Chapter 6 - THE OTHER FAMILY
The man’s name was Owen Pike.
He had been Serena’s driver in Boston four years earlier.
He looked nervous from the moment Daniel escorted him into the service sitting room.
“I saw the news alert,” Owen said. “Her name. Your house. The police. I figured if I stayed quiet again, I’d be part of it.”
Victor leaned forward. “Part of what?”
Owen rubbed his palms together.
“Before you, Serena was engaged to a real-estate developer named Paul Danner. He had a daughter. Six years old.”
Lily sat nearby with Ethan asleep against her chest.
“What happened to the girl?” she asked.
Owen looked at the floor.
“She started having accidents. Panic attacks. She told a teacher Serena locked her in a closet when she cried.”
Victor felt anger rise behind his ribs.
“Was Serena charged?”
“No. Paul blamed the nanny. The nanny got fired. A month later Paul broke off the engagement after his daughter disappeared from the house for three hours.”
“Disappeared?”
“She was in a storage room. Locked in.”
Victor’s hands curled.
Owen reached into his coat and removed an old flash drive.
“I copied this before I quit. I thought I might need it someday.”
Daniel plugged it into an isolated laptop.
The drive held photos, text messages, and one audio file.
A child crying.
Serena’s voice saying, “If you tell your father, he’ll send you away.”
Lily’s face went white.
Victor stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
“Where is Paul Danner now?”
Owen swallowed.
“Dead.”
The room went still.
“How?” Victor asked.
“Car crash. Eleven months after he ended things with Serena.”
Daniel turned from the laptop.
“Sir… there’s a transfer record on this drive.”
“From who?”
May you like
Daniel looked at Victor.
“From Serena. To a mechanic who worked on Danner’s car.”
