"Is he in the area?"
Diane's eyes moved.
Just once.
Toward the trees.
Marcus saw it.
"Everyone down."
A gunshot cracked outside.
The living room window exploded inward.
I dropped.
Ryan threw himself over me.
Diane screamed.
Marcus drew his weapon and crawled toward the side wall.
"Stay down!"
Another shot hit the wooden exterior.
Then silence.
My ears rang.
"Ryan?"
"I'm okay."
He lifted his head.
Blood ran down his cheek from a small cut.
"You're bleeding."
"Glass."
Marcus spoke into a radio hidden beneath his coat.
"Shots fired. Lake property. Send units now."
Diane was no longer standing on the porch.
She was crouched behind the stone railing.
One of the men who had arrived with her ran toward the SUV.
Marcus shouted through the broken window.
"Stay down!"
The man ignored him.
An engine roared.
The SUV sped away.
Without Diane.
She screamed after it.
"You coward!"
Ryan looked at Marcus.
"Your backup?"
"Coming."
"Who fired?"
"Probably Victor or someone working for him."
"Why?"
Marcus looked at the black case.
"Because Thomas collected more than hospital records."
We opened the remaining documents.
Bank transfers.
Property records.
Copies of old checks.
Photographs.
One showed Diane standing beside Victor twenty-eight years earlier.
Another showed them entering a bank after hours.
Then there was a ledger.
Names.
Amounts.
Dates.
Marcus's face changed.
"This is it."
"What?"
"The original extortion ledger."
Diane heard him through the broken window.
Her scream was immediate.
"Ryan, burn it!"
He stared at her.
"Excuse me?"
"Burn that book!"
Marcus almost smiled.
"Thanks for confirming authenticity."
Diane looked horrified.
Sirens appeared in the distance.
She stood.
"Ryan, listen to me."
Police vehicles raced up the driveway.
Diane's voice broke.
"Everything I did was for you."
Ryan walked to the doorway but didn't open it.
"You pushed my daughter."
She stared.
"What?"
"This started because you pushed Lily."
"Ryan, this is bigger than a cupcake."
"No."
His eyes filled with tears.
"That's exactly the problem. You think everything is bigger than the person you're hurting."
Diane pressed her palms against the glass.
"I am your mother."
"Then you should have acted like one."
Sheriff's deputies surrounded the property.
Marcus identified himself.
Within minutes, Diane was separated from us.
She wasn't arrested immediately.
But she was questioned.
She shouted the entire time.
"You don't understand!"
"They're manipulating you!"
"Ryan!"
He never looked back.
Marcus drove us to a secure federal office.
There, we spent four hours giving statements.
Then came the question I had been dreading.
"Lily."
Marcus folded his hands.
"Has Diane ever been alone with your daughter?"
Ryan and I looked at each other.
"Yes," I whispered.
"How often?"
"Not recently."
"Before?"
"Sometimes."
"Any unusual incidents?"
I remembered bruises.
Tiny things.
A mark on Lily's arm Diane said came from playground equipment.
A night Lily refused to sleep after staying at Diane's house.
A time she screamed when we said Grandma was coming over.
I had explained everything away.
My guilt nearly crushed me.
"Emily?"
I looked at Marcus.
"She was scared of Diane."
Ryan's face broke.
"I didn't see it."
"Neither did I."
Marcus didn't judge us.
"Children don't always have words for what makes them afraid."
My phone rang.
Claire.
I answered immediately.
"Is Lily okay?"
Claire was crying.
"Emily."
I stood.
"What happened?"
"You need to come back."
"Is she hurt?"
"No."
"Claire!"
"She's okay. She's physically okay."
My legs shook.
"What happened?"
"Someone came to the house."
Ryan stood.
"Who?"
Claire continued.
"A man."
Marcus took the phone.
"What did he look like?"
"Older. Sixties. Gray hair. He never got inside."
"What did he say?"
Claire sobbed.
"He said he was Lily's grandfather."
Ryan went white.
Victor.
Marcus started issuing orders.
I grabbed the phone.
"Where is Lily?"
"She's with Daniel. Police are here."
"I'm coming."
Then Lily's little voice came through the line.
"Mommy?"
My knees nearly collapsed.
"Baby."
"A man brought me something."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Claire said, "We haven't opened it."
Lily continued.
"He said it belonged to Daddy when Daddy was little."
I looked at Ryan.
"What is it?"
Lily whispered.
"A red music box."
Ryan stumbled backward.
"No."
I stared at him.
"What?"
His face had gone completely pale.
"My mother told me that box burned in a fire."
Marcus frowned.
"Why does it matter?"
May you like
Ryan looked at all of us.
"Because Victor Lane gave it to me on my fifth birthday."
