Chapter 7 - Dean Reed at the Door
Dean Reed arrived Tuesday afternoon wearing the dark work jacket he'd worn at Daniel's funeral. His hair had gone gray, and a pale scar ran from his ear to his jaw, left by a glass shard on the night of the fire.
Sarah opened the door but kept herself between him and the hallway. "You shouldn't be here."
"Neither should I," he said. "But you've had three years to call me, and you never did."
"I asked the hospital how Mason was."
"You sent one card while my boy spent months learning to use his left hand again. He woke up screaming because he could still hear Daniel inside that garage."
Sarah lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't tell the truth."
Dean opened a folder. Inside were still images from the neighbor's camera: Ethan and Mason in the garage, a flash, Daniel running toward the smoke, Sarah in the yard with Lily. The final image showed Ethan trying to run back inside before Sarah pulled him away.
"I didn't know you had this," she whispered.
"I found it on an old backup drive. I've watched it so many times I know every frame."
"Why send it to Ethan? He's a child."
"He was a child when your husband died. You decided he should never face what he did. My son has faced it every day."
Sarah knew Dean's pain was real. But threatening a teenager and pushing him toward a public breakdown was not justice.
"You don't get to terrorize him," she said. "If you want the truth, ask for it. Don't manipulate him into hurting people."
Dean's mouth tightened. "I want you both at the old firehouse Friday. Ethan tells the truth. You tell the truth. If you don't, the video goes to the police and every parent who saw him hit his sister."
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He stepped off the porch, then turned back. "My son has scars he can't take off. Your son has a mother who keeps saving him from consequences. How many times can you do that?"
Sarah closed the door. She finally knew who was behind the messages. She still didn't know how far he was willing to go.
