Chapter 6 - The Second Camera
The second camera was hidden inside a smoke detector in Daniel's home office.
It faced his desk.
His safe.
"Someone wasn't just watching Lily," she said.
"They were watching me."
Megan folded her arms. "For what?"
Daniel knew.
"Money."
Vanessa was one of them.
Daniel opened the safe.
A folder was missing.
The draft sale agreement.
"Freeze everything."
"Daniel, what happened?"
"I'll explain later. No wires. No signatures. No changes unless you see me in person."
"Done."
Daniel hung up.
Morales asked, "Could Vanessa profit from the sale?"
"Half of some assets if we divorced. More if I was declared unfit and she controlled Lily's trust."
"Lily has a trust?"
"My parents created it before they died. It holds shares in the company."
"How much?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Enough."
Morales' expression sharpened.
"Enough to motivate this?"
"Yes."
He hated every second.
"Lily says Vanessa often told her that if she made Daniel angry, Daniel would leave."
Daniel looked down.
"She also says Vanessa made her repeat certain sentences."
"What sentences?"
Erin checked her notes.
"'Daddy yells all the time.' 'Daddy scares me.' 'Daddy drinks too much.'"
Daniel stared at her.
"I barely drink."
"I know. We're documenting what Lily says happened, not validating the claims."
"So she was training her."
Erin's silence answered.
Then Lily opened the door.
"Dad?"
Daniel turned.
"I forgot I hid this."
He crouched.
"What is it?"
She handed it to him.
It was a child's drawing.
Three stick figures.
Daniel.
Lily.
Vanessa.
A man in a dark blue shirt.
Kyle.
"Who was he talking to?"
Lily pointed to Vanessa.
"When?"
"The day she broke your coffee mug."
Daniel remembered that night.
He had raised his voice.
Not at Lily.
At the situation.
Vanessa had been filming.
Morales studied the drawing.
"Daniel, we may be looking at a coordinated attempt to manufacture evidence."
His phone rang again.
This time it was Aaron.
"Daniel, we've got a bigger problem."
"What?"
"Someone tried to submit your digital signature on the property sale this morning."
Daniel looked at Morales.
"Who?"
May you like
Aaron exhaled.
"The request came from your home IP address."
