Chapter 10 - THE PHOTOGRAPH OF LILY
I don’t remember leaving the courtroom.
I remember calling Lily’s school.
I remember hearing the receptionist say she was in class.
I remember demanding that no one let her out of the building.
I remember Morales taking my phone and forwarding the photograph to cybercrime.
And I remember Marlene.
She was standing beside a court officer.
Handcuffs around her wrists.
Watching me.
“What?”
I demanded.
“What did you do?”
For once, she didn’t look offended.
She looked afraid.
“I didn’t send that.”
“Then who did?”
“Derek.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop lying.”
“Ethan.”
“You threatened her.”
“I was frightened.”
“You put your hand over her mouth.”
“I know.”
“You told her Rachel might not wake up.”
“I know.”
I moved closer.
A deputy stepped between us.
“Then don’t stand there pretending you care.”
Marlene’s eyes filled with tears.
“I do care.”
“You care about control.”
“I never wanted Lily hurt.”
“Your choices already hurt her.”
Marlene looked away.
Then she whispered, “Derek won’t hurt her.”
I stared at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because he loves Rachel.”
Rachel had walked up behind me.
She heard.
“My brother tried to kill me.”
Marlene turned.
“No.”
“He cut my brake line.”
“No.”
“He gave me propranolol.”
Marlene shook her head violently.
“Victor said Derek did that.”
“And you believe Victor?”
Marlene froze.
Rachel stepped closer.
“After everything?”
Marlene’s voice cracked.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Rachel stared at her mother.
“Welcome to the family.”
The school locked down voluntarily until police arrived.
Lily was escorted out through a rear entrance.
She ran into my arms.
“Why are there police?”
I held her.
“We’re being extra careful.”
“Because of Grandma?”
“Because of some adults who made bad choices.”
Rachel hugged her too.
We didn’t show Lily the photograph.
Not yet.
Police moved us again.
This time to a secure hotel floor.
Marlene remained in custody.
The forged notebook destroyed her credibility at the guardianship hearing.
The judge dismissed the emergency petition and referred the documents for criminal investigation.
It should have felt like a victory.
Instead, I spent the afternoon staring at the picture of my daughter.
Someone had been close enough to photograph her outside school.
That meant our security measures had already failed once.
Morales came in around six.
“We traced the message.”
“Where?”
“Disposable phone.”
“Of course.”
“But the photograph metadata helped.”
“How?”
“It was taken on a device that briefly connected to public Wi-Fi near the school.”
“Camera?”
“Phone.”
“Can you identify it?”
“Possibly.”
“How long?”
She ignored the question.
“We also found Derek’s car.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near Percy Priest Lake.”
“Any sign of him?”
“No.”
“Blood?”
“No.”
“Phone?”
“No.”
“Then he switched vehicles.”
“Probably.”
Rachel sat near the window.
“What does he want?”
Morales looked at her.
“You.”
“Why?”
“That’s what we need to determine.”
Rachel stood.
“I’ll talk to him.”
“No.”
“If he contacts me—”
“No.”
I said it harder than I intended.
Rachel looked at me.
“I’m tired of everyone deciding what I can handle.”
“This isn’t about that.”
“It’s always about that.”
“You were poisoned three days ago.”
“And our daughter is being threatened because of me.”
“Because of them.”
Rachel looked away.
Morales interrupted.
“Derek may contact you whether we want him to or not.”
She placed a small recording device on the table.
“If he does, keep him talking.”
At 8:43 P.M., he called.
Rachel’s phone.
Unknown number.
She looked at Morales.
Morales nodded.
Rachel answered.
“Derek?”
Silence.
Then his voice.
“You sound better.”
Rachel’s face tightened.
“You tried to kill me.”
“No.”
“Mom says you gave me the beta blocker.”
“Mom says whatever saves Mom.”
“Did you cut my brakes?”
“No.”
“Did you burn the basement?”
A pause.
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
Derek laughed bitterly.
“Enough.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m not innocent.”
“Then come in.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Hale will kill me.”
“You helped him.”
“I helped Mom.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“You don’t understand how this started.”
“Then explain it.”
“Mom had debts.”
“From what?”
“Me.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
Derek continued.
“I owed money.”
“How much?”
“At first?”
“A hundred grand.”
“Then more.”
“Mom moved money to help me.”
“Dad found out.”
“So you stole from him.”
“Yes.”
“Then Hale got involved.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He offered to hide the transfers.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Access.”
“To Dad’s foundation?”
“Yes.”
Rachel began crying silently.
Derek’s voice softened.
“I didn’t know what Hale was doing with the patient files at first.”
“When did you know?”
“After Dad died.”
“And you kept helping?”
“I was already trapped.”
“No.”
Rachel wiped her face.
“You kept choosing.”
Derek went quiet.
Then he said, “You’re right.”
The room was silent.
“What happened to Dad?”
Rachel asked.
Derek breathed slowly.
“I don’t know everything.”
“What do you know?”
“Mom gave him pills.”
Rachel’s face went white.
“What pills?”
“She said Victor told her they’d make Dad sick.”
“Did she know they could kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
I felt sick.
“What did you do?”
“I drove him to the hospital.”
“Hale’s hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom told me to.”
“What happened?”
“Hale met us.”
“Then?”
Derek’s voice broke.
“He told us Dad had a heart attack.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“I saw the bottle.”
“What bottle?”
“The one Mom used.”
“It said digoxin.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Then you knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I’m sorry.”
Rachel laughed through tears.
“You’re sorry?”
“I was twenty-nine.”
“You were an adult.”
“I was scared.”
“So was Dad.”
“I know.”
“Where is Hale?”
Derek didn’t answer.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why call?”
“Because he has a file on Lily.”
Every person in the room froze.
“What kind of file?”
“School.”
“Medical.”
“Pictures.”
“Schedules.”
My hands curled.
“What does he want?”
“The original ledger.”
“We already gave it to police.”
“No.”
Derek said.
“Not Thomas’s ledger.”
Rachel looked confused.
“What other ledger?”
“The Bellweather ledger.”
Morales leaned closer.
Rachel said, “Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why does Hale think I do?”
“Because Dad told him you would someday.”
The room went silent.
“That makes no sense.”
Derek continued.
“Thomas hid the Bellweather ledger before his death.”
“He said one day Rachel would find the person Daniel trusted.”
I thought of Thomas’s letter.
My father.
Daniel.
“What person?”
I whispered.
Derek heard me.
“Ethan?”
“I’m here.”
Derek became quiet.
Then he laughed softly.
“Of course you are.”
“Who did Daniel trust?”
“You really don’t know?”
“No.”
“Ask your mother.”
My heart stopped.
“My mother?”
Derek continued.
“Ask her where Daniel went the night before Route 17.”
The call ended.
I stared at my phone.
My mother lived in Ohio.
I had spoken to her two days earlier.
She knew Rachel was in the hospital.
She knew nothing about the investigation.
At least, I thought she didn’t.
I called immediately.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Morales asked, “When was the last time you physically saw your mother?”
“Christmas.”
“Where?”
“Her house.”
“Does she still live at the same address?”
“Yes.”
Morales was already calling Ohio authorities.
Twenty minutes later, a patrol unit arrived at my mother’s house.
Front door unlocked.
Lights on.
Car in the driveway.
No sign of her.
In the kitchen, officers found a broken mug.
A chair knocked over.
And one envelope on the table.
My name was written across the front.
Inside was a single sentence.
BRING THOMAS’S LEDGER IF YOU WANT YOUR MOTHER BACK.
May you like
For the first time, Hale had stopped hiding behind my wife’s family.
Now he had taken someone from mine.
