Chapter 9
Mark's words haunted me.
I tried to push them aside.
Diane was in prison.
She was locked up.
She couldn't hurt us anymore.
But I couldn't shake the feeling that Mark was right.
That Diane was biding her time.
That she was planning something.
Three months later, we found out she was.
We got a call from our lawyer.
"Diane has filed an appeal," she said.
"On what grounds?" Ryan asked.
"She claims her trial lawyer was incompetent," Karen said. "She says he didn't properly represent her. And she's filed a motion for a new trial based on 'new evidence.'"
"What new evidence?" I asked.
"She says she has a witness," Karen said. "Someone who will testify that you, Sarah, confessed to putting the shrimp in Lily's food."
"That's impossible," I said. "I never said any such thing."
"I know," Karen said. "But the witness is someone with credibility. A former cellmate of Diane's. She's claiming you two became friends in a support group for mothers with difficult children. That you confessed everything to her."
"I've never been to any such support group," I said. "I've never met this woman."
"I believe you," Karen said. "But Diane is very convincing. And this woman has a detailed story. If the judge grants a new trial…"
She didn't have to finish the sentence.
We all knew what would happen.
Diane would get another chance.
Another chance to lie.
Another chance to destroy us.
We started preparing for the appeal.
Our lawyer investigated Diane's new witness.
Her name was Carla Bennett.
She had been in prison for fraud.
She and Diane had been cellmates for six months.
There was no record of her ever being in any support group.
No record of her ever meeting me.
But she had a sworn affidavit.
And she was sticking to her story.
Then things got worse.
Much worse.
One morning, I was driving the kids to school.
I stopped at a red light.
A car pulled up beside us.
The window rolled down.
A woman I didn't recognize smiled at me.
Then she pointed a gun.
"Sarah!" she shouted.
I ducked.
I pushed Lily and Noah down in their seats.
A shot rang out.
The window shattered.
The light turned green.
I hit the gas.
I drove as fast as I could.
The car followed us.
I called 911.
"Someone is shooting at us! We're on Maple Avenue heading toward the school!"
The dispatcher told me to keep driving.
To stay on the phone.
The car behind us kept getting closer.
The woman leaned out the window again.
She fired another shot.
It hit the back of our car.
Lily was screaming.
Noah was crying.
I swerved through traffic.
I ran two red lights.
I could see the police cars ahead.
Their lights were flashing.
Their sirens were blaring.
The car behind us suddenly turned.
It disappeared down a side street.
The police pulled us over.
They checked the kids.
They checked me.
Miraculously, no one was hurt.
Just shattered glass.
And bullet holes.
And a whole new level of terror.
The police found the car an hour later.
It was abandoned.
Stolen.
No fingerprints.
No DNA.
No clues.
But I knew who was behind it.
Diane.
She was in prison.
But she still had connections.
She still had people who would do her bidding.
The police questioned Diane.
She denied everything.
She had an alibi.
She had been in the prison library when the shooting happened.
There were witnesses.
There was no proof she was involved.
But we all knew.
Mark was right.
Diane wouldn't stop.
Not until we were dead.
The appeal hearing was two weeks later.
We were all terrified.
We had police protection.
But it didn't feel like enough.
Diane was brought into the courtroom.
She looked thinner.
Paler.
But her eyes were still the same.
Cold.
Calculating.
When she saw us, she smiled.
The same smile she had given us at the preliminary hearing.
The smile of someone who knows something you don't.
Her lawyer presented the witness.
Carla Bennett.
She walked to the stand.
She swore to tell the truth.
Then she looked at me.
And she lied.
She told the court about our "friendship."
She told them about the support group.
She told them I had confessed to putting shrimp in Lily's food.
That I had hated Diane.
That I had wanted to frame her.
That I had used my own daughter as a pawn.
Her story was detailed.
Convincing.
Scary.
When our lawyer cross-examined her, she didn't break.
She stuck to her lies.
She cried on cue.
She played the part of a concerned friend perfectly.
I looked at the judge.
He was listening intently.
He was taking notes.
I wondered if he believed her.
I wondered if Diane would actually win.
Then our lawyer called a surprise witness.
Mark.
He walked to the stand.
Diane's face changed.
For the first time, I saw real fear in her eyes.
Mark told the court about the rat poison.
About Tommy.
About all the "accidents" that had happened to people who crossed Diane.
He told them about leaving home.
About why he had stayed away for so long.
"My mother is not a loving grandmother," he said. "She's a predator. She uses people. She manipulates them. She destroys them. And when that doesn't work, she eliminates them. Sarah didn't put shrimp in Lily's food. My mother did. Just like she poisoned Tommy's sandwich. Just like she told my aunt to stop taking her medicine. Just like she tried to burn down their house. This is who she is. And if you let her out, she will kill them. I promise you that."
Diane stood up.
"Liar!" she screamed. "You're all liars! I'll kill every last one of you!"
The bailiffs restrained her.
But she wasn't done.
She turned to the witness stand.
To Carla Bennett.
"You were supposed to be better than this!" she screamed. "You said you'd make them believe you! You stupid, worthless—"
The courtroom erupted.
Diane had just implicated herself.
She had just admitted that Carla was lying.
That she had paid her to lie.
The judge banged his gavel.
"Order! Order in the court!"
But it was too late.
Everyone had heard it.
The judge looked at Diane.
His face was like stone.
"Motion for a new trial is denied," he said. "The appeal is dismissed. Ms. Carter, your outburst has just earned you an additional ten years for contempt of court and witness tampering. Take her away."
Diane screamed as the bailiffs dragged her out.
She cursed the judge.
She cursed the jury.
She cursed us.
She promised she would get out.
She promised she would make us pay.
May you like
But as she disappeared through the courtroom doors, I knew.
It was finally over.
