Chapter 10 - THE CAMERA ACROSS THE STREET
For the first time since the accidental phone call, I was truly afraid.
Not angry.
Not heartbroken.
Afraid.
Rachel told me to call the police.
Noah installed additional cameras before sunrise.
Robert stayed in the house while my mother took Hailey and me to her home.
Liam called at 8:04 a.m.
“Where’s Hailey?”
“With me.”
“I came by.”
My skin went cold.
“When?”
“Just now.”
The cameras showed his car arriving at 7:58.
Not 2:17.
So either Liam was lying about when he had been there, or someone else had delivered the photograph.
“Did you come last night?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“The kind you answer.”
“Emma, stop acting insane.”
I hung up.
Police collected the envelope.
There were no obvious fingerprints.
The neighborhood cameras showed a dark SUV passing around 2:09 a.m., but the license plate was obscured.
Then Noah found something.
A private investigator had been hired to watch me.
The invoice appeared in HML’s accounting records.
Client authorization: Liam Carter.
The investigator was named Calvin Price.
Rachel contacted him through counsel.
Calvin admitted Liam had hired him.
But he denied delivering the envelope.
His assignment had been to document my daily routines.
“When did Liam hire you?” Rachel asked.
“Three months ago.”
I stared at him.
“Before I knew about Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said he expected a custody dispute.”
“Three months ago?”
“Yes.”
Hailey had been barely six weeks old.
The affair was active.
The land scheme was active.
The life-insurance beneficiary request had already been submitted.
And Liam had already been collecting material for custody.
“What did you find?” I asked.
Calvin looked uncomfortable.
“Nothing useful.”
“Meaning?”
“You went to the grocery store. Pediatric appointments. Your mother’s house. Occasionally coffee with a friend. You were home most nights.”
“And Liam?”
“He didn’t ask me to follow himself.”
Of course.
Calvin slid a flash drive across the table.
“These are my reports.”
Rachel asked, “Why give them to us?”
“Because I terminated the contract this morning.”
“Why?”
Calvin looked at me.
“Because someone used one of my surveillance photographs to threaten Mrs. Carter.”
The photograph in the envelope had come from his files.
Only three people had access.
Calvin.
His assistant.
And Liam.
That afternoon, police questioned Liam.
He denied sending the threat.
Then something unexpected happened.
Calvin called again.
“I reviewed my download logs.”
Someone had accessed his client portal at 1:41 a.m. using Liam’s credentials.
The IP address did not trace to Liam’s home.
It traced to Diane Carter’s house.
Liam’s mother.
When Noah heard, he refused to believe it.
“She wouldn’t threaten Emma.”
But Diane had already admitted hiding information.
She knew about Melissa.
She knew about Claire.
She knew more than she had told us.
We drove to her house.
She opened the door before we knocked.
Her face crumpled when she saw us.
“You found out.”
Noah stared at his mother.
“Did you send that photograph?”
“No.”
“Someone accessed Liam’s surveillance files from your house.”
Diane stepped aside.
“You need to see something.”
She led us downstairs.
The basement door was open.
A mattress lay on the floor.
A duffel bag.
Men’s shoes.
A laptop charger.
“Who’s staying here?” Noah asked.
Diane began crying.
“Liam.”
My breath caught.
“He told me he was sleeping at a hotel,” I said.
“He’s been here some nights.”
“Was he here at 1:41?”
Diane shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who used his laptop?”
She looked toward the basement stairs.
“Melissa.”
The cousin who had impersonated me.
Noah’s face changed.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Diane gripped the railing.
“She came here last night hysterical. She said Liam had ruined her life.”
“Did she send the envelope?”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“Because she thinks you’re going to have her arrested.”
“She committed fraud.”
“I know.”
Then Diane whispered something else.
“She said if she goes down, Liam is going down too.”
I stepped closer.
“What does she have?”
Diane looked at me.
“A recording.”
My heart kicked.
“Of what?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t let me hear it.”
Then headlights swept through the basement window.
A car stopped outside.
Diane’s face drained of color.
“That’s Melissa.”
But when Noah opened the front door, Melissa was not driving.
May you like
Liam was.
And Melissa was sitting beside him, crying, with a flash drive clenched in her hand.
