Chapter 15 - THE MESSAGE FROM MY NUMBER
I insisted Lily stop attending preschool until Vanessa was found.
Claire disagreed.
“She needs normal.”
“She needs protection.”
“She needs both.”
We argued quietly in the kitchen while Lily colored at the table.
For the first time since Claire’s rescue, our old conflict returned.
I solved fear by controlling everything around me.
Claire solved it by refusing to let fear decide everything.
Neither approach felt safe.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Mason’s attorney.
Mason wants to give you something privately.
I should have called Brooks.
I knew that.
Instead, I went.
That was my mistake.
Mason waited in the parking garage beneath his attorney’s office.
No lawyer beside him.
No police.
He looked exhausted.
“Vanessa kept backups,” he said.
“Where?”
“I’ll tell you if you help me.”
“With what?”
“Tell prosecutors I didn’t know she planned to keep Claire there.”
“I won’t lie.”
His face tightened.
“Then you’ll never find the drive.”
“What drive?”
“The one with everything.”
I stepped closer.
“Where is it?”
Mason shook his head.
“I need protection.”
Then headlights appeared behind me.
A car accelerated through the garage.
Mason jumped aside.
I barely reached the concrete column before the vehicle clipped my shoulder and smashed into a parked sedan.
The driver reversed immediately.
I saw only a hooded figure.
Then the car disappeared up the ramp.
Mason ran.
I stayed on the ground with blood running down my sleeve and called Brooks.
She was furious.
“You went alone?”
“Yes.”
“You could have been killed.”
“Yes.”
At the hospital, Claire stood beside my bed with her arms crossed.
I expected anger.
What I saw was fear.
“You keep thinking you can fix things if you personally control the next move.”
“I know.”
“No, Daniel. You know after you do it.”
That landed.
I apologized.
Not defensively.
Not with explanations.
Just apologized.
Later, digital investigators examined the message that lured me.
It had not come from Mason’s attorney.
It was spoofed.
More disturbing, the system logs showed the spoofing service had been accessed using credentials connected to my old cloud account.
Brooks placed a printout beside me.
One sent message existed in the account history.
To Mason.
Keep Claire downstairs until after the ceremony.
It looked like I had ordered the confinement.
Timestamp.
Device authentication.
My account.
My name.
Police did not arrest me.
But they stopped treating me only as a victim.
May you like
And Claire saw the message before I could explain it.
📖 Vanessa had finally planted evidence that pointed directly at me, and proving it false would require Claire to decide whether she still believed me. 👇
