Chapter 5 - The Husband in the Reflection
Lucas stared at the paused image.
“That isn’t what it looks like.”
I stepped away from him.
“You were in Dad’s office.”
“Yes.”
“You told me you arrived after I screamed.”
“I lied.”
The word landed hard.
Detective Hayes asked him to sit down.
Lucas explained that Warren had called him before dinner and asked to discuss a private business proposal.
My father knew Lucas’s construction company was struggling.
He offered him a major contract.
“In exchange for what?” I asked.
Lucas looked at the floor.
“He wanted me to persuade you to sign over your shares in Cole Furnishings.”
My grandfather had left me twenty-five percent of the company.
Warren controlled fifty-one percent.
Tessa and Hannah each received twelve percent, though Hannah’s shares had been placed under Warren’s control after she disappeared.
If I signed, Warren would control three quarters of the business permanently.
“Did you agree?”
“No.”
“But you went into his office.”
“I wanted to hear what he was planning.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was ashamed that I even listened.”
Detective Hayes returned to the video.
“Why were you in the room with him?”
Lucas said Warren showed him the red panel and claimed Hannah had forged company documents before leaving town.
Then Maisie entered.
“She must have been looking for me.”
“What happened when Warren saw her?”
“He grabbed the tablet.”
“And you let him?”
“I told him to give it back. Then Elaine called me into the dining room because you were asking where Maisie was.”
“You left her alone with him?”
“I thought she followed me.”
I wanted to believe him.
But belief was no longer enough.
“Did you see Dad give her anything?”
“No.”
“Did you know she was in the dumpster?”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“I swear.”
Detective Hayes did not arrest him, but she took his phone.
A deleted message from Warren appeared in the recovered data.
Keep Rebecca calm. The child will be found after she signs.
Lucas stared at it.
“I never saw that.”
The message had been opened.
“You read it,” I said.
“No. Warren had my phone in the office while I was talking to Tessa.”
“Why would he have your phone?”
“He asked to see the contract estimate.”
Every explanation was possible.
None made me feel safe.
Then the forensic technician recovered audio from the damaged video.
After Maisie’s recording ended, voices continued for eleven seconds.
Warren said, “She saw the photographs.”
Lucas replied, “You are not touching that child.”
A struggle followed.
Then a hard impact.
Lucas shouted, “Tessa, run!”
He had confronted Warren.
But another voice spoke next.
Elaine.
“Take Maisie outside. Rebecca is already asking questions.”
Lucas looked at me.
“I was knocked unconscious.”
“Where?”
“In the storage room. I woke up when I heard you screaming.”
That explained the blood found behind his ear.
He had hidden the injury because he feared police would think he was involved.
Detective Hayes called the warehouse team.
Inside the storage room, officers found blood matching Lucas.
They also found a torn piece of pink pajama fabric.
And beneath a metal shelf lay one of Tessa’s earrings.
Tessa had been in that room too.
But she was still missing.
Then my phone received a text from her number.
May you like
Do not trust Lucas. He knows where Hannah is.
👉 Lucas had defended Maisie, but Tessa’s warning suggested he had been hiding an even larger truth about Rebecca’s missing sister.
