Chapter 2 - THE SECRET ON THE PHONE
The dispatcher asked Emma for her address.
Emma gave it slowly.
She kept her eyes on Margaret.
"Is anyone injured?" the dispatcher asked.
"Not yet."
Margaret's eyes narrowed.
"Emma, hang up."
Emma ignored her.
Richard placed his champagne glass on the hallway table.
"Let's talk like adults."
"We've been talking," Emma said.
Her voice shook.
"You just haven't been listening."
Lily stirred again.
Emma lowered her voice.
The dispatcher instructed her to stay somewhere secure.
Emma looked around the room.
There was nowhere safer than the bed.
She moved Lily closer to the center.
Margaret stepped forward.
Emma immediately raised her hand again.
"Stay there."
Margaret stopped.
"You have no idea what you're doing."
Emma almost laughed.
"Actually, I finally do."
She turned the phone slightly toward herself.
The screen showed the emergency call.
Margaret's expression tightened.
"Daniel is going to be furious."
"Daniel already lied to me."
Richard looked away.
That tiny movement confirmed what Emma had suspected.
He knew.
"How long?" Emma asked.
Richard remained silent.
"How long have you known?"
Margaret answered instead.
"Known what?"
"About the documents."
Neither responded.
Emma felt something cold settle in her chest.
She had spent weeks wondering whether she was imagining things.
Now she knew she wasn't.
The dispatcher asked whether the people in the hallway had weapons.
Emma said she didn't know.
Margaret scoffed.
"Nobody has a weapon."
Emma stared at her.
"Then why are you trying to get into my daughter's room?"
Margaret's silence was answer enough.
A sound came from downstairs.
The front door opened.
Footsteps entered the house.
Emma's heart stopped.
Someone called Margaret's name.
Margaret looked toward the staircase.
Richard whispered something to her.
Emma couldn't hear it.
Then Margaret looked back at Emma.
Her face had completely changed.
The cold confidence was gone.
"Emma," she said softly.
"You don't understand what Daniel was trying to protect."
Emma's eyes narrowed.
"Protect Lily from what?"
Margaret didn't answer.
Instead, she turned toward the stairs.
Emma tightened her grip on the phone.
May you like
The dispatcher was still listening.
And whoever had just entered the house was coming upstairs.
