Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN ACROSS THE STREET
Margaret didn’t get out of the car.
She simply watched the house.
Jenna closed the curtains.
“We leave through the back.”
“No.”
She stared at me.
“Claire.”
“I’m tired of running.”
“You have an eight-year-old daughter in this house.”
That stopped me.
I looked at Lily.
She was trying to be brave.
Children should never have to practice being brave inside their own homes.
“You’re right.”
We grabbed Michael’s flash drive and left through the rear garden.
Jenna drove us to an old friend of hers named Marcus Reed.
He was a criminal defense attorney.
More importantly, he hated Daniel.
Apparently everyone had known except me that Marcus and Daniel had once been business partners.
Marcus opened his apartment door and stared at my torn wedding dress.
“Please tell me you didn’t marry him.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then today is already improving.”
He let us in.
After listening to the recordings, Marcus became serious.
“How much do you know about Hawthorne Recovery Center?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s a private psychiatric facility.”
My skin prickled.
“Daniel arranged for me to be committed there.”
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
Marcus turned his laptop around.
“Hawthorne has been sued three times for holding wealthy patients longer than medically necessary.”
Jenna leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Guardianship.”
He explained.
A spouse could claim temporary incapacity.
A doctor could certify it.
An emergency guardian could gain control of property.
With forged documents, bribed doctors, and enough money, the process could be abused.
“How long?”
“For what?”
“To take control of everything.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Days.”
I felt sick.
“And then?”
He looked at Lily.
I understood.
“Say it.”
“If something happened to you while Daniel controlled the estate, ownership could transfer differently depending on the trust language.”
“To him?”
“Maybe.”
Lily spoke quietly.
“Grandpa said the girl was the problem.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What?”
Lily told him what Margaret had said.
Marcus leaned back.
“The girl is the problem.”
He repeated it slowly.
Then he turned to me.
“Claire, who inherits if you die?”
“Lily.”
“And who controls Lily’s inheritance?”
I answered without thinking.
“Her legal guardian.”
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
Marcus asked,
“Who did you nominate as guardian in the new estate documents?”
I already knew.
Daniel.
He had suggested it six months earlier.
Just in case something happens to both of us, he had said.
I stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“They weren’t just going to take my house.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“They were going to take Lily.”
A knock sounded at the apartment door.
Three hard knocks.
Marcus frowned.
“No one knows you’re here.”
He approached the door.
“Who is it?”
A man answered.
“Police.”
Marcus looked through the peephole.
Then at me.
“There are four officers.”
Relief flooded through me.
“Good.”
Marcus did not move.
“Claire.”
May you like
“What?”
“They’re with Daniel.”
