Chapter 4
I stared at the photograph until the screen blurred.
Daniel stood near his father’s body.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up.
One hand was pressed to his mouth.
The image was dark, but his face was unmistakable.
Sarah took the phone from me.
“Oh, Emily.”
“It could be altered.”
“You need to send it to the detective.”
“Dr. Cole said he has proof.”
“He also told you to come alone. That is how people get hurt.”
I looked at Ava sleeping between us.
She had one hand curled around my sleeve.
“I’m not going anywhere alone.”
I forwarded the photograph, the address, and Dr. Cole’s number to Detective Harris, the man who had shown me the email.
He called within two minutes.
“Do not go to that address.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Where are you now?”
“My sister’s apartment.”
“Stay there. Officers are on the way.”
“What about Dr. Cole’s daughter?”
“We’ll investigate.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I believe someone wants you frightened and isolated.”
A knock sounded at Sarah’s door.
Both of us jumped.
Sarah picked up the baseball bat.
“Police,” a woman called from the hallway.
Sarah checked through the peephole before opening the door.
Two uniformed officers entered.
They examined every room and stayed outside while Ava ate breakfast.
At nine, Daniel called.
I ignored him.
He called six more times.
Then a message appeared.
The photo isn’t what it looks like. Please let me explain before Mom controls the story again.
I typed a response.
Explain in writing.
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Finally, a long message arrived.
Dad called me the night he died. He and Mom were fighting. When I reached the study, he was already on the floor. Mom said he collapsed. I tried CPR, but she stopped me because she said he had a do-not-resuscitate order. I believed her. I have regretted it every day.
I read it twice.
Then I typed:
Why didn’t you tell the police you were there?
Mom said they would blame me because I had argued with Dad about the company earlier that week. She said Helen would confirm I wasn’t there. I was a coward.
That word again.
Coward.
It explained silence.
It did not excuse it.
Another message followed.
I did not send that email to Dr. Cole. Mom knew my passwords. Emily, I swear I never wanted to hurt you.
I didn’t respond.
Detective Harris called at ten thirty.
Officers had reached the address Dr. Cole provided.
It was an abandoned medical office.
No one was inside.
They found a prepaid phone on the floor and blood on a desk.
“Is he alive?” I asked.
“We don’t know.”
“What about his daughter?”
“We’re trying to identify her.”
The detective paused.
“There is something else. Dr. Leonard Cole died eight months ago.”
I stood so quickly that the chair tipped backward.
“Then who called me?”
“That’s what we’re investigating.”
Sarah whispered, “What is it?”
I put the call on speaker.
Detective Harris continued.
“Cole lost his medical license three years ago. He died in a boating accident. His body was recovered two days later.”
“But someone just said Margaret has his daughter.”
“He had one daughter, Natalie. She is twenty-nine, not a child.”
“Where is she?”
“No confirmed address. She disappeared after her father’s death.”
Ava wandered into the kitchen carrying her rabbit.
I immediately ended the speaker call.
“Mommy, are we going home?”
“Not yet, sweetheart.”
“I want my yellow blanket.”
Sarah crouched beside her.
“I have a blanket with stars.”
“I want mine.”
The simple request broke my heart.
Her world had been ripped apart because adults wanted money.
I knelt and kissed her forehead.
“I’ll get it for you.”
One of the officers offered to escort me to the house.
Sarah stayed with Ava.
The drive felt longer than fifteen minutes.
Police tape crossed the master bedroom door when we arrived.
The dining room still held the remains of Margaret’s celebration.
Wilted flowers leaned over crystal vases.
Half-eaten cake sat on the table.
Someone had sliced directly through the words NEW BEGINNING.
I found Ava’s blanket in her room.
As I turned to leave, I noticed a framed photograph lying face down on her dresser.
It showed Richard holding Ava in the garden.
On the back, he had written:
My brave little bird. Never let them convince you that love must be earned.
I slipped the photograph into my purse.
Then I heard movement in the hallway.
“Officer?” I called.
No answer.
I stepped outside Ava’s room.
A woman stood at the end of the hall.
She was thin, with short dark hair and a bruise beneath one eye.
She held both hands where I could see them.
“Don’t scream.”
My heart hammered.
“Who are you?”
“Natalie Cole.”
The officer was downstairs.
I could call for him.
Natalie seemed to read my thoughts.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“You called me this morning.”
“Yes.”
“Your father is dead.”
Her face tightened.
“Margaret killed him.”
I backed toward Ava’s room.
“The police are here.”
“I know. I waited until the officer went outside to speak with your neighbor.”
“That doesn’t make me trust you.”
“It shouldn’t.”
She reached slowly into her jacket.
I tensed.
She removed a sealed plastic envelope and placed it on the floor.
“Those are my father’s notes.”
“What do they prove?”
“That Margaret paid him to alter Richard’s medication.”
My throat closed.
Natalie stepped back.
“My father was a gambling addict. He lost his license after stealing prescription pads. Margaret found out. She offered to clear his debts if he helped make Richard’s death look natural.”
“You said she used his identity.”
“She continued forging his records after he died.”
“Why did you say she had your daughter?”
“I needed you to listen.”
“You lied about a kidnapped child?”
“I said what Margaret taught me to say.”
The honesty was chilling.
I called for the officer.
He ran upstairs with his weapon drawn.
Natalie immediately raised her hands.
“I’m surrendering.”
He ordered both of us to stay still.
Within minutes, detectives filled the hallway.
Harris placed Natalie in handcuffs but listened as she explained.
Her father had kept handwritten records as insurance against Margaret.
After his death, Natalie found them.
She tried to blackmail Margaret.
Margaret responded by having two men threaten her.
“Who were the men?” Harris asked.
“One worked for Carter Development. His name is Travis Boone.”
I knew Travis.
He was Daniel’s operations manager.
He had eaten dinner in my home.
He had given Ava a wooden train for Christmas.
“And the other?” Harris asked.
Natalie looked at me.
“Daniel Carter.”
I stopped breathing.
“That’s not true.”
“He came to my apartment.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“He wanted the records.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“He said if I cared about my life, I would forget his father ever existed.”
I gripped the doorframe.
“Do you have proof?”
She nodded toward the envelope.
“There’s an audio recording.”
Detective Harris opened the envelope with gloved hands.
Inside were two notebooks, a memory card, and a prescription bottle bearing Richard’s name.
Natalie was taken to the station.
I stayed at the house while investigators collected the evidence.
My phone rang again.
Daniel.
This time, I answered.
“Did you threaten Natalie Cole?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
“I tried to warn her.”
“She says you threatened her life.”
“I said Mom was dangerous. I told her to leave town.”
“She heard something different.”
“Where are you?”
“At the house.”
“Emily, get out.”
“Why?”
“Travis is missing.”
I looked through the bedroom window.
The patrol car was parked at the curb.
“Police are here.”
“That didn’t stop Natalie from getting inside.”
“How did you know Natalie was here?”
Daniel didn’t answer quickly enough.
My blood went cold.
“You’re watching the house.”
“No.”
“Then how did you know?”
“Mom had cameras installed.”
I scanned the ceiling.
“Where?”
“I don’t know all of them.”
“How long have you known?”
“A few weeks.”
A soft electronic click sounded behind me.
The bedroom door swung shut.
I grabbed the handle.
It wouldn’t turn.
“Daniel.”
“What happened?”
“The door locked.”
“Get away from it.”
Smoke curled from beneath the closet door.
The fire alarm remained silent.
Someone had disabled it.
I ran to the window and tried to open it.
It had been sealed.
“Help!” I screamed.
The officer outside looked up.
I slammed both hands against the glass.
The smoke thickened.
Daniel was shouting through the phone.
“There’s a release inside the closet!”
“The closet is on fire!”
“Bottom shelf, left side. There’s an emergency switch.”
I wrapped Ava’s blanket around my face and ran into the smoke.
Flames climbed one wall of the closet.
Heat struck my skin.
I dropped to my knees, felt beneath the lowest shelf, and found a metal lever.
I pulled it.
The bedroom window clicked.
I crawled back, forced it open, and leaned outside.
The officer shouted for me to jump.
The drop was almost fifteen feet.
Smoke filled the room behind me.
I climbed onto the ledge.
Hands reached up from below as two officers dragged a patio table beneath the window.
I jumped.
They caught enough of me to break the fall.
My shoulder hit the table, but I stayed conscious.
Fire crews arrived within minutes.
The flames were contained to the bedroom and closet.
An investigator found an incendiary device behind the safe.
It had been activated remotely.
Detective Harris stood over me while a paramedic examined my shoulder.
“Who knew you were here?”
“Sarah. Your officers. Daniel.”
“Anyone else?”
“Natalie saw me.”
He looked toward the burning window.
“The device was professionally wired.”
“My husband told me where the emergency window release was.”
“Helpful.”
“He also knew there were cameras.”
Harris’s expression remained unreadable.
“Where is Daniel now?”
“I don’t know.”
He called another officer.
Before he could speak, a black SUV accelerated around the corner.
It struck a parked car and stopped sideways across the road.
The driver’s door flew open.
Daniel stumbled out with blood running from his forehead.
“Emily!”
Officers drew their weapons.
He raised both hands.
“Travis tried to kill me.”
Harris ordered him to the ground.
Daniel obeyed.
As officers searched the SUV, one opened the cargo area.
Travis Boone lay inside, unconscious but breathing.
Beside him were two gas cans, a remote transmitter, and Ava’s yellow raincoat.
Daniel stared at the coat.
“That wasn’t there before.”
Then a phone began ringing inside Travis’s pocket.
Harris removed it with a gloved hand.
May you like
The caller identification displayed one word.
MARGARET.
