Chapter 6
"Drive," I told Renee.
She didn't hesitate.
She started the car and pulled away from the curb.
I sat in the passenger seat with Lily safely secured in her rear-facing car seat behind me.
My hands trembled.
Daniel's SUV followed at a distance.
Renee glanced at the mirror.
"Is that him?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"I know his license plate."
She tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
"Call the police."
I did.
I explained that my husband was following us after a serious domestic and financial dispute.
The dispatcher advised us to continue toward a public location and avoid confrontation.
Renee drove directly to the police station.
Daniel's SUV turned away two blocks before we arrived.
I felt a strange mixture of relief and dread.
He knew where I had been.
He knew I had contacted Patricia.
And he clearly wasn't ready to let me go.
At the station, I spoke with an officer.
I described the threats, the suspected forgery, the unwanted confrontation at my home, and the vehicle following us.
The officer documented my report.
He encouraged me to provide the video recordings and financial evidence to investigators and seek legal advice about a protective order.
I told him Patricia was already helping.
When we finally returned home, my sons ran into my arms.
Noah hugged me tightly.
"Mommy, are we moving?"
I crouched beside him.
"Why would you think that?"
"Grandma said we couldn't stay."
My chest ached.
I held his face gently.
"Grandma was wrong."
Jordan wrapped his little arms around my neck.
"Is Daniel coming back?"
I froze.
Daniel had been part of their lives for three years.
He helped Noah learn to ride a bicycle.
He read bedtime stories to Jordan.
He stood beside us during family birthdays.
I didn't know how to explain what he had done.
Not yet.
"Daniel isn't staying with us right now," I said.
Jordan looked confused.
"Did we do something bad?"
I pulled both boys closer.
"No. You did absolutely nothing wrong."
Noah swallowed hard.
"Did he stop loving us?"
The question shattered me.
I had no answer that could make his pain disappear.
So I told him the truth I could safely give.
"Adults sometimes make terrible choices. Those choices are never a child's fault."
Noah nodded slowly.
I kissed his forehead.
"I love you both. That will never change."
That evening, while Renee prepared dinner, I received an unexpected email.
The sender was a woman named Melissa Grant.
The subject read:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DANIEL CARTER.
I almost deleted it.
Then I opened the message.
My name is Melissa. I worked with Daniel on the Westbrook Gardens project. I heard about the investigation involving your property. There's something you need to know before Daniel convinces you this was just a failed investment.
Below the message was a phone number.
I forwarded it to Patricia.
She called within minutes.
"Don't respond yet. Let me verify who she is."
An hour later, Patricia called back.
"Melissa is a real estate accountant. She worked with the Westbrook partnership."
"What does she know?"
"She says she has records."
"Records of what?"
"Payments, ownership interests, and transfers."
My heartbeat accelerated.
"Can we meet her?"
"Yes. Tomorrow, at my office."
I barely slept that night.
Every small noise made me sit upright.
Every passing car sent fear through my body.
But Lily needed feeding.
Noah needed comfort.
Jordan woke from a nightmare.
I didn't have the luxury of falling apart.
The following morning, I went to Patricia's office again.
Melissa was waiting.
She looked about forty.
Her expression was serious.
After introductions, she placed a flash drive and several printed statements on the table.
"I want to be careful about what I say," she began. "I can speak to the records I handled. I can't tell you what Daniel was thinking."
I nodded.
"Just tell me what happened."
Melissa looked at me sympathetically.
"Daniel didn't simply lose his money."
My stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"He was one of the investors who received distributions before the project collapsed."
I stared at her.
"Distributions?"
"Payments out of the partnership."
She showed us the statements.
Several transfers had gone into Daniel's business account.
Others went to accounts connected with Harbor Ridge Consulting.
Vanessa's company.
My mind raced.
"Then why did he tell me he owed so much money?"
Melissa hesitated.
"Some of the debts are genuine. But the picture he gave you is incomplete."
Patricia studied the records.
"Can these documents be authenticated?"
"Yes. The originals are preserved through the company's accounting system."
Melissa pointed to one transaction.
"This one concerned me."
A transfer of ninety thousand dollars.
Dated five days before Lily was born.
The receiving account belonged to another limited liability company.
I leaned closer.
"Who owns that?"
Melissa looked uncomfortable.
"That's part of why I contacted you."
Patricia checked the attached filing.
Her eyes narrowed.
Then she looked up.
"Nia, do you know someone named Evelyn Carter?"
I felt my body go cold.
"She's my mother-in-law."
Patricia turned the page toward me.
Evelyn's name appeared as the company's controlling member.
Ninety thousand dollars.
Transferred to a company owned by Daniel's mother.
I stared at the evidence.
Evelyn hadn't simply been helping her son.
She had received money.
Money Daniel claimed had vanished.
And I was beginning to suspect that the attempt to take Lily was part of a plan much larger than I had imagined.
Melissa spoke quietly.
"There's one more thing."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She pulled out another document.
It was an internal email.
From Daniel.
To Evelyn and Vanessa.
The subject line was:
NIA — PROPERTY AND CUSTODY STRATEGY.
I couldn't breathe.
My name.
My home.
My daughter.
May you like
My husband had put them all into a strategy.
And when Patricia began reading the email, I realized that the people I had welcomed into my family had been planning to betray me before Lily was even born.
