Chapter 5 - The Daughter Who Started Asking Questions
Ava did not call me that morning.
She called Lauren.
I learned that later.
At the time, all I knew was that Daniel’s house had become very quiet.
My security feed showed him walking from room to room with his phone pressed to his ear.
The basement door stayed closed.
My office camera remained covered.
At 12:06 p.m., Scott arrived.
He did not use the front door.
He entered through the garage.
Daniel met him there.
The garage camera had no audio, but their body language did not need sound.
Scott was furious.
Daniel was trying to control him.
They disappeared into the laundry room, the only part of the first floor without a camera.
Ava watched them from the stairs.
She waited until the door shut.
Then she went into the kitchen, grabbed her phone, and walked outside.
Forty minutes later, Lauren called me.
I had not spoken to her in almost a year.
“Claire?”
Her voice sounded cautious.
“Yes.”
“It’s Lauren.”
“I know.”
A pause followed.
“Ava called me.”
I sat down on the edge of the hotel bed.
“What did she say?”
“That depends on whether you want the version she gave me first or the version she gave me after I stopped letting her dodge questions.”
Despite everything, I nearly smiled.
“The second one.”
Lauren exhaled.
“She says you didn’t shove her.”
I closed my eyes.
Hearing the truth should have felt like relief.
It didn’t.
It felt late.
“She backed into me.”
“I believe you.”
“Why?”
“Because she admitted it.”
I said nothing.
Lauren continued.
“She said she was angry before you touched her.”
“Why?”
“She thought you were trying to get rid of her.”
My eyes opened.
“What?”
“She said Daniel told her you wanted her to move in with me full-time.”
I stood.
“That’s not true.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he told me the opposite.”
I went still.
Lauren’s voice sharpened.
“He told me you were pushing him to reduce my summer weeks because you wanted Ava to yourself.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Daniel had built two opposite stories and handed one to each household.
To Ava, I was the stepmother trying to exile her.
To Lauren, I was the stepmother trying to steal her.
Both lies achieved the same thing.
Neither woman trusted me.
Neither woman talked to the other.
And Daniel stayed in the middle, translating everyone’s motives.
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
Lauren gave a humorless laugh.
“Control is efficient when nobody compares notes.”
I sat back down.
“How long has he been doing this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Years?”
“Probably.”
I thought of every awkward custody exchange.
Every birthday plan that mysteriously changed.
Every time Lauren seemed cold to me.
Every time Daniel told me, “Don’t take it personally, she’s always been jealous.”
I had believed him because believing my husband seemed more reasonable than assuming he was manufacturing hostility.
Lauren lowered her voice.
“There’s more.”
I almost said of course there is.
Instead, I waited.
“Ava heard Daniel and Scott talking last night.”
“About the papers?”
“She mentioned something about your office.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What exactly did she hear?”
“She said Scott asked Daniel if you had the original deed.”
I stood again.
“Where was Ava?”
“On the basement stairs.”
“They knew she was there?”
“No.”
“What else?”
Lauren hesitated.
“She heard your name and the word signature.”
I closed my eyes.
“She thinks her father is in trouble.”
“He is.”
“Is this criminal?”
I looked at Rachel, who was sitting at the small desk in my hotel room reviewing documents.
She shook her head once.
Not because the answer was no.
Because I should not discuss details yet.
“I have an attorney handling it.”
Lauren understood.
“Okay.”
“I need you to keep Ava away from the house if things escalate.”
“I’m already driving there.”
My eyes opened.
“You’re what?”
“She asked me to come get her.”
“Daniel knows?”
“No.”
“Lauren.”
“She is my daughter too.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not leaving her in a house where two grown men are whispering about forged signatures.”
I looked at Rachel.
She held out her hand for the phone.
I put the call on speaker.
Rachel introduced herself and told Lauren not to enter the house if she felt unsafe.
“Stay outside,” Rachel said.
“Text Ava and have her come to you.”
Lauren agreed.
Then her voice changed.
“I’m five minutes away.”
We ended the call.
I opened the security feed.
Ava was sitting on the bottom step of the staircase.
Daniel and Scott were still hidden in the laundry room.
At 12:54 p.m., a car pulled up outside.
Lauren.
Ava’s phone buzzed.
She looked at the screen.
Then she stood.
She moved quietly through the foyer and reached for the front door.
Before her fingers touched the handle, Daniel stepped out of the hallway.
“Where are you going?”
Ava spun around.
“Outside.”
“With a backpack?”
Her face changed.
Daniel looked through the narrow window beside the door.
He saw Lauren’s car.
His expression hardened instantly.
“You called your mother?”
Ava lifted her chin.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’m going with her.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Dad.”
“You’re staying here.”
Ava took one step backward.
The security camera captured Scott appearing behind Daniel.
That made the scene worse.
Two adult men in the foyer.
One sixteen-year-old girl holding a backpack.
I grabbed my phone.
Rachel put a hand over mine.
“Lauren is there.”
“I’m calling her.”
“Good.”
Lauren answered immediately.
“I can see them through the window.”
“Stay in your car.”
“I’m not leaving without her.”
Inside the house, Ava reached for the door again.
Daniel stepped in front of it.
“Put the bag down.”
“No.”
“Ava.”
“No.”
Scott spoke from behind him.
“Don’t be stupid, kid.”
Ava’s head snapped toward her uncle.
Daniel turned on Scott.
“Shut up.”
That moment was enough.
Ava pulled open the door.
Daniel grabbed the backpack strap.
Not Ava.
The strap.
But the force jerked her backward.
Lauren was out of her car before I could say anything.
She crossed the lawn at a run.
“Take your hand off her!”
Daniel released the backpack.
The front door stood open.
Lauren stopped at the bottom of the steps.
Her face was white with anger.
“Move.”
Daniel laughed once.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“She lives here.”
“She called me because she wanted to leave.”
“She’s sixteen.”
“Yes.”
Lauren’s voice went colder.
“Which is why you don’t get to trap her in a house because your wife found out what you’ve been doing.”
Daniel’s face changed.
The camera microphone caught Scott muttering behind him.
“What did she tell you?”
Lauren looked past Daniel.
“That question tells me enough.”
Ava moved down the steps.
Daniel caught her wrist.
This time he touched her.
Lauren surged forward.
“Daniel.”
He released Ava immediately.
Ava ran to her mother.
Lauren wrapped one arm around her and guided her toward the car.
Daniel followed them onto the lawn.
“Ava, get back inside.”
Ava stopped.
For a second, I thought she would obey.
Three years of watching her father manage every emotional temperature in that house had trained her well.
Then she turned around.
Her face was wet with tears.
“You told me Claire wanted me gone.”
Daniel stopped.
Lauren looked at him.
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
Daniel recovered quickly.
“She did.”
I whispered, “No.”
Ava shook her head.
“Mom said you told her Claire wanted more custody time.”
Daniel stared at Lauren.
Lauren stared back.
For once, his two separate stories had reached the same room.
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Ava’s voice broke.
“Which one was true?”
Daniel glanced toward Scott.
That was his mistake.
Ava saw it.
So did Lauren.
So did I.
Ava stepped backward toward the car.
“You lied to both of us.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Then explain it.”
“This is adult business.”
“You made me part of it.”
He stepped closer.
Ava raised one shaking hand.
“Don’t.”
The same word she had thrown at me the day before now sounded different.
Not theatrical.
Not calculated.
Afraid.
Lauren opened the passenger door.
Ava climbed in.
Daniel stood on the sidewalk as they drove away.
Scott remained behind him.
The camera captured both men watching the car disappear.
Then Scott said something I barely heard.
“We need that drive.”
Daniel answered without looking at him.
“I know.”
My stomach tightened.
The flash drive.
Margaret’s videos.
They knew it existed.
Rachel reached for her phone.
“We need to get Margaret somewhere safe and get the original device.”
Before she could dial, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Margaret whispered.
May you like
“Claire, Scott is outside my house.”
