Chapter 3 - the gift bag with no name
Daniel did not sleep that night.
He photographed every page of the agreement and sent the images to Nathan Cole, an attorney he had known since university.
Nathan called at 6:12 the next morning.
“Do not confront your mother yet.”
Daniel stood in the garage so Claire would not hear him.
“She is trying to take my daughter.”
“She is preparing the option.”
“What is the difference?”
“The difference is evidence. Right now, you have an unsigned legal proposal with ambiguous language.”
“Claire signed it.”
“She signed acknowledgment. The consent section might be challenged because the wording is unclear.”
“It was designed to be unclear.”
“I agree. But proving design is different from proving intent.”
Daniel looked through the garage window toward the kitchen.
Claire was making pancakes with Lily.
“What do I do?”
“Go to the party.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“You want me to take Lily into my mother’s house?”
“I want you to understand what she is planning. She needs something more than Claire’s signature. She needs an incident.”
“What kind of incident?”
“One that supports the claim you are unstable.”
Daniel thought of Tessa’s message.
Try not to make this difficult for Claire.
Nathan continued.
“Do not drink. Do not argue. Do not let anyone provoke you. Keep Lily close.”
“I was already planning that.”
“And Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“Assume every room has a camera.”
The line disconnected.
That afternoon, Claire drove Lily to preschool while Daniel worked from home.
At eleven, the doorbell rang.
A delivery driver stood outside holding six pastel gift bags.
“Birthday delivery for Lily Mercer.”
Daniel checked the label.
There was no sender.
Each bag contained tissue paper, candy and a small toy. Five were ordinary. The sixth held a child-sized white shirt with red letters printed across the front.
I RUIN EVERYTHING.
Daniel stared at it.
Beneath the shirt was a folded note.
Make him lose control.
He photographed the bag and called Nathan.
“Do not touch anything else,” Nathan said. “Place it in a clean container.”
“It was delivered to my house.”
“Can you identify the driver?”
“I have him on camera.”
“Good.”
Daniel checked the doorbell footage.
The driver wore a baseball cap and a courier vest. His face was visible when he turned toward the street.
Daniel zoomed in.
He had seen the man before.
Not in person.
In the restored frame from the security camera.
He was the driver of the black sedan.
Daniel called the courier company listed on the vest.
They had no employee by that name and no delivery scheduled to his address.
When Claire returned, Daniel showed her the shirt.
She covered her mouth.
“Who would send this?”
“Your new friend’s lawyer visited our house in the same car.”
Claire shook her head.
“No. The man who came here was older.”
“Did he have a driver?”
“I do not know. He came alone.”
Daniel showed her the note.
Claire sat down.
“This cannot be your mother.”
“You still believe that?”
“She would not involve Lily.”
“You signed a document that gives her access to Lily.”
“I told you I did not understand it.”
“And I believe you.”
Claire looked up, surprised.
Daniel placed both hands on the table.
“But I need you to stop defending her long enough to see what she is doing.”
Claire looked at the shirt again.
Her voice became quiet.
“Tessa told me you had been seeing a therapist.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“She said your company required it after an incident.”
“There was no incident.”
“She said you lost your temper during a meeting.”
“I walked out of a meeting because the director falsified safety reports.”
“Tessa said you threatened him.”
“Tessa was not there.”
Claire pressed her palms against her eyes.
Daniel understood.
Margaret and Tessa had not begun by attacking him. They had begun by making Claire doubt what she knew about him.
“When did Tessa first contact you?” he asked.
“About two months ago.”
“Not three days before the agreement.”
“No.”
“Then how did she witness it?”
Claire looked at the document again.
“I never saw her sign.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
A new message appeared from an unknown number.
Nice shirt.
Before he could respond, another message arrived.
Bring Lily on Saturday, or Claire learns what really happened at St. Vincent’s.
Claire saw the hospital name.
Her face went white.
May you like
Daniel had never heard of St. Vincent’s.
But his wife clearly had.
