Chapter 10 - The Broken Shed
Mara arranged for Aaron's original email and design files to be preserved, then contacted the county's public-integrity office. Daniel gave an investigator copies of the red-folder documents, careful not to make accusations he couldn't support.
That afternoon, someone left a note beneath his windshield wiper.
LET THE LAND GO. YOUR DAUGHTER HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH.
Daniel photographed the note and reported it. The officer told him to document any further threats.
He canceled a meeting and took Lily for ice cream. She chose strawberry, then changed to chocolate halfway through the line.
"You can change your mind," he told her.
"Really?"
"About ice cream? Absolutely."
She thought about that as though it were a complicated gift.
They returned home to find the gate hanging open.
June was beside the garden shed, speaking with Officer Walsh. Its lock had been forced and a stack of boxes overturned.
"Did they get anything?" Daniel asked.
June pointed to an empty shelf. "Claire kept an old survey map here. It was in a flat green case."
Daniel remembered the map. Claire had spread it over the dining table during arguments about the development. It showed a buried storm channel crossing the meadow.
"That's what they wanted," he said.
The officer photographed the door and checked for signs of entry into the house. There were none. Lily stayed inside with a trusted neighbor while Daniel helped make an inventory.
At sunset, she came to him holding her stuffed rabbit.
"Daddy, Vanessa said if people took Mommy's map, they'd win."
"When did she tell you that?"
"When she thought I was asleep."
May you like
Lily hesitated, then tugged his sleeve.
"But Mommy made another one. I know where she put it."
