Chapter 4
The second investigator’s name was Caleb Ross.
I learned that at two in the morning while sitting in Megan’s living room with Sophie asleep beside me.
Daniel remained at the house with the police.
Caleb had been hiding in the downstairs office.
He claimed Linda hired him.
Not to photograph me.
To search our home.
The police found a small camera in his bag, lock-picking tools, and several photographs of documents from Daniel’s office.
My stomach twisted when Daniel told me.
“What documents?”
“Bank statements. Insurance information. Sophie’s birth certificate.”
I stood.
“Her birth certificate?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I know.”
His voice broke.
For once, I didn’t feel satisfaction.
I felt tired.
Deeply tired.
“Did police arrest him?”
“For unlawful entry.”
“Did he say why Linda wanted the documents?”
“He lawyered up.”
“What about your mother?”
“They’re sending officers to talk to her.”
I looked toward Megan.
She was awake now.
Watching me.
“Call me when you know more,” I said.
“Rachel.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
I closed my eyes.
“Not tonight.”
Then I hung up.
Megan handed me water.
“You need sleep.”
“I need answers.”
“You won’t get them tonight.”
She was right.
I hated that.
The next morning, Sophie woke before seven.
She climbed into my lap.
“Can I go to school?”
I hadn’t expected that.
“Do you want to?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She shrugged.
“Because today is science lab.”
Something in me cracked.
Children were amazing that way.
The world could collapse around them, but if there was baking soda and vinegar waiting in science class, some part of life still made sense.
“I’ll drive you.”
Megan came with us.
I didn’t want Sophie walking from the parking lot alone.
At the school entrance, she hugged me.
“Will Grandma be there?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
That was a promise I could control.
I watched until she disappeared inside.
Then my phone rang.
An unknown number.
“Mrs. Walker?”
“Yes.”
“This is Detective Alvarez with the Brookfield Police Department.”
My stomach tightened.
“I’m calling regarding the incident at your residence.”
“Yes.”
“We’d like you to come in.”
“Why?”
“We have questions about your mother-in-law.”
I looked at Megan.
“What kind?”
“There are several matters we need to clarify.”
“When?”
“As soon as possible.”
I went directly there.
Megan stayed with me.
Daniel was already waiting.
He looked like he hadn’t slept.
When he saw me, he stood.
I didn’t hug him.
He didn’t try.
Detective Alvarez led us into an interview room.
She was calm.
Direct.
The kind of person who made silence feel intentional.
She placed a folder on the table.
“Mr. Ross admitted Mrs. Walker hired him.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“She sent him into our house?”
“He says he believed he had permission.”
“From who?”
“He claims Mrs. Walker told him she was a resident.”
“She isn’t,” I said.
“How often does she stay there?”
“Never overnight.”
“Does she receive mail there?”
“No.”
“Keep belongings there?”
“No.”
Alvarez nodded.
“That helps.”
Daniel asked, “What was he looking for?”
“Documents.”
“Which?”
“Financial records. Medical records. Records related to your daughter.”
I leaned forward.
“Medical records?”
“Yes.”
“What medical records?”
“He had a list.”
She slid a photocopy toward us.
My name.
Sophie’s name.
Our doctors.
Insurance numbers.
A line that made my breath catch.
Rachel Walker psychiatric treatment.
I looked up.
“I’ve never received psychiatric treatment.”
“I understand.”
Daniel stared at the paper.
Then another line.
Prescription medications.
“I take allergy medication,” I said.
Alvarez nodded.
“We found no evidence supporting the implication on the list.”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“My mother told people Rachel was unstable.”
“I heard.”
“How?”
Alvarez opened another file.
“Mr. Ross had audio recordings.”
My stomach tightened.
“Of Linda?”
“Yes.”
“She instructed him to find anything that could support a future custody case.”
I stared at Daniel.
He went pale.
Alvarez continued.
“She specifically said Mr. Walker needed leverage.”
Daniel whispered, “I never asked for that.”
The detective watched him.
“Did you ask your mother to gather evidence against your wife?”
“No.”
“Did you know she was doing it?”
“I knew about Mark Harris.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at me.
Then answered.
“Because I believed my wife might be cheating.”
Alvarez did not react.
“Was there evidence?”
“No.”
“Why did you believe that?”
“My mother told me.”
“Did she provide proof?”
“No.”
“Yet you authorized surveillance.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Yes.”
I looked at the table.
Hearing him admit it to a detective made it worse.
More real.
Alvarez turned to me.
“Mrs. Walker, has Linda ever threatened you?”
I thought.
“Not directly.”
“What does that mean?”
“She says things.”
“What things?”
“That Daniel will choose her.”
“That Sophie belongs with family?”
I stared at her.
“How do you know that?”
She tapped the folder.
“Recording.”
Mark’s recording.
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
I remembered Megan.
“She told my sister I might be hospitalized.”
“For what?”
“She implied a mental breakdown.”
“Have you ever been hospitalized for mental health reasons?”
“No.”
“History of psychiatric illness?”
“No.”
Daniel shifted.
Alvarez noticed.
“You disagree?”
“No.”
“Then why did you consult a custody attorney?”
He closed his eyes.
“My mother convinced me Rachel was becoming unstable.”
My chest tightened.
Alvarez asked, “Examples?”
“She said Rachel was forgetful. Angry. Working late. She said Sophie was afraid of her.”
I stared at him.
“Did Sophie ever tell you she was afraid of me?”
“No.”
“Did you ask her?”
His silence answered.
Alvarez leaned back.
“I’m not a marriage counselor, Mr. Walker, but I need you to understand something.”
Daniel looked at her.
“If your mother was fabricating evidence, your cooperation gave her access.”
He nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
“No,” Alvarez said. “I don’t think you do yet.”
She took out photographs.
Linda outside Sophie’s school.
Linda beside a woman I recognized.
Sophie’s teacher.
My stomach dropped.
“What is that?”
Alvarez looked at me.
“Your mother-in-law approached several people who interact with your daughter.”
Daniel whispered, “Why?”
“To ask questions about your parenting.”
I stared at the picture.
“Did the teacher tell her anything?”
“We don’t know.”
I grabbed my phone.
“I’m calling the school.”
“Do that,” Alvarez said.
I stood.
Then she added, “There’s another issue.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“Mr. Ross photographed a document in your home office.”
She placed it on the table.
A life insurance policy.
Daniel’s.
Five hundred thousand dollars.
I frowned.
“We know about that.”
Alvarez tapped the beneficiary line.
It listed me.
Then she slid another page beside it.
A change-of-beneficiary form.
Unsigned.
My name had been crossed out.
Linda’s had been written in.
Daniel stared.
“I’ve never seen that.”
“Neither have I,” I said.
Alvarez looked at him.
“Could your mother legally change your beneficiary?”
“No.”
“Does she have power of attorney?”
“No.”
“Has she ever asked for it?”
Daniel’s face went still.
“What?”
“Mr. Walker?”
He looked at me.
“Two months ago.”
My heart sank.
“She asked me to sign a limited power of attorney for the company.”
“Why?” Alvarez asked.
“She said if something happened to me, someone needed authority.”
“Did you sign?”
“No.”
He paused.
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think?”
“She brought papers. I signed some company forms that day.”
Alvarez leaned forward.
“Do you still have copies?”
“I’ll check.”
I called the school.
The principal answered after my second transfer.
“Yes, Mrs. Walker. Linda has spoken to Ms. Bennett.”
My pulse raced.
“About what?”
“She said she was worried about Sophie’s home life.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“There was no formal allegation.”
“Did she ask for records?”
The principal hesitated.
“She asked whether grandparents could access attendance records.”
“And?”
“We declined.”
“Did she try to pick Sophie up?”
A pause.
Then my blood ran cold.
“Yesterday.”
I gripped the phone.
“What?”
“She came around three.”
“That was before I got home.”
“Yes.”
“She was at my house with Sophie after school.”
“She signed her out twenty minutes early.”
I stared at Daniel.
“What reason did she give?”
“She said Sophie had a dental appointment.”
There was no dental appointment.
“Who authorized it?”
“She was listed as an approved pickup.”
I remembered signing that form months ago.
At Daniel’s insistence.
Family should help.
I felt sick.
“Remove her.”
“Immediately.”
“And nobody picks Sophie up except me or my sister Megan until further notice.”
“What about her father?”
I looked at Daniel.
His face crumpled.
That question hurt.
But I wasn’t ready.
“Please call me before releasing her to anyone except me or Megan.”
Daniel looked down.
The principal agreed.
When I hung up, Daniel whispered, “You don’t trust me with my own daughter.”
I looked at him.
“I don’t trust what your mother can convince you to do.”
He nodded painfully.
“I deserve that.”
Detective Alvarez’s phone vibrated.
She checked it.
Then stood.
“Excuse me.”
She left the room.
Ten minutes passed.
When she returned, her expression had changed.
“Your mother wasn’t home.”
Daniel looked up.
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
My stomach tightened.
“Her car?”
“Gone.”
“Phone?”
“Off.”
Daniel immediately called.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Alvarez said, “Do you know where she might go?”
Daniel thought.
“She has a cabin near Lake Geneva.”
“Address?”
He gave it.
Alvarez wrote it down.
Then her phone buzzed again.
She read the message.
Her eyes lifted toward us.
“What?”
I asked.
She looked at Daniel.
“Your company accountant called police.”
Daniel stood.
“Paul?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He found another account.”
Daniel became still.
“What account?”
“One opened eight months ago.”
“In whose name?”
Alvarez looked at me first.
Then Daniel.
“Your daughter’s.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Sophie Walker.”
Daniel stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
Alvarez continued.
“The account has received more than ninety thousand dollars in transfers connected to your company.”
My hands went numb.
“Someone has been stealing money in my nine-year-old daughter’s name?”
“That’s what it appears.”
Daniel whispered, “Mom.”
I looked at him.
And for the first time, I saw something in his face that frightened me.
Not confusion.
Not sadness.
Rage.
He reached for the door.
I stood.
“Daniel.”
“I’m finding her.”
Detective Alvarez blocked him.
“No.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“And this is now an active investigation.”
“She used Sophie.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sitting here.”
“If you interfere, you could damage the case.”
Daniel’s chest rose and fell.
Then his phone rang.
Linda.
Everyone froze.
Alvarez raised one finger.
“Answer it.”
Daniel put it on speaker.
“Mom.”
Linda’s voice was calm.
Too calm.
“Daniel, I need you to listen carefully.”
“Where are you?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“You’re angry.”
“You stole from my company.”
Silence.
Then Linda said, “I saved your company.”
Daniel stared at the phone.
“You opened an account in Sophie’s name.”
“That was necessary.”
I felt my nails digging into my palm.
Daniel’s voice shook.
“Necessary for what?”
“To protect what belongs to our family.”
“It belongs to Sophie?”
“It will.”
“What are you talking about?”
Linda exhaled.
Then she said something none of us understood.
“You think Rachel is Sophie’s only secret.”
Daniel looked at me.
I stared back.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
Linda laughed softly.
“Ask your father.”
Daniel’s face drained.
“My father is dead.”
May you like
“No,” Linda said.
“He isn’t.”
