Chapter 10 - The Photo
Sarah did not panic.
She wanted to.
Instead, she called Detective Pierce.
Within minutes, the school went into a controlled security hold.
Ellie was moved to the main office with the counselor and principal.
Emily felt physically sick.
“This is because of me.”
Sarah grabbed her shoulders.
“No. This is because someone is trying to scare you.”
“They took a picture of my child.”
“And that means we take it seriously. It does not mean we obey them.”
Pierce arrived twenty minutes later.
He bagged the prepaid phone.
“Grant is in custody,” Emily said. “Linda is being questioned. Who else knows?”
“Kyle knew about the argument,” Sarah said.
Emily shook her head. “Kyle helped us.”
Pierce looked at her. “Helping once doesn’t erase other possibilities.”
They called Kyle.
He answered immediately.
When Pierce told him about the photo, Kyle went silent.
Then he said, “Check Derek Vale.”
Emily frowned.
“Who’s Derek?”
“Grant’s old business partner.”
“What business?”
Kyle swore softly.
“The one he told everybody failed.”
Pierce leaned forward. “Explain.”
Kyle said Grant had invested in a small contracting company three years earlier. The company collapsed after accusations of false invoices and unpaid jobs.
“Grant blamed Derek,” Kyle said. “Derek blamed Grant. Mom paid off some of Grant’s debts.”
Emily felt cold.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
“Maybe forty grand. Maybe more.”
Sarah looked at Emily.
Fifty thousand suddenly made sense.
Not greed.
Debt.
Cover-up.
Desperation.
Pierce asked, “Where is Derek now?”
“Still local, I think.”
Then Kyle added, “Wait.”
“What?”
“Grant said something last month. He said Derek had proof that could put him away.”
Emily’s pulse jumped.
“What kind of proof?”
Kyle answered, “Invoices in Emily’s name.”
The room went silent.
Emily whispered, “My name?”
Pierce stood.
“If someone used your identity in a financial scheme, the stolen savings may be only part of this.”
Sarah looked at the prepaid phone in the evidence bag.
The screen lit up again.
A new message had arrived.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT QUIET.
Attached was a second photo.
May you like
This one was not of Ellie.
It was of Sarah’s house.
