Chapter 12 - THE TRAP
Caroline wanted Daniel to cooperate formally.
He resisted.
“If I testify, I go to prison.”
“You may face charges either way,” she told him. “Cooperation affects how prosecutors view your conduct.”
“What about Melissa?”
“That depends on what she did.”
Daniel looked at me.
I did not rescue him from the answer.
He had spent weeks expecting me to absorb the consequences because I was his mother.
Motherhood did not require me to become the floor beneath every collapse.
Finally, he agreed.
The plan was simple.
Daniel would tell Celeste I was frightened by the adult protective services reports and willing to discuss the proposal.
We would allow her to prepare the final documents.
The meeting would occur at Riverstone.
Mr. Harris would be present under the pretext of notarizing building forms.
Caroline would wait in the neighboring unit with law enforcement officers.
The apartment cameras would record everything.
Daniel called Celeste from Caroline’s office.
“I think she is ready,” he said.
“What changed?” Celeste asked.
“She is scared she will lose the children.”
“Good.”
My hand tightened around the chair.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“She wants assurances.”
“She gets assurances after signing.”
“She may ask about Anna.”
Silence.
Then Celeste said, “What did you tell her?”
“Only that Anna exists.”
“You were instructed not to use that name.”
“She found the photograph.”
Another silence.
“Where are you?”
“At my office.”
“You sound different.”
“I have not slept.”
“That makes people careless.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the phone.
“She knows.”
“Not necessarily,” Caroline said.
“She always knows.”
The meeting was scheduled for Friday at three.
For two days, nothing happened.
Then Melissa disappeared.
She left the children with her mother and sent Daniel one message.
I am fixing this. Do not follow me.
Her phone went offline.
Daniel panicked.
He called hospitals.
Friends.
Her mother.
No one knew where she had gone.
At midnight, Riverstone security recorded Melissa entering my apartment with the second fob.
She did not know it remained active for surveillance purposes.
I watched remotely.
She moved through the dark kitchen and stood beneath the ceramic rooster.
Then she whispered, “Celeste, I know you can hear me.”
The device had already been removed.
Melissa did not know.
“I have the original letter,” she continued. “Richard’s letter. I took it from Daniel before he gave you the folder. If anything happens to my children, it goes to the police.”
She waited.
No answer.
Then the apartment intercom rang.
Melissa screamed.
She answered with shaking hands.
Celeste’s voice came through the wall speaker.
“Look inside the coffee maker.”
Melissa approached it slowly.
She opened the water compartment.
Inside was a small black envelope.
I had used the coffee maker that morning.
The envelope had not been there.
Someone had entered after I left without using a logged fob.
Melissa opened it.
A photograph slipped onto the counter.
It showed Emma and Lucas asleep in their grandmother’s house.
Taken through a bedroom window.
On the back was a handwritten message.
Friday. Three o’clock. Bring the letter.
Melissa covered her mouth.
May you like
Then she looked directly into the security camera.
“Margaret,” she whispered, “please help us.”
