Chapter 3 - The Black Bag in the Garage

The police arrived before Daniel opened the garage.

Officer Lena Morales spoke gently with Lily upstairs while another officer took statements from guests outside. Vanessa had stopped shouting by then. She sat on a patio chair with her arms folded, insisting the situation had been "misunderstood."

Kyle had left.

Daniel had never seen it before.

"Don't touch it yet," Rhodes said.

Inside were three things.

A small indoor camera.

And a spiral notebook.

Megan leaned closer. "Is that Vanessa's handwriting?"

Daniel knew it immediately.

The notebook contained dates.

Times.

Short entries.

Daniel stopped breathing.

"This matters."

"Where was that?"

Megan whispered, "The downstairs bathroom?"

He did not answer.

"Can you find out?"

Rhodes nodded. "We can check device records and footage if anything is stored."

Her calm disappeared.

"That is mine."

Morales looked at her. "What's yours?"

"The camera. It's for security."

"In a bathroom?"

"I never said it was in a bathroom."

Nobody spoke.

Not anger.

Clarity.

He walked toward her.

"Where was the camera?"

She stood.

"You're making this bigger than it is."

"Where was it?"

"It wasn't recording anything inappropriate."

"That wasn't my question."

"Daniel, stop performing for these people."

"Performing? You tied his kid to a pole."

Vanessa turned on her.

"You've always been jealous of me."

Rachel stepped closer. "No. I've been scared of you."

That silenced the patio.

Vanessa's eyes narrowed.

Daniel looked at Rachel.

"What does that mean?"

Rachel swallowed.

"Last month Vanessa asked me if I knew a family lawyer who could make a father look unstable."

Daniel stared at her.

Megan said, "Why?"

Rachel's voice dropped.

"Because she said she was building a case."

"For divorce?"

Rachel looked at Daniel.

"No."

She shook her head.

"For custody."

Daniel's phone rang.

He almost ignored it.

Then he saw the caller ID.

It was his bank.

He answered.

"Mr. Reed," a fraud specialist said, "we need to verify a transfer request from your joint account."

Daniel's eyes moved to Vanessa.

"What transfer?"

There was a pause.

"Two hundred and eighty thousand dollars."

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Vanessa stood up.

And ran.