Chapter 14 - David’s New Partner
The video lasted forty-one seconds.
David never mentioned Lily by name.
He didn’t have to.
“I’m taking the future.”
That sentence was enough.
Within fifteen minutes, Marcus doubled Lily’s security detail.
Her school was notified.
Every authorized pickup was suspended except me, Thomas, Marcus, and Arthur.
I drove to the school personally.
Lily came running toward me at dismissal.
“Mom!”
She hugged my waist.
I held her tighter than usual.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Children know when adults lie.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Is it Dad?”
My heart hurt.
We rarely spoke about David.
Her therapist had taught me not to turn him into a monster or erase him entirely.
“He’s making some bad choices again,” I said.
“Is he coming here?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I promise I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
She accepted that.
For now.
Thomas arrived at the estate after his hospital shift.
He found me standing in the kitchen, staring at security feeds on a tablet.
“You haven’t eaten,” he said.
“I’m not hungry.”
He quietly made soup anyway.
That was Thomas.
He never told me to calm down.
He never told me I was overreacting.
He simply stood beside me until the world felt less sharp.
Marcus entered twenty minutes later.
“We found Daniel.”
“Where?”
“Hotel near Midway.”
“Arrested?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t yet have probable cause connecting him to the archive theft.”
I stared at him.
“He is on camera removing the box.”
“From a storage unit legally registered under Rebecca’s stolen identity. That gives us identity fraud, potentially. But the archive-room break-in is different.”
“Then bring him in for questioning.”
“He already agreed to meet.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
Marcus held up his phone.
“Because he claims David betrayed him.”
Two hours later, Daniel Kerr walked into the conference room.
He was fifty-one, prematurely gray, with the tired appearance of someone who had spent a lifetime carrying anger.
He looked at Arthur first.
“You got old.”
Arthur remained cold.
“So did you.”
Daniel sat.
“I don’t want a lawyer.”
Elena smiled without warmth.
“You should.”
“I’m not here to protect myself.”
He looked at me.
“I’m here because David Vance is insane.”
I didn’t respond.
Daniel placed a flash drive on the table.
“I approached him eight months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because he was desperate and I hated the Montgomery family.”
“Honest.”
“I’ve had thirty years to practice.”
Daniel explained that after Samuel died, he discovered references to Project Harbor.
He found the Wisconsin property records.
Then he learned about David’s downfall.
“I thought he was perfect,” Daniel said. “Bitter. Humiliated. Motivated.”
“You helped him find Rebecca.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca’s face hardened.
“You used my identity.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To access the lake property without alerting Sarah’s lawyers.”
Rebecca nearly crossed the table.
Marcus stepped between them.
Daniel didn’t defend himself.
“I deserve whatever happens.”
“Where is the box?” I asked.
His expression changed.
“David took it.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who broke into the corporate archive?”
“David did.”
Arthur frowned.
“How?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You taught him for twenty years. You really think he learned nothing?”
“What does that mean?”
“He bribed someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Elena leaned forward.
“Then what exactly are you giving us?”
Daniel pointed to the flash drive.
“Recordings.”
My pulse jumped.
“What recordings?”
“David talking about what he plans to do if Sarah refuses.”
Marcus inserted the drive into an isolated laptop.
Audio filled the room.
David’s voice.
“If Sarah won’t sign, we scare her.”
Daniel’s recorded voice asked, “How?”
David responded:
“Lily.”
Every molecule inside me froze.
Then:
“We don’t hurt the kid. Jesus. We just make Sarah think we can reach her.”
Thomas’s hand tightened around mine.
The audio continued.
“Once Sarah believes Lily isn’t safe, she’ll sign anything.”
Daniel paused the file.
“That was when I walked away.”
I looked at him.
“You helped him until he threatened my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t expect gratitude.”
“I don’t.”
Marcus copied the files.
“This gives us conspiracy and extortion.”
Elena nodded.
“And potentially enough for a federal warrant.”
Daniel looked at me.
“There’s something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“He has someone inside your house.”
Nobody moved.
Thomas stood.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel shook his head.
“He said he had eyes inside the estate.”
Marcus’s face became terrifyingly calm.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
My phone vibrated.
A text from Lily’s bedroom tablet.
MOM?
I opened it.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
THERE’S A MAN OUTSIDE MY WINDOW.
