Chapter 11 - The Night She Came Back
Nobody spoke for several seconds after the recording ended.
Then Sarah replayed it.
Calvin: "If Mark ever finds out what you did to Daniel, this whole thing is over."
Linda: "Daniel made his own choices."
Calvin: "You had me scare him off the road."
Linda: "And you said nobody would connect it to us."
The rest dissolved into static.
Mark stood so fast his chair tipped over.
"Dad's crash wasn't an accident."
June looked sick. "I suspected. I never knew."
Ruiz took the flash drive as evidence and immediately called a detective supervisor.
Sarah grabbed Mark's wrist. "Do not go after her."
"She killed him."
"We don't know exactly what happened."
"We heard her."
"And if you go charging into her hotel, she'll turn you into the dangerous one. That's what she does."
Noah watched from the stairs.
Mark saw him and forced himself to stop.
"You're right."
That night, Ruiz arranged extra patrols around the Carter house. Sarah slept in the guest room. June stayed upstairs. Noah asked if Mark could sit in the hall until he fell asleep.
"As long as you want," Mark said.
At 1:17 a.m., the alarm chirped.
One window had opened.
Mark was on his feet before the second chirp.
Sarah appeared with her phone in hand.
"Back door?"
"Kitchen window."
They heard glass crunch downstairs.
Mark called 911 and locked Noah and June in the upstairs bedroom.
"Do not come out," he said.
A shadow moved through the kitchen.
Then a familiar voice whispered, "Mark?"
He stopped at the top of the stairs.
Linda stepped into the hall below.
She wore a dark coat and held nothing in her hands.
"I just want to talk."
"You broke into my house."
"My house."
"Not anymore."
Her eyes changed.
"Where's the drive?"
Sarah lifted her phone and began recording.
"You mean the one with you and Calvin talking about Dad?"
Linda looked toward her daughter.
For the first time, fear replaced anger.
Then she smiled.
"You always were dramatic, Sarah."
Sirens sounded outside.
Linda's smile vanished.
She bolted toward the kitchen.
May you like
Before Mark could move, another figure appeared outside the broken window and grabbed her arm.
Calvin Shaw hissed, "You were supposed to get the drive, not get caught."
