Chapter 6 - HER VERSION OF HIM
Daniel went straight to the school after calling Marcus.
The principal, Mrs. Ellis, met him in a small office beside the library.
He placed his identification on the desk.
“My children’s aunt is no longer caring for them. I need to know exactly what information you have.”
Mrs. Ellis read the hospital paperwork he chose to share and called the office manager in.
They reviewed the authorized pickup list.
Rachel had been listed with Daniel’s permission months earlier.
That part was real.
The request to make her the primary contact was not.
“We didn’t remove you,” Mrs. Ellis said. “But I can see that two calls were directed to her first.”
“What calls?”
“Owen fell asleep in class. And there was a concern about food.”
Daniel’s fingers went still.
“What concern?”
“He was putting part of his lunch into his backpack.”
“For later?”
Mrs. Ellis hesitated.
“For his sister.”
Daniel looked down at his hands.
He had signed up for extra shifts to keep the mortgage current, rebuild savings after Anna’s illness, and pay Rachel for helping.
His son had been saving sandwich halves.
“What did Rachel tell you?”
“That Lily was going through a picky phase. That Owen was anxious since his mother died.”
Mrs. Ellis folded her hands.
“We should have spoken with you directly.”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
He wasn’t loud.
She nodded anyway.
They updated the records and discussed what staff should do if Rachel appeared.
At the preschool, Daniel repeated the process.
Then he called the bank from his parked car.
Rachel had access to one household spending account. He removed that access.
While reviewing recent activity, he saw transfers he didn’t recognize.
Two hundred dollars.
Four hundred.
Nine hundred and fifty.
The descriptions looked ordinary at first.
CHILD EXPENSE.
SCHOOL.
REIMBURSEMENT.
But Owen’s school fees had already been paid.
Lily’s preschool billed his main checking account.
He opened the savings account he had set aside from Anna’s life insurance for the children.
The balance was wrong.
Not a few hundred wrong.
Thousands.
Daniel checked the date on the largest transfer.
It was the day Rachel had sent him a picture of Lily smiling at the park.
Under the picture, she had written:
You can relax. I’m taking care of everything.
His phone buzzed again.
May you like
A message from an unfamiliar number.
This is Marisol Torres next door. I saw the police last night. There’s something I should have told you before.
