Chapter 8 - The Locked Gate
Danielle called Detective Ortiz from the car.
Lucas drove.
Too fast.
“Do not go inside until patrol arrives,” Ortiz said.
“My daughter is in there.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I understand enough to know that charging into a volatile family situation can make things worse.”
Lucas gripped the steering wheel.
“My mother isn’t going to hurt her.”
Danielle turned.
He looked straight ahead.
Neither of them believed the sentence anymore.
They reached the estate in twenty-two minutes.
The front gate was closed.
Lucas punched his code.
ACCESS DENIED.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Danielle stared.
“Did you change the code?”
“No.”
Ortiz arrived behind them with two patrol cars.
Lucas stepped out.
“This is my house.”
“Who owns it?” Ortiz asked.
“My family trust.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Lucas hesitated.
“My mother has the controlling residence interest.”
Ortiz looked at Danielle.
“Any court order limiting her access to Mia?”
“No.”
“Then legally this is complicated.”
“My daughter called me and said she was being taken somewhere.”
“That gives me reason to check welfare.”
Ortiz approached the intercom.
She pressed the call button.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then the gate opened.
Evelyn stood at the end of the driveway beside Mia.
The child held a stuffed rabbit.
Danielle ran.
Ortiz caught her arm.
“Walk.”
Danielle forced herself.
Mia saw her.
“Mommy!”
She ran toward Danielle.
Danielle dropped to her knees and grabbed her.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Did Grandma take you anywhere?”
Mia shook her head.
“She said maybe.”
Evelyn approached slowly.
“You made quite a production out of nothing.”
Danielle stood with Mia in her arms.
“Why did you change the gate code?”
“I didn’t.”
Lucas walked to the keypad.
“My code stopped working.”
“I asked security to rotate the old family codes after the police were here.”
“You didn’t tell us.”
“You weren’t home.”
Ortiz asked, “Where is the nanny?”
“At the pharmacy.”
“She left a three-year-old with you?”
“I am her grandmother.”
Ortiz’s expression remained neutral.
“Mrs. Carter, until we sort out what happened yesterday, it would be wise not to be alone with Mia.”
“Is that a legal order?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll make my own decisions.”
Danielle stepped forward.
“No. You won’t.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“This dramatics may work with police officers, Danielle. It does not work with me.”
“My daughter nearly drowned.”
“And she didn’t.”
The words came too quickly.
Everyone heard them.
Even Lucas.
Evelyn corrected herself.
“Thank God.”
Lucas stared at his mother.
Danielle felt something inside him shift.
Ortiz said, “I’d like to speak with the nanny.”
Evelyn gestured toward the house.
“Be my guest.”
Rachel returned twenty minutes later.
She was twenty-six, pale, and visibly terrified to see police cars.
Ortiz interviewed her in the kitchen.
Danielle remained nearby with Mia.
“I didn’t go to the pharmacy,” Rachel admitted.
“Where did you go?”
“Mrs. Carter told me I could take the afternoon off.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Why?”
“She said she wanted time with Mia.”
Danielle closed her eyes.
Ortiz asked, “Did she ask you to tell anyone?”
Rachel shook her head.
“She said Danielle already knew.”
Danielle opened her eyes.
Evelyn was standing across the room.
Listening.
Rachel looked at her and immediately looked down.
Ortiz noticed.
“So Mrs. Carter lied to Mrs. Carter.”
Rachel seemed confused by the identical surnames.
Danielle said, “Evelyn lied.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Thank you.”
Lucas walked into the kitchen holding his laptop.
His face was gray.
“Danielle.”
“What?”
He set the computer on the counter.
“I checked the company vendor database through a private backup.”
Keene had told him not to.
Danielle almost snapped at him, until she saw the screen.
HALCYON ADVISORY LLC.
Nine payments.
Nine point seven million dollars.
Approved under executive authorization.
Danielle looked at the approval name.
LUCAS CARTER.
She looked up.
Lucas shook his head.
“I didn’t approve these.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Then someone made an administrative error.”
Lucas stared at her.
“These are digitally signed.”
“Then call IT.”
Danielle looked at the dates.
One was two weeks after Robert died.
Another was the week before Mia’s pool incident.
Evelyn turned away.
Danielle suddenly understood.
The vest.
The trust.
The money.
They were not separate.
“Lucas,” she said quietly.
He looked at her.
May you like
“Someone is running out of time.”
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