Chapter 9 - the room beneath the garage)
Dana returned to Patricia’s house just before dawn.
Not because Patricia invited her.
Because Dana still had a key.
Emily wanted to stop her.
Holloway told her not to interfere with evidence.
David told her not to trust Dana.
Michael told her the safest decision was to let police handle everything.
All three were reasonable.
Dana went anyway.
At 6:21 a.m., she sent Emily an address.
Patricia’s house.
Then another message.
COME TO THE SIDE GARAGE DOOR. ALONE.
Emily stared at the screen.
Michael read it.
“No.”
“She says there’s a backup.”
“Then call Holloway.”
“If Patricia finds out first, it may disappear.”
“Emily.”
“I’m not asking you to like this.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
He knew that tone.
He had heard it during their marriage.
Sometimes it had been stubbornness.
This time it was something else.
Resolve.
“I’m coming.”
“She said alone.”
“I’ll stay in the car.”
Emily agreed.
They arrived at Patricia’s street at 6:47.
The house looked empty.
Party lights still glowed weakly through the windows.
Confetti covered the driveway where Noah had been hit.
Emily could not look at the spot for long.
Michael parked two houses away.
“If anything feels wrong, leave.”
Emily nodded.
She walked to the side garage door.
It opened before she knocked.
Dana stood inside.
“Come on.”
Emily entered.
The garage smelled like cold concrete and expensive car polish.
The SUV was gone.
Police had impounded it.
Dana led Emily to the rear wall.
A tall storage cabinet stood beside the water heater.
Dana moved a box of holiday decorations and revealed a keypad.
Emily stared.
“What is that?”
“Mom had it installed after Dad died.”
Dana entered a code.
Nothing happened.
“She changed it.”
Emily looked at her.
“What was inside?”
“A media server.”
“You’re telling me Mom had a secret server in the garage?”
“Not exactly.”
Dana crouched.
“There’s another access.”
She removed a metal shelf.
Behind it was a small door near floor level.
Emily stared.
“Seriously?”
Dana almost smiled.
“Mom likes secrets.”
Dana opened the panel with a screwdriver.
A narrow service corridor appeared.
Emily’s heart beat faster.
“You’ve been in there?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why?”
“I thought she was hiding wine.”
Emily looked at her.
Dana shrugged weakly.
“She was.”
They crawled inside.
The corridor led behind the finished garage wall.
At the end, Dana pushed open another panel.
A small utility room appeared.
Racks of electronics lined one wall.
Hard drives.
A network switch.
Backup batteries.
Emily stared.
“This is insane.”
“No.”
Dana looked at the equipment.
“This is Mom.”
A small monitor sat on a workbench.
Dana turned it on.
A password prompt appeared.
“You know it?”
“I know her.”
Dana typed THOMAS1962.
Incorrect.
She tried EMILY1983.
Incorrect.
Then DANA1980.
The screen unlocked.
Emily stared.
Dana laughed bitterly.
“She always did like ownership.”
Folders appeared.
Dates.
Names.
Vehicle archives.
Home cameras.
Office recordings.
Emily felt physically ill.
“How many people did she record?”
Dana scrolled.
“Everyone.”
They found a folder marked VEHICLE TRANSFER.
Inside were hundreds of files.
Emily searched by date.
The night of Thomas’s confrontation appeared.
They opened it.
Her father’s voice filled the room.
Older.
Tired.
Furious.
“You changed the company records.”
Patricia answered.
“I corrected them.”
“You moved six million dollars.”
“I protected assets.”
“You stole them.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Thomas continued.
“I changed my will.”
Patricia laughed.
“You think that scares me?”
“It should.”
“You won’t survive discovery.”
“I don’t have to.”
A pause.
Then Thomas said, “Emily and Dana will have the company.”
Patricia’s voice became cold.
“They’ll have nothing without me.”
Thomas answered.
“That’s exactly why they need protection from you.”
The file continued.
Martin Shaw’s voice appeared later.
Emily stiffened.
The attorney had been in the car.
Martin said, “If the originals are found, the transfer is vulnerable.”
Patricia answered, “Then the originals will not be found.”
Emily looked at Dana.
There it was.
Not suspicion.
Proof.
Dana started copying the folder onto an external drive.
A sound came from the service corridor.
Both women froze.
Footsteps.
Dana whispered, “Michael?”
Emily shook her head.
He would have called.
The panel opened.
Patricia stood there.
Nobody moved.
Her face was expressionless.
Behind her was Martin Shaw.
Patricia looked at the monitor.
Then at the external drive.
Then at her daughters.
“I gave both of you everything.”
Dana stood.
“No.”
Patricia stared.
Dana’s voice shook but did not break.
“You gave us things.”
Emily slowly removed her phone.
Patricia noticed.
“Put it down.”
Emily did not.
Martin stepped forward.
“You are unlawfully accessing private data.”
Dana laughed.
“For once, Martin, shut up.”
He stopped.
Patricia’s eyes remained on Dana.
“You called Emily.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed me.”
Dana’s face crumpled for a moment.
Then steadied.
“No.”
She pulled the external drive free.
“I finally stopped betraying everyone else.”
Patricia moved toward her.
Emily stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Patricia stared at Emily.
“You think this ends with a recording?”
“No.”
Emily held up her phone.
“It ends with the truth.”
Patricia smiled.
And somehow that frightened Emily more than shouting would have.
“You still don’t know where the real danger is.”
Emily frowned.
Patricia looked at Dana.
“Tell her.”
Dana went pale.
Emily turned.
“Tell me what?”
Dana’s silence answered before her words did.
“There’s another document in Dad’s safe deposit box.”
Emily stared.
May you like
“What document?”
Dana whispered, “A custody petition.”
