Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Daniel did not answer immediately.
Ethan laughed lightly.
“Daniel?”
“What did you say?”
“I asked whether Lily triggered the security system.”
“That isn’t what you asked.”
Another pause.
Then Ethan’s tone changed.
Softer.
More careful.
“What’s going on?”
Daniel looked toward the hidden storage room.
“Come to the house.”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
“I’m across town.”
“Then drive.”
Daniel ended the call.
Adrian entered from the foyer.
“Vanessa is still inside the property.”
“Where?”
“We found one of her shoes near the east greenhouse.”
“She may be heading toward the old service gate.”
“Block it.”
“Already done.”
Daniel handed Adrian the photograph of Elena’s car.
“Do not let anyone touch that room.”
“Not even police?”
Daniel hesitated.
He wanted the police immediately.
But he also knew what Ethan controlled.
Lawyers.
Officials.
Security contracts.
People who could make evidence disappear before Daniel understood what he was looking at.
“Call Detective Samuel Grant.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“The retired homicide detective?”
“He isn’t retired anymore as far as I’m concerned.”
Grant had investigated Elena’s crash four years earlier.
He had originally questioned whether the accident was mechanical.
The department had closed the case after an independent report ruled it driver error.
Daniel had never questioned the report.
Until now.
Adrian nodded.
“I’ll bring him here privately.”
Daniel returned to Margaret.
She was holding a cup of water with both hands.
“Tell me everything Ethan said while you were inside.”
Margaret looked at the doorway.
“He came twice.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Into the room?”
“No.”
“Vanessa opened the door.”
“I pretended to be asleep.”
“The first night, Ethan asked why she had kept me alive.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Margaret continued before he could speak.
“Vanessa said killing me would create too many questions.”
“She said eventually they could make it look like I stole money and disappeared.”
Daniel paced once across the room.
“What else?”
“They argued about Lily.”
Daniel stopped.
“What about her?”
“Vanessa said Lily remembered too much.”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“She wanted to send Lily away.”
“Boarding school.”
“Then a treatment center if necessary.”
Daniel stared at her.
“A treatment center?”
“They planned to make you believe Lily was unstable.”
Daniel remembered the reports.
The expensive child specialist Vanessa had insisted they hire.
The notes about Lily having nightmares.
Aggression.
False memories.
Emotional instability.
Daniel had signed them.
He had trusted the professionals Vanessa chose.
He felt sick.
Margaret leaned forward.
“They weren’t trying to help Lily.”
“They were building a record against her.”
“Why?”
“So no one would believe her.”
Daniel looked toward the library where Lily sat.
His daughter had been trying to tell him something.
And every adult around her had been documenting why she should not be trusted.
A guard suddenly entered.
“Mr. Reed.”
“We found Ms. Cole.”
Daniel turned.
“Where?”
“In the greenhouse.”
“She has your daughter’s passport.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“And three plane tickets.”
“Three?”
The guard nodded.
“Vanessa Cole.”
May you like
“Lily Reed.”
“And Ethan Reed.”
