Chapter 5 - THE NEIGHBOR WHO WAITED TOO LONG
Daniel drove straight to Mark’s house.
He didn’t mention the threat in front of Lily.
Instead, he asked Mark to sit with her while he checked the backyard again.
Mark followed him outside.
“I should’ve told you sooner.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Told me what?”
Mark rubbed both hands over his face.
“About Claire.”
Daniel’s patience disappeared.
“Start talking.”
Mark stared at the maple tree.
“Four months ago, I heard Lily crying near the shed.”
“I looked over the fence.”
“Claire had her standing with her hands against the wall.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
Mark’s eyes dropped.
“Claire saw me.”
Daniel waited.
“She came over that night.”
“She told me you were going through a custody evaluation and that Lily had behavioral problems.”
“She said if I interfered, she’d tell the court I was spying on a child.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You believed her?”
“I was scared of making it worse.”
“You did make it worse.”
Mark flinched.
Daniel regretted the words immediately, but he did not take them back.
Mark nodded.
“I know.”
Then he reached into his pocket.
“There’s something else.”
He opened an old photo on his phone.
It had been taken during Sarah’s memorial fundraiser two years earlier.
Claire stood near the edge of the frame.
Daniel felt the air leave his lungs.
He had met Claire six months after that fundraiser.
She had told him she had never attended it.
Beside Claire stood a man in a charcoal suit.
Daniel recognized him too.
Peter Reed.
The attorney who had helped Sarah create Lily’s trust.
The attorney Daniel still used.
Mark zoomed in.
Claire was handing Reed the blue metal box.
Daniel’s phone rang.
Peter Reed’s name appeared on the screen.
Daniel answered slowly.
Reed spoke before he could say hello.
“Daniel, do not go to the police.”
Daniel’s blood went cold.
May you like
“I never told you I was thinking about the police.”
On the other end, Reed went silent.
