Chapter 3 - The Best Man
The darkness lasted three seconds.
That was enough.
A crash came from the hallway, followed by one of the guards shouting. I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight.
Grace grabbed the laptop.
“Stay here.”
I opened the door.
One guard was bent over, bleeding from the nose. The second was chasing Victoria toward the back staircase.
“She hit the emergency panel!” he yelled.
Victoria knew the house alarm controls because I had shown them to her.
I hated myself for that.
I ran after her.
She reached the kitchen, shoved through the service door, and sprinted across the courtyard barefoot. Her heels were abandoned on the stone behind her.
“Victoria!”
She turned near the garage. “Ask Eric!” she shouted.
Then she jumped into a waiting black SUV.
Waiting.
The vehicle took off before I could see the driver.
My phone rang.
Eric.
My younger brother. My best man in six days.
I answered without speaking.
“Daniel?” he said. “Victoria just called me freaking out. What the hell happened?”
“You tell me.”
Silence.
Then he laughed softly. “I have no idea what that means.”
“Rebecca left a video.”
The laugh stopped.
I leaned against the garage door because my knees had gone weak.
“You knew Victoria before I did.”
“Daniel—”
“You lied to me.”
“I can explain.”
“Did you know what she was doing to Noah?”
“No.” His answer came too fast. “Absolutely not.”
“Did you know she was trying to get guardianship?”
Another silence.
That one told me everything.
I ended the call.
Back inside, Grace had opened the first folder from Rebecca’s drawer. It contained copies of legal filings.
One petition claimed I was emotionally unstable after Rebecca’s death and unable to provide a safe environment for Noah.
The witness who signed it was Eric.
The attached medical notes were private records from a grief therapist I had seen for four months.
The person listed as the source was Victoria Shaw.
Grace went pale.
“They already filed this?”
I checked the date.
Three weeks earlier.
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was a text from Eric.
DON’T CALL THE POLICE UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT REBECCA DID.
May you like
A second message appeared.
SHE WASN’T THE VICTIM YOU THINK SHE WAS.
