Chapter 7 - The Black SUV
I got Lily into the car and locked the doors.
“Mommy, why are you shaking?”
“I’m cold.”
It was a bad lie.
She knew it.
I drove two blocks before pulling into a pharmacy parking lot.
Then I called the police non-emergency line and reported the threatening messages.
The dispatcher asked whether I knew who sent them.
“I have a guess.”
But guesses weren’t proof.
At home, I changed every password I could think of.
Banking. Email. Cell phone. Cloud storage. Credit monitoring.
Then I called the credit-card company and disputed the Disney deposit.
Lily sat at the kitchen table coloring.
After ten quiet minutes, she asked, “Did Grandma do it because she likes Sophie more?”
I put the phone down.
“No.”
She looked at me.
I corrected myself.
“I don’t know why Grandma did it.”
“Maybe I’m annoying.”
That hit harder than anything Vanessa had said.
I crossed the kitchen and knelt beside her.
“You listen to me. Adults make selfish choices for adult reasons. You do not carry those choices around like they are facts about you.”
She nodded, but she didn’t look convinced.
The doorbell rang.
I checked the camera.
Dad.
Alone.
I let him in.
He looked ten years older than he had that morning.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I waited.
He swallowed.
“For the card. For the tickets. For all of it.”
“Did Mom send you?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
He sat at my kitchen table and pulled a folder from his coat.
“I went through my desk.”
Inside were business statements, loan notices, and copies of checks.
“Daniel has borrowed from us before,” Dad said.
“How much?”
“Forty-three thousand over three years.”
I stared at him.
“You gave him forty-three thousand dollars?”
“Your mother did most of it.”
“Without telling you?”
He nodded.
I leaned back.
“And you still let Vanessa make Lily feel like she was a burden because the group was too expensive?”
Dad’s eyes dropped.
“I didn’t know about the Disney plan until last week.”
“But you went along with it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His answer came slowly.
“Because your mother said Vanessa was having a hard year and needed something happy.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So Lily got sacrificed to protect Vanessa’s happiness.”
Dad said nothing.
His phone rang.
Mom.
He ignored it.
Then he slid one final sheet across the table.
It was a photocopy of a check from my parents’ account.
Pay to the order of: Pierce Logistics.
Amount: $18,500.
Memo: Property tax.
I looked at Dad.
“What property tax?”
His face went pale.
“That’s the problem. Pierce Logistics doesn’t own property.”
Before I could answer, my security camera alert flashed.
Motion detected: backyard.
May you like
I opened the feed.
A man in a dark jacket was standing beside Lily’s bedroom window.
