Chapter 12 - No Way Back
Ortiz refused Daniel’s first suggestion.
“No.”
“My presence is what Richard wants.”
“That is exactly why the answer is no.”
“He won’t confess to an undercover officer.”
“We don’t need a confession badly enough to put you inside a volatile scene.”
Grace agreed.
Celeste agreed.
Daniel argued until Emma appeared at the doorway.
“Are you going back there?”
Everyone stopped.
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“I may have to.”
Her face drained.
“To the pool?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Emma—”
“No.”
She backed away.
“You said you were here.”
“I am.”
“Then stay.”
Daniel felt the room tighten around him.
Ortiz looked away, giving them privacy without leaving.
Daniel approached Emma slowly.
“Richard has evidence that can stop him from hurting anyone else.”
“Police can get it.”
“They’re trying.”
“Then let them.”
Daniel could hear Rachel’s letter in his mind.
Do not make this about winning.
He almost agreed.
Then Ortiz’s phone buzzed.
She read the message.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She looked at Daniel.
“Richard moved the meeting.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Vanessa had just received instructions.
Midnight.
Pool house.
Come with Daniel or the Rachel files burn.
Daniel looked at Emma.
This was no longer about beating Richard.
Rachel’s correspondence could prove how long the fraud had existed.
It could clear Daniel completely.
More importantly, it could establish Richard’s manipulation of Vanessa and Northstar before the girls ever became targets.
Ortiz arranged a controlled operation.
Vanessa would wear a transmitter.
Daniel would not.
Too risky if searched.
Police tactical units would remain outside the mansion.
Daniel and Vanessa would enter together.
The moment Richard produced incriminating evidence or threatened either of them, Ortiz would move.
Grace hated it.
“This is not a movie.”
Daniel said, “I know.”
“Then stop acting like a man who needs the final scene personally.”
“I don’t.”
Grace stared at him.
“Are you sure?”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
“No.”
That answer was the reason Grace finally stopped arguing.
Before Daniel left, he went upstairs.
Emma sat on the edge of Sophie’s bed.
Sophie was asleep holding a stuffed rabbit.
Daniel crouched.
“I’m not asking you to be okay with this.”
Emma stared at him.
“Then why are you going?”
“Because Richard has something that could help protect you.”
“You always say protect.”
Daniel flinched.
Emma continued.
“Mom said protect. Vanessa said protect. Richard called the trust protection.”
She looked furious now.
“Everybody says protect when they want to decide something for us.”
Daniel sat on the floor.
“You’re right.”
Emma blinked.
“I should have asked what you needed.”
She looked away.
“I need you not to go.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I may not be able to give you that.”
“Then don’t say you’re protecting me.”
The words landed cleanly.
Daniel nodded.
“You’re right.”
He remained silent.
Finally Emma asked, “Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
That surprised her.
Daniel continued.
“I’m scared Richard will destroy evidence. I’m scared I’ll make the wrong decision. I’m scared you’ll never trust me the way you used to.”
Emma stared at him.
“You shouldn’t want me to trust you the old way.”
Daniel’s breath caught.
“What do you mean?”
“I trusted you even when you didn’t listen.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“No.”
She was right.
“I want you to trust me differently.”
“How?”
“Because I earn it.”
Emma looked at him for a long time.
Then she reached into her pocket.
A small red plastic bracelet.
Hospital identification from the night of the sauna.
She had kept it.
Daniel stared.
“Why do you still have that?”
“So I remember it happened.”
He could not speak.
Emma held it out.
“Bring it back.”
Daniel took the bracelet.
Not forgiveness.
A condition.
A promise with evidence.
“I will.”
At 11:43 p.m., Daniel entered his former mansion beside Vanessa.
The house was dark.
Police had remotely disabled external security alarms while keeping covert feeds active.
Vanessa looked pale.
“You don’t have to hate me every second.”
Daniel glanced at her.
“I don’t.”
She looked almost relieved.
“I don’t think about you enough for that.”
The relief disappeared.
They walked toward the pool.
The blue water glowed exactly as it had that night.
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
The sauna door stood closed.
Vanessa stopped looking at it.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel said nothing.
“I know it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters.”
She looked at him.
“Just not enough.”
Vanessa nodded.
They entered the pool equipment room.
Richard was already there.
No suit.
No polished smile.
Dark jacket.
Gloves.
A metal case sat on a workbench.
“You came.”
Daniel looked around.
“Where are Rachel’s files?”
Richard smiled.
“You always skip hello.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“I brought him.”
Richard looked at her.
“You also brought police.”
Vanessa froze.
Daniel’s pulse jumped.
Richard reached into the metal case.
Not a weapon.
A small electronic detector.
Vanessa’s hidden transmitter had been found.
Richard pulled it free from beneath her blouse collar.
He dropped it onto the floor.
Crushed it under his shoe.
Outside, Ortiz’s audio feed died.
Richard smiled at Daniel.
“Now we can finally talk honestly.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
Richard pressed a button.
The equipment-room lock engaged.
Then another.
Through the interior window Daniel saw metal shutters descending across the pool-house exits.
Richard had controlled the renovation.
Of course he had.
Vanessa whispered, “Richard, don’t.”
He opened the maintenance vault.
Inside were boxes of files.
Hard drives.
Contracts.
Rachel’s letters.
Everything.
Then Richard picked up a red gasoline can.
Daniel stared.
Richard smiled.
“You wanted the truth.”
He unscrewed the cap.
“Here it is.”
Outside the mansion, police suddenly lost every camera feed.
Inside, Daniel looked at the locked steel door.
Another door.
May you like
Another trap.
And this time there was no blinking red camera waiting to save him.
