Chapter 4 - BRYCE CALDWELL COMES TO CROSSMOOR
Bryce arrived in a silver Mercedes he could not afford.
He always liked looking richer than he was.
Mara walked outside before Damon could stop her.
Bryce stepped from the car.
Perfect shirt.
Perfect hair.
Perfect expression of fake concern.
“There you are.”
Mara stopped ten feet away.
“How did you find me?”
“I’m Lily’s father.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
He smiled.
“You’ve been ignoring my calls.”
“I blocked you.”
“That explains it.”
Damon appeared behind Mara.
Bryce noticed him.
His confidence changed immediately.
“Mr. Cross.”
Damon did not respond.
Bryce extended a hand anyway.
Damon looked at it until Bryce lowered it.
“I’m here for Mara.”
“No,” Mara said.
“You’re here because you want something.”
Bryce’s smile thinned.
“The custody hearing moved.”
“I know.”
“My attorney believes we should discuss a settlement.”
Mara laughed once.
“You mean surrender.”
“I mean stability for Lily.”
Mara stepped forward.
“You left her alone in a motel room.”
“That was years ago.”
“She still remembers it.”
Bryce lowered his voice.
“You’re living in a stranger’s mansion now.”
“Working.”
“For a man under federal investigation.”
Damon’s eyes darkened.
Bryce noticed.
He enjoyed it.
“This place isn’t exactly stable, Mara.”
“You don’t know anything about this place.”
“I know enough.”
Then Bryce looked at Damon.
“My lawyer has photographs.”
Mara went cold.
“Photographs of what?”
“You coming and going.”
Bryce smiled.
“If I have to argue that my daughter’s mother has placed herself inside the home of an alleged criminal, I will.”
Mara slapped him.
The sound cracked beneath the portico.
Bryce touched his cheek.
Then he smiled.
“Thank you.”
Mara realized immediately.
A camera lens reflected from inside his car.
He had wanted that.
“You son of a bitch.”
Bryce stepped backward.
“See you in court.”
Damon moved.
Fast.
He grabbed Bryce by the shirt.
Bryce’s smile disappeared.
“You came onto my property to provoke an employee while secretly recording her.”
Damon’s voice was frighteningly calm.
“I suggest you leave.”
“Touch me again and—”
“You’ll what?”
Bryce said nothing.
Damon released him.
Bryce climbed into his Mercedes.
Before leaving, he rolled down the window.
“Mara.”
She looked at him.
“You have thirteen days.”
He drove away.
Mara turned on Damon.
“I didn’t need you doing that.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I needed you not to make him look right.”
“He was threatening you.”
“He lives for reactions.”
She wiped rain from her face.
“Now he has mine.”
Damon stared toward the gate.
Then he said, “I can get the recording.”
Mara looked at him.
“How?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
That afternoon, Mara picked Lily up from her mother’s apartment.
Lily climbed into the car holding a stuffed rabbit.
“Is the mansion scary?”
Mara smiled.
“A little.”
“Are there ghosts?”
“Probably rich ones.”
Lily laughed.
Mara brought her to Crossmoor because she had nowhere else safe to leave her for the evening.
The boys stood in a line when Lily entered.
Four identical faces.
Lily stared.
“Whoa.”
Jonah whispered, “She’s tiny.”
“I’m seven,” Lily snapped.
Eli whispered, “She’s mean.”
“I heard that.”
Micah smiled.
Within an hour, Lily had all four boys following her into the garden.
Mara watched through the window.
Damon stood beside her.
“They like her.”
“She doesn’t scare easy.”
“Like her mother?”
Mara glanced at him.
“Careful.”
For one peaceful moment, everything felt almost normal.
Then Noah screamed.
Mara ran outside.
Lily stood near the fountain.
Her face was white.
In her hands was a small black phone.
A burner phone.
Micah pointed toward the hedges.
“We found it under the bench.”
Mara took the phone.
The screen was still lit.
There was one open text message.
May you like
SHE BROUGHT THE GIRL.
WAIT FOR TONIGHT.
