Chapter 10 - A FATHER COMES HOME
Judge Morales granted Daniel emergency bond the next morning.
The prosecution objected.
Loudly.
It didn’t matter.
Evidence had been tampered with.
A witness had been threatened.
A foundation archive had burned hours after a search warrant arrived.
Daniel walked out of the courthouse at 11:17 a.m.
Lily hit him like a missile.
“Daddy!”
Daniel dropped to his knees.
For ten full seconds he said nothing.
He just held her.
Margaret watched from several feet away.
Daniel finally stood.
His eyes met hers.
“Thank you for keeping her safe.”
Margaret nodded.
“I almost didn’t.”
“But you did.”
It wasn’t forgiveness.
But it was something.
At Margaret’s house, Lily fell asleep on the couch between them.
Daniel looked around the living room.
“You kept everything the same.”
Margaret knew what he meant.
The piano.
The clock.
Robert’s old chair.
“Some things.”
Daniel stared at Robert’s chair.
“Burn that.”
Margaret almost laughed.
“Maybe tomorrow.”
Silence settled.
Then Margaret said, “I know about the money.”
Daniel looked away.
“Raymond told me.”
“Good.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He turned back.
“I did.”
“No, you—”
“I tried.”
His voice sharpened.
“I stood in this room and told you Robert was lying.”
Margaret remembered.
“You were angry.”
“I was terrified.”
“I thought—”
“That was always the problem.”
Daniel stood.
“You thought about your court. Your reputation. Your husband. Your foundation.”
His eyes filled.
“You never once thought maybe your son was telling the truth.”
Margaret had faced killers without blinking.
She couldn’t face this.
“I failed you.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That sentence cost you three seconds.”
“I’ve had twenty years to earn it.”
That stopped him.
Margaret looked at Lily sleeping.
“I can’t give those years back.”
“No.”
“But I can stop lying about them.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
Then the doorbell rang.
Rosa opened the front door.
A package sat outside.
No delivery truck.
No driver.
Daniel was instantly alert.
“Don’t touch it.”
Ortega was called.
Police checked it.
No explosive.
Inside was a blue mitten.
The missing one.
Dark red stained one corner.
Lily woke and stared.
“That’s mine.”
Daniel grabbed it before she could.
The cuff felt wrong.
Thick.
He ripped the seam open.
Something tiny fell onto the table.
A microSD card.
Margaret stared at it.
Daniel whispered, “Emily.”
They loaded it onto a laptop.
One video file appeared.
Six years old.
Daniel pressed PLAY.
The screen showed a road at night.
Rain.
Headlights.
Emily’s silver car.
Then a black Lincoln came racing up behind her.
Margaret grabbed Daniel’s arm.
The Lincoln struck Emily’s car once.
Twice.
Then forced it toward the guardrail.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Margaret whispered, “Robert.”
The video continued.
The Lincoln stopped.
A man stepped out.
May you like
Not Robert.
Grant.
