Chapter 13 - The House With the Lights On
Mark stepped away from the curtain and called the police instead of going outside. June gathered everyone in the back bedroom. Her husband kept the front door locked while Sarah sat on the carpet with Sophie.
"Are we in trouble?" the child asked.
"No," Sarah said. "We're being careful. The grown-ups are handling it."
The truck drove off before the patrol car arrived. June's doorbell camera captured its license plate. Detective Ortiz confirmed it was registered to one of Nolan's companies.
"We're documenting this as possible intimidation," he told Mark. "Do not engage with him if he returns."
Clara's messages had also grown more desperate. She sent Mark old family photographs and then a single sentence: MOM WOULD HATE WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO ME.
Mark stared at it until Sarah sat beside him.
"Do you miss your sister?" she asked.
"I miss the sister I kept hoping she'd become."
"You can grieve that person and still protect the one who is actually in front of you."
Sophie appeared in the doorway wearing pajamas covered in stars. "Daddy, did Aunt Clara say I was bad because I am bad?"
He pulled her onto his lap. "No. Somebody scared you because you saw something she didn't want us to know. You did the brave thing when you told us."
"What if she comes back?"
"Then you tell us, and we handle it. You don't have to fight anybody. That's my job and Mom's job."
The following morning Ortiz called with news. Police had located Clara's car outside a motel. During the investigation, she agreed to speak with detectives through an attorney, and they obtained a search warrant for her vehicle.
"There was a bag in the trunk," Ortiz said. "Inside it was something that may belong to Sophie."
May you like
"Her tablet?"
"Not the tablet. A small memory card in a plastic case. The case has your daughter's name on it."
