Chapter 11 - The Photograph
Rachel's first instinct was to run outside.
Thomas stopped her before she reached the back door.
"No."
"Someone was here."
"Which is exactly why you're not going outside."
Rachel held the phone so tightly her knuckles hurt.
The photograph showed Lily asleep in the small canvas swing beneath the maple tree.
It had been taken from beyond the rear fence.
Rachel knew the angle because she had spent half her childhood in that yard.
A narrow service lane ran behind the houses.
Anyone could drive down it.
Anyone could stop for thirty seconds.
Anyone could leave before being noticed.
Thomas called the police.
Maya called while they were waiting for an officer.
Rachel read her the message word for word.
"Do not delete anything."
"I won't."
"Screenshot the number, the photo, the time, everything."
"Already did."
"Good."
Maya paused.
"Rachel, I want you and Lily somewhere else tonight."
Rachel looked at Thomas.
He was already nodding.
"Where?"
"Somewhere Linda doesn't know."
Elaine took Lily upstairs while officers searched the yard and service lane.
One officer found a fresh tire impression in soft dirt near the fence, but nothing that identified a vehicle.
The phone number was a prepaid line.
The message had been sent through an app.
There was no quick answer.
Daniel called after Maya informed his attorney.
Rachel nearly ignored him.
Then she answered.
"Did your mother send someone here?"
Daniel sounded confused.
"What are you talking about?"
Rachel forwarded the photograph.
There was a long silence.
"Where was this taken?"
"My father's backyard."
"Today?"
"Yes."
Daniel swore.
"I'm calling Mom."
"No."
"Rachel, if she did this—"
"Then warning her helps who?"
Daniel went quiet.
Rachel heard a door close on his end.
"I'm at the shop."
"So?"
"Mom isn't here."
"Daniel, stop trying to solve this yourself."
"I need to know where she is."
"Call your attorney."
Rachel ended the call.
Thomas packed an overnight bag for Lily while Rachel grabbed the medical records, the flash-drive copy, and her laptop.
They went to Elaine's sister's vacant condo across town.
Only Maya and the police knew the address.
Rachel turned off location sharing on every device she owned.
She changed passwords.
She removed Daniel from the family cloud account.
At 1:14 in the morning, she discovered something she had forgotten existed.
A shared photo album called Lily Daily.
Rachel and Daniel had created it when Lily was born.
Grandparents and siblings had access.
Most of the family still did.
Rachel opened the album settings.
Linda was listed as a viewer.
So was Claire.
So was Mark.
So was Melissa.
Rachel stared at Melissa's name.
"Why did she have access?"
Thomas looked over.
Rachel remembered.
Daniel had once asked Melissa to upload photographs from the company's family picnic.
She had never been removed.
The album sometimes stored location metadata.
Thomas frowned.
"Could the backyard picture have come from there?"
"No."
Rachel zoomed in.
"This was taken from outside the fence."
But someone with album access might have known Lily was at Thomas's house because Rachel had uploaded a backyard picture that morning.
Rachel felt sick.
"I told them where we were without realizing it."
Thomas shook his head.
"You shared a family photo in a family album."
"With people who aren't family anymore."
At 7:30 the next morning, Maya called.
"We know who took the photograph."
Rachel sat upright on the condo couch.
"Who?"
"A licensed private investigator named Owen Briggs."
"Why was a private investigator watching my father's house?"
"Linda hired him."
Rachel closed her eyes.
"Of course she did."
"It gets stranger."
Maya's voice sharpened.
"Briggs says he did not send the message."
Rachel opened her eyes.
"What?"
"He admits taking surveillance photographs as part of a domestic investigation. He says Linda hired him to document whether you were hiding Lily from Daniel."
"She was under a no-contact order."
"Hiring a private investigator can become a problem depending on purpose and conduct, but the bigger issue is the threatening text."
"So who got his photo?"
"That's what police are trying to determine."
Maya continued.
"Briggs says he uploaded his photographs to a client portal at 5:42 p.m."
Rachel checked the message time.
6:03 p.m.
Twenty-one minutes later.
"Who had access?"
"According to him, Linda and one additional email address supplied by Linda."
"Whose?"
"He wouldn't tell me without a subpoena."
Rachel looked at Thomas.
"Can the police get it?"
"They're working on it."
At noon, Daniel's attorney emailed Maya.
Daniel consented to an expansion of the temporary order preventing Linda from using third parties to monitor Lily.
Rachel read the email twice.
"He agreed?"
Maya nodded over video chat.
"Without argument."
"Why?"
"Maybe he's starting to understand the situation."
Rachel did not trust hope anymore.
That evening, another unknown email arrived.
No subject.
One line.
Ask Daniel who had access to the investigator portal.
Attached was a screenshot.
It showed the portal login page.
Under Authorized Client Users were two names.
Linda Parker.
May you like
Daniel Parker.
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