Chapter 9 - Glass on the Floor
Claire dragged both children down before the second crash.
A brick hit the kitchen wall and dropped beside the refrigerator.
Naomi crawled toward the hallway.
“Stay down!”
Claire grabbed her phone.
“911.”
Ethan could hear tires squealing outside.
By the time police arrived, the car was gone.
The brick had a message taped around it.
GIVE BACK WHAT ISN'T YOURS.
Officer Martinez read it and looked at Naomi.
“What exactly did Daniel put in that locker?”
Naomi glanced at the children.
“Enough to make someone nervous.”
Police moved Claire, Ethan, and Lily to a hotel under a different reservation name for the night.
Amanda was questioned.
Trent claimed he had been at his office.
His employees backed him up.
The audio was powerful, but detectives still needed to authenticate the speaker, trace the financial activity, and connect anyone to Daniel's crash.
By evening, Ethan was exhausted.
He sat on the hotel bed staring at the carpet.
Claire sat beside him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Fair.”
“Did Dad know Amanda hated me?”
Claire took a long breath.
“I don't think your dad understood how bad it was.”
“He knew I missed lunch.”
“He thought it might be neglect. He started gathering proof because he didn't want Amanda to convince everyone you were lying.”
Ethan's eyes burned.
“He should've believed me without proof.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
That answer surprised him.
“He should have.”
Ethan cried then.
Quietly.
Not because he was scared of Amanda.
Not because of the broken window.
Because somebody had finally said Dad had been wrong too.
Across the room, Lily woke up.
She climbed off the other bed and crawled between them.
“We're still brother and sister, right?”
Ethan wiped his face. “Yeah.”
“Even if Mom says no?”
“Yeah.”
“Even if she's in jail?”
Claire looked away.
Ethan held Lily's hand.
“Yeah.”
At 10:43 p.m., Naomi knocked on the hotel door with a detective.
They had found something on Daniel's flash drive.
Not bank records.
Video.
Daniel had placed a hidden camera inside his home office after someone repeatedly entered while he was away.
The clip was dated two nights before his Alaska trip.
Amanda entered the office.
Trent followed.
They searched Daniel's desk.
Then Amanda asked, “What if he already gave the evidence to Naomi?”
Trent replied, “Then we make sure he doesn't get back before we find out.”
Amanda looked nervous.
“I didn't agree to hurt him.”
Trent smiled.
“You agreed the moment you signed his name.”
The detective paused the video.
“That's enough for warrants.”
Then his phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His expression hardened.
“We have a problem.”
May you like
Amanda was gone.
And Lily's school had just reported that someone using Amanda's identification had requested Lily's emergency records and pickup authorization forms that afternoon.
