Chapter 5 - HE CAME FOR LILY
Jason started pounding on the door.
“Emily, open up.”
Ruiz motioned for everyone to stay back.
Caroline whispered, “Do not engage.”
Jason hit the door again.
“Lily is my daughter too.”
My stomach tightened.
He knew exactly where I was.
I had never told him.
Rachel’s address wasn’t in his phone.
He had only met her twice.
“How did he find me?” I whispered.
Marcus looked toward my phone.
“Location sharing?”
I checked.
Disabled.
Then my car.
The Bennett family had insisted on buying Jason and me a new SUV after Lily was born.
Technically, Diane had paid the down payment.
Jason chose the dealership.
Marcus looked at me.
“Do you still have the SUV?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Parking garage.”
He swore under his breath.
“Tracker.”
Jason hit the door.
“If you don’t open this door, I’m calling the police.”
Ruiz walked over.
“I’ll speak to him.”
He opened the door only as far as the chain allowed.
Jason stood in the hallway.
His cheek was still red.
Diane was behind him.
And Brooke stood near the elevators holding her phone.
Of course she was filming.
Ruiz identified himself.
Jason blinked.
“What is CPS doing here?”
Ruiz remained calm.
“I’m conducting an investigation.”
Jason pointed toward the apartment.
“My wife kidnapped my daughter.”
I stepped forward.
“No, I didn’t.”
Jason saw me.
His expression immediately shifted into the wounded husband performance I knew so well.
“Emily, please.”
Diane shouted from behind him.
“That woman is unstable.”
Ruiz turned.
“Ma’am, please lower your voice.”
Diane pointed at me.
“She assaulted my son.”
“You struck Lily,” I said.
“She needed discipline.”
Ruiz’s head turned slowly toward her.
The hallway went silent.
Diane realized what she had said.
Brooke lowered her phone.
Jason closed his eyes.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“Stop talking.”
It was almost funny.
Almost.
Ruiz said, “Mrs. Bennett, did you strike the child?”
Diane crossed her arms.
“I tapped her.”
“You struck a two-year-old in the face?”
“She spilled soup all over my rug.”
Ruiz stared at her.
Caroline didn’t say anything.
She didn’t need to.
Diane was destroying herself.
Jason stepped forward.
“This is getting twisted.”
Ruiz looked at him.
“Did your mother strike your daughter?”
Jason hesitated.
That hesitation told everyone everything.
“I didn’t see it clearly.”
I laughed.
Jason glared at me.
Ruiz said, “There’s video.”
Jason’s face changed.
Diane snapped, “Brooke deleted that.”
Silence.
Caroline smiled.
Ruiz turned toward Diane.
“I didn’t say where the video came from.”
Diane went pale.
Brooke whispered, “Mom.”
Ruiz wrote something in his notebook.
Jason looked at me.
“You planned this.”
“No.”
“You’re trying to destroy us.”
“I’m trying to protect Lily.”
“From what?”
I stared at him.
“You.”
His face collapsed for half a second.
Then anger replaced it.
He stepped toward the door.
Ruiz blocked him.
“That’s enough.”
Jason pointed at me.
“You don’t get to take my daughter.”
“I get to keep her safe.”
“You’re not the only parent.”
“No.”
I nodded.
“I’m just the only one acting like one.”
Jason’s jaw clenched.
Ruiz told him to leave.
Jason refused.
Then building security arrived.
Brooke kept filming until Caroline looked directly at her.
“Make sure you get everyone’s face clearly.”
Brooke lowered the phone.
Jason finally stepped backward.
“You’ll regret this.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
He looked toward Lily’s bedroom.
“It’s a promise.”
The elevator doors closed behind the Bennetts.
Marcus immediately headed downstairs.
Twenty minutes later, he called from the parking garage.
“I found the tracker.”
“Where?”
“Behind the rear bumper.”
I closed my eyes.
May you like
Then he added something worse.
“It isn’t the only one.”
