Chapter 6
I dropped the phone like it had burned me.
For one second, I could not move.
Then I grabbed Sophie and pulled her into my arms.
Rachel woke instantly.
“What?”
I pointed at the phone.
She read the message and went pale.
The room had been checked by police.
The hallway had an officer outside.
Still, someone had gotten close enough to record my sleeping child.
Or they wanted me to believe they had.
Rachel rushed to the door and called the officer.
Within minutes, Detective Bennett was on the phone.
“Do not leave the room,” she said. “Do not touch anything else.”
“Sophie is here.”
“I know. Keep her between you and the wall away from the window.”
My heart pounded so hard I could barely hear.
Sophie stirred.
“Daddy?”
“I’m here.”
“Bad dream?”
I looked at Rachel.
“Yes,” I said. “But you’re safe.”
I hated lying.
I hated needing to.
Police found the source twenty minutes later.
Not a person in the room.
A camera hidden in the smoke detector.
Hotel security had no record of maintenance.
The device was cheap, wireless, and newly placed.
Someone knew where we were going before we arrived.
Detective Bennett moved us again before dawn.
This time to a safe house outside Fort Worth.
No family.
No hotel staff.
No wedding guests.
Just police, Rachel, Mark, Sophie, and me.
Sophie sat in the back seat, hugging a blanket the advocate gave her.
She did not ask where we were going.
That silence hurt.
Children should complain on long drives.
They should ask for snacks.
They should whine about boredom.
Sophie stared out the window like she had learned that quiet made adults less angry.
I reached back and held her foot.
She pressed her socked toes against my palm.
It was the only thing she gave me.
At the safe house, Detective Bennett brought a forensic specialist.
He examined the video.
“It was not live,” he said.
I frowned.
“What?”
“The clip was recorded earlier from the hotel camera, then sent later. Whoever sent it may not have been nearby anymore.”
That helped.
Not enough.
Bennett asked, “Who knew your hotel?”
“Police. Rachel. Mark. Adrian.”
Rachel stiffened.
“You think one of us—”
“No,” Bennett said. “I think someone accessed communication or followed you from the venue.”
Mark rubbed his face.
“I posted nothing. I called no one.”
Adrian arrived at noon with files from Claire’s estate.
He looked exhausted.
And worried.
That worried me.
Adrian did not scare easily.
“What real papers?” I asked him.
He set a leather folder on the table.
“Claire created a separate trust six months before she died.”
I stared.
“What?”
“I was not her lawyer then. Her parents’ attorney handled it. It was sealed until Sophie turned eighteen or until someone attempted to interfere with her guardianship or property rights.”
Rachel whispered, “Amanda’s papers triggered it.”
Adrian nodded.
“The trust became reviewable the moment those documents surfaced.”
I sat slowly.
“What does it contain?”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “The original is missing.”
Detective Bennett leaned in.
“Missing from where?”
“Claire’s parents’ attorney died last year. His archive was transferred to a storage facility. The box for Claire’s trust was checked out two weeks ago.”
“By whom?” I asked.
Adrian looked at me.
“Richard Vale.”
Amanda’s father.
I stood so fast the chair scraped back.
“He said children misunderstand discipline.”
Rachel’s voice shook with anger.
“He knew enough.”
Bennett checked her phone.
“Richard Vale left Dallas last night.”
“Where?”
“Private airfield.”
My stomach turned.
Adrian opened another document.
“There’s more. Claire’s trust did not only protect the house. It named a guardian in case something happened to you.”
“Rachel?”
My sister shook her head.
Adrian swallowed.
“No. It named someone named Thomas Reed.”
I had not heard that name in seven years.
Rachel whispered, “Claire’s brother?”
I looked down.
Claire had a brother.
Tom.
They had not spoken after a family fight over their parents’ estate.
At least that was what I believed.
Claire told me it was complicated.
After she died, I called him twice.
He never called back.
I thought he did not care.
Adrian slid a folded letter across the table.
“This was in a copy file.”
My name was on the envelope.
Claire’s handwriting.
My hands shook as I opened it.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, someone is trying to use grief or marriage to separate you from Sophie.
Please find Tom.
Whatever I told you before was not the whole truth.
I kept him away because I was afraid of what he discovered.
Trust Rachel.
Trust no one who pushes you to sign fast.
And if a woman named Patricia Vale ever comes near our family, run.
I read that last line three times.
Patricia Vale.
Amanda’s mother.
Claire had known her.
Rachel covered her mouth.
“Daniel…”
I looked at Detective Bennett.
“Find Thomas Reed.”
Before she could answer, the safe house phone rang.
No one moved.
Bennett picked it up on speaker.
A man’s voice filled the room.
“Daniel Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Tom Reed. Your wife sent me something before she died.”
I gripped the table.
“Where are you?”
May you like
There was a pause.
Then he said, “Outside your safe house.”
