Chapter 2 - the warning from across the street
Emily read the message three times.
Mark stood beside her.
"Who sent that?"
"I don't know."
Another message appeared.
YOUR HOME NETWORK IS NOT SAFE.
Emily immediately switched off the Wi-Fi on her phone.
Mark stared toward the front window.
The vehicle across the street was gone.
"Did you recognize the car?" Emily asked.
"No."
"Did you recognize the person?"
"No."
Barbara's voice rose from downstairs.
"I've had enough of this ridiculous drama."
Emily walked toward the staircase.
Mark caught her arm.
"Wait."
She looked at his hand.
He released her.
"Sorry."
"What aren't you telling me?"
"I've told you what I know."
"No. You've told me pieces."
"Because I only have pieces."
Emily studied him.
Mark had always been easy for her to read.
Tonight, he was terrified.
Not nervous.
Not embarrassed.
Terrified.
"Who hired the lawyer?"
"My mother."
"You said the payments came from our account."
"They did."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"Does she have access?"
"No."
"Then somebody gave it to her."
Mark said nothing.
Emily understood.
"You did."
"No."
"Mark."
"I gave her access to one emergency account years ago. Not our primary account."
"You never told me."
"I forgot she still had authorization."
"Twenty thousand dollars is not an accident."
"I know."
"Then what was she paying for?"
"I don't know."
Emily held up the memory card.
"Maybe this does."
Mark looked toward Chloe's room.
"We need to get her out of here."
That was the first thing he had said all evening that Emily completely agreed with.
She packed quickly.
Two sets of clothes.
Chloe's rabbit.
Medicine.
Documents.
A charger.
Barbara blocked the bottom of the staircase when they came down.
"Where exactly do you think you're going?"
Emily continued walking.
"Move."
Barbara looked at Chloe.
"This behavior is exactly why the child has no discipline."
Emily stopped.
"You will not speak to her."
"I am her grandmother."
"Not tonight."
"You cannot erase family because you're angry."
Emily took another step.
Barbara refused to move.
Mark came behind them.
"Mom."
Barbara turned toward him.
"You are going to allow your wife to take your daughter away because I gave the girl consequences?"
Mark's jaw tightened.
"You locked her outside."
"For a few minutes."
"Nearly an hour," Emily said.
Barbara ignored her.
"Mark, think carefully."
Something about the sentence sounded like a threat.
Emily noticed it.
So did Mark.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
Barbara's expression softened.
"You know exactly what it means."
Mark went still.
Emily looked between them.
"No. I don't. So one of you is going to explain it."
Barbara smiled faintly.
"Ask your husband about the trust."
Mark's face changed.
Emily slowly turned toward him.
"What trust?"
Barbara's smile widened.
"The one his father left Chloe."
Mark closed his eyes.
Emily stared at him.
"You told me your father left everything to you."
"Most of it."
"How much did he leave Chloe?"
Mark hesitated.
Barbara answered.
"Six million dollars."
The foyer seemed to tilt beneath Emily's feet.
Six million.
She almost laughed because the number was too large to process.
"Why would he leave six million dollars to a child?"
"Because he adored his granddaughter," Mark said quietly.
"When were you planning to tell me?"
"When she was older."
"That's not your decision."
"The trust doesn't transfer until she's twenty-five."
"And who controls it until then?"
Mark looked at Barbara.
Emily understood before anyone answered.
"She does."
Barbara corrected her.
"We do."
Emily's gaze snapped back to Mark.
"You're trustee?"
"Co-trustee."
"And Barbara?"
"Co-trustee."
Emily looked at the woman blocking the doorway.
For the first time, the pieces formed something resembling a picture.
Security footage disappearing.
Family attorney payments.
A hidden memory card.
A six-million-dollar trust controlled by Barbara and Mark.
Emily tightened her grip around Chloe's hand.
"Move away from the door."
Barbara did not.
Instead she looked at Chloe.
"Tell your mother what you did in the office."
Chloe pressed herself against Emily.
"Don't talk to her," Emily said.
Barbara smiled coldly.
"She stole confidential property."
"She's five."
"She knew exactly what she was doing."
"She took a memory card."
"That card contains private family information."
"Then I'll return it after I review it."
"No."
Barbara moved forward.
Emily stepped between her and Chloe.
"Try it."
Mark finally stepped in front of his mother.
"Enough."
Barbara stared at him.
Something passed silently between them.
Then Barbara said six words that made Emily's stomach drop.
"You already chose once, Mark."
He froze.
Emily watched him.
"What did she mean?"
"Nothing."
Barbara laughed.
"Ask him."
"Mom."
"Ask your husband what happened the night his father changed Chloe's trust."
Mark looked sick.
Emily's phone buzzed.
Another message from the unknown number.
TAKE THE CARD TO 1847 HAWTHORNE STREET. ASK FOR DANIEL REEVES.
Emily looked up.
May you like
"Who is Daniel Reeves?"
Barbara's face lost every trace of color.
