Chapter 3 - THE PHOTOGRAPH
Daniel pushed past his mother.
“Give me that.”
Ethan reached for the photograph first.
Daniel slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch it.”
“Daniel, calm down.”
Daniel grabbed the frame.
His breathing stopped.
The woman in the upstairs window was blurry.
But he knew that face.
He had kissed it thousands of times.
He had watched that face beside him in the hospital when Sophie was born.
He had spent three years trying to forget the exact curve of Emily’s smile because remembering hurt too much.
“Where was this taken?”
Margaret closed the door.
“Daniel, put Sophie in another room.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No more secrets in front of my daughter.”
Sophie clung to his hand.
Margaret looked at her granddaughter.
Guilt passed across her face.
Daniel saw it.
“You knew Vanessa tied her up?”
Margaret looked shocked.
“What?”
“She tied Sophie’s wrists yesterday.”
Ethan muttered, “Jesus.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
“I didn’t know.”
“But you knew Vanessa was taking her to see Emily.”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
Daniel felt something inside him crack.
“My wife is alive.”
His mother whispered, “Yes.”
Sophie looked up.
“Daddy?”
Daniel couldn’t answer.
He stared at Margaret.
“For three years?”
Margaret nodded.
Daniel stumbled backward.
“You watched me bury an empty coffin.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From my wife?”
“From what happened to her.”
“What happened?”
Margaret sat down.
Her hands were trembling.
“After Sophie was born, Emily changed.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“She became frightened.”
“Of what?”
“She believed people were following her.”
“She believed money was disappearing from the company.”
“She said someone in this family wanted her dead.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
Ethan stared at the floor.
Margaret continued.
“The night of the crash, Emily called me.”
“She was hysterical.”
“She said she couldn’t trust anyone.”
“She begged me to help her disappear.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You expect me to believe Emily abandoned her daughter voluntarily?”
“She thought Sophie would be safer with you.”
“Then why didn’t she call me?”
Margaret began crying.
“Because she was afraid of you too.”
Daniel flinched as though she had struck him.
“That’s a lie.”
“I wish it were.”
“Where is she?”
“Daniel—”
“WHERE IS SHE?”
Sophie started crying.
Daniel immediately lowered his voice.
He picked her up.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
Margaret wiped her face.
“She’s at a private treatment residence.”
“The blue house?”
“Yes.”
“Take me there.”
“I can’t.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Can’t?”
“Or won’t?”
Ethan stepped forward.
“There are doctors involved.”
“Then they can explain it.”
“You’ll make things worse.”
“My daughter saw her mother through a window like a prisoner.”
“She’s not a prisoner.”
“Then why couldn’t Sophie go inside?”
Nobody answered.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling Aaron.”
Margaret’s face changed.
“Don’t involve the police.”
That was the moment Daniel knew.
There was more.
Far more.
“Why not?”
Margaret looked toward Ethan.
Ethan shook his head slightly.
Daniel saw the exchange.
“What are you two hiding?”
Margaret whispered:
“The car crash wasn’t an accident.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Emily caused it.”
“That’s impossible.”
“She drove the car off the bridge herself.”
“No.”
“She wanted everyone to think she died.”
Daniel’s thoughts spun.
“Then how did her blood get inside the car?”
Margaret looked away.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Mom.”
“How?”
Ethan answered.
“She planned it.”
Daniel’s eyes snapped toward him.
“How do you know?”
Ethan realized too late what he had said.
Daniel moved closer.
“Were you there?”
“No.”
“You said she planned it.”
“That’s what Mom told me.”
Daniel looked between them.
Neither met his eyes.
Sophie suddenly tugged his sleeve.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Mommy gave me something.”
Every adult in the room went still.
Daniel looked down.
“What did she give you?”
Sophie reached inside the pocket of her little denim jacket.
She pulled out a tiny silver key.
Margaret turned white.
Ethan whispered:
May you like
“Oh, no.”
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