Chapter 17 - The Mother Who Came for Her Daughter
Vivian took one step into the room.
David stood.
“You need to leave.”
“I’m here for my daughter.”
Brooke backed away.
“I’m not going with you.”
Vivian’s expression changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
“Brooke, come home.”
“No.”
“Now.”
“No!”
Vivian looked around the room. “You people have poisoned her against me.”
Lily came back from the hallway.
“No. You did that.”
Vivian turned on her.
“You stay out of this.”
Emma stepped between them.
“Don’t talk to her like that.”
Vivian laughed once. “Of course. Emma Reed, protector of children now.”
“You framed me.”
That stopped her.
Emma held up a still image from the old video.
Vivian’s face emptied.
“You kept that?”
“I didn’t. Somebody at Brightwood did.”
Margaret, Emma thought.
Maybe guilt had made her keep a copy all those years.
Vivian looked toward David.
“How much do you want?”
Brooke stared at her mother.
“Are you serious?”
“Everybody wants something.”
Emma remembered the envelope in Jenna’s driveway.
Ten thousand dollars for silence.
Nine years stolen from Emma.
Months of fear for Lily.
Jenna’s broken ankle.
A dozen girls made smaller so Brooke could stay large.
“No,” Emma said. “Some people just want you to stop.”
Vivian’s face hardened.
Then she lunged for Brooke’s phone on the coffee table.
Emma got there first.
Vivian shoved her.
Emma hit the wall but stayed upright.
Carla shouted.
David called 911.
Vivian grabbed for the phone again.
This time Brooke stepped between them.
“Don’t touch her.”
Vivian froze.
Mother and daughter stared at each other.
Brooke was crying.
“So this is what it feels like,” she whispered.
Vivian frowned. “What?”
“To be scared of you.”
The words landed harder than a slap.
Police arrived minutes later.
They escorted Vivian out after taking statements about the forced entry and assault.
But before the cruiser door closed, Vivian looked through the window at Emma.
And smiled.
Emma’s phone buzzed.
May you like
A message from Margaret Grant.
THE STUDIO IS ON FIRE.
