Chapter 5 - The Men at the Door
Arthur turned off the foyer lights.
“Everybody upstairs.”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
“Maya.”
“I’m not hiding while you get hurt because of us.”
Arthur looked at her.
“You’re twelve.”
“Fourteen.”
He blinked.
She folded her arms.
“I’m not a little kid.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“We don’t have time.”
Arthur called 911, gave his address, and reported armed trespassers.
He didn’t know if they were armed.
He wasn’t waiting to find out.
The man outside knocked again.
“Mr. Cole, this doesn’t need to become unpleasant.”
Arthur raised his voice.
“You are trespassing. Police are on the way.”
Silence.
Then the man answered calmly.
“We have legal authorization to recover two minors.”
Daniel muttered, “Bullshit.”
Arthur opened his phone camera and began recording.
“Slide it under the door.”
Thirty seconds later, a folded document appeared beneath the threshold.
Daniel picked it up.
He barely glanced at it.
“Forgery.”
“How can you tell?”
“Wrong judge.”
Arthur stared at him.
Daniel looked grim.
“The judge whose signature they copied retired six months ago.”
Outside, another voice spoke.
“Mr. Cole, please cooperate.”
Arthur walked to the kitchen.
The back security light suddenly went dark.
“Did you turn that off?” Daniel asked.
“No.”
Another light vanished.
Then another.
Maya whispered, “They did this at the Briar Glen house.”
Arthur looked at her.
“What?”
“When somebody tried to visit us.”
“Who?”
“A woman from school. She knew my mom.”
“What happened?”
“They shut everything down and moved us that night.”
Arthur’s pulse accelerated.
A scraping sound came from the back door.
Daniel whispered, “They’re testing the lock.”
Arthur picked up a heavy iron fireplace poker.
Daniel stared.
“That your plan?”
“It’s the part of the plan between now and the police arriving.”
Then glass shattered.
Noah screamed.
Arthur ran toward the sound.
One of the narrow windows beside the rear door had broken.
A gloved hand reached through.
Arthur swung the poker against the doorframe.
“Get out!”
The hand disappeared.
Daniel pulled Maya and Noah toward the staircase.
Suddenly red and blue lights flashed through the front windows.
Sirens.
The SUVs started moving.
Arthur ran outside just as the first patrol car stopped.
The black vehicles accelerated away.
A police officer stepped out.
“Sir, stay inside.”
“They tried to break in.”
“We saw a vehicle leaving.”
“There were two.”
“We have units looking.”
Arthur looked down the street.
Gone.
As if they had never been there.
Twenty minutes later, the house was filled with police.
Statements were taken.
Photographs were made.
The forged court order was bagged.
Daniel quietly requested the supervising officer.
When Lieutenant Carla Ruiz arrived, his demeanor changed.
“You still working major crimes?”
Ruiz stared at him.
“Mercer?”
“You two know each other?” Arthur asked.
“Unfortunately,” Ruiz said.
Daniel almost smiled.
Then he handed her the forged order.
Her expression changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Men sent by Charles Vale.”
Ruiz looked up sharply.
“That is a very serious accusation.”
“I’m aware.”
“Can you prove it?”
Daniel glanced at Maya.
“Not yet.”
Ruiz followed his eyes.
Recognition flickered across her face.
“Wait.”
She stepped closer.
“Maya?”
Maya froze.
Ruiz’s expression softened.
“I met your mother once.”
Maya stared.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“What for?”
Ruiz looked at Daniel.
“Maybe we should talk privately.”
“No,” Maya said.
Everyone turned.
“No more adults talking privately about my life.”
Ruiz studied her.
Then nodded.
“Fair enough.”
They sat at the dining table.
Ruiz explained that Elena had contacted her eleven days before her death.
She believed someone was following her.
She mentioned financial fraud.
She mentioned her father’s suspicious death.
But she refused to make an official report.
“She was scared,” Ruiz said.
“Of Charles?” Arthur asked.
Ruiz hesitated.
“Of somebody close to him.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Victoria?”
Ruiz’s silence was enough.
Arthur felt sick.
Maya whispered, “Mom knew her?”
Ruiz looked at Maya.
“Your mother said Charles’s daughter had been asking questions about you and Noah.”
Arthur stared at the table.
Victoria had known about them before Elena died.
Not after.
Before.
His phone rang.
Victoria.
Everyone looked at him.
Ruiz said, “Answer it.”
Arthur put it on speaker.
“Arthur?”
Victoria sounded like she had been crying.
“What?”
“Are they still there?”
“Yes.”
“Please listen to me.”
“You sent men to my house?”
“No.”
“Your father did.”
Silence.
“Victoria.”
“I told him not to.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Ruiz began recording.
Victoria whispered, “Arthur, you need to take the children and leave.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“What?”
“Leave the city.”
“Why?”
“Because my father won’t stop.”
“Why is he so afraid of them?”
Victoria started breathing faster.
“I can’t tell you on the phone.”
“You’ve had six years to tell me things.”
“I know.”
“Did you know Elena Whitmore?”
Silence.
Maya went rigid.
Arthur asked again.
“Did you know her?”
Victoria started crying.
“Yes.”
Maya stood.
“What did you do to my mom?”
Victoria heard her.
“Oh God.”
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t kill her.”
Nobody in the room had accused her of that.
Ruiz’s expression sharpened.
Victoria realized her mistake.
“Victoria,” Arthur said very quietly, “why would you say that?”
She sobbed once.
Then she whispered five words that silenced the room.
May you like
“Because I was there afterward.”
The call ended.
