Chapter 4 - The Midnight Visitor
Emily’s words changed the room.
Victor stopped moving.
Andrew looked at me.
Rebecca closed her eyes.
I crouched beside Emily.
“What do you mean he came to our house?”
She glanced toward Victor.
Then hid behind my arm.
“Sweetheart, you’re safe.”
Her voice became quieter.
“One night I came downstairs because I wanted water.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it recently?”
She nodded.
“Rebecca was in the kitchen.”
She pointed at Victor.
“He was there too.”
Victor stepped forward.
“This is absurd.”
The officer raised a hand.
“Stay where you are.”
Emily continued.
“They were talking.”
“What did they say?”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“I don’t remember everything.”
“That’s okay.”
“She said you were asleep.”
Rebecca stared at the floor.
“And?”
Emily looked at me.
“She said you never wake up when she puts the drops in your drink.”
No one spoke.
I felt as though someone had punched me in the chest.
“What drops?”
“I don’t know.”
Victor immediately looked at Rebecca.
That reaction was more frightening than Emily’s words.
Rebecca stood.
“She misunderstood.”
The officer ordered her to sit down.
“She’s a child who wakes from nightmares.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“I wasn’t dreaming.”
I pulled her against me.
“I believe you.”
Rebecca looked furious.
That frightened Emily more.
Andrew moved between us.
“Michael, when was the last time Rebecca prepared drinks for you?”
“Almost every night.”
“Have you been unusually tired?”
I thought about the previous few months.
The mornings when I had slept through alarms.
The headaches.
The strange fog that sometimes lasted until lunch.
I had blamed stress.
I had blamed wedding planning.
I had blamed myself.
“Yeah.”
Andrew’s expression hardened.
“You need a medical exam.”
Victor laughed softly.
“This has become ridiculous.”
The officer looked at him.
“Then you won’t mind answering some questions.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
My phone buzzed.
It was Claire, the nanny.
Claire had worked with us since Emily was three.
Rebecca had insisted she take the wedding morning off.
I answered.
“Claire?”
She was crying.
“Mr. Grant, where’s Emily?”
“With me.”
Claire exhaled so loudly I heard it through the phone.
“Thank God.”
“What happened?”
“I found something.”
My heart started pounding again.
“What?”
“Rebecca asked me to clean out Emily’s bedroom yesterday.”
I looked straight at Rebecca.
“She said you wanted everything boxed.”
“I never said that.”
“I know.”
Claire’s voice shook.
“That’s why I didn’t do it.”
“What did you find?”
“A folder under Rebecca’s desk.”
“What folder?”
“School records.”
She paused.
“Medical records.”
Another pause.
“And copies of Mrs. Grant’s trust.”
My late wife’s trust.
Laura had created it six months before she died.
Almost everything she owned had gone to Emily.
I had never discussed the details with Rebecca.
“Claire, where are you?”
“At your house.”
“Stay there.”
“I don’t think I should.”
“Why?”
Her breathing changed.
“Because someone just opened the front door.”
I stood so fast my chair fell backward.
“Lock yourself in a room.”
“I’m upstairs.”
A door slammed through the phone.
Claire gasped.
Then I heard footsteps.
“Claire?”
No answer.
“Claire!”
There was a crash.
The call disconnected.
I ran toward the chapel exit.
Andrew followed.
Behind us Victor Hale finally lost his calm.
“Rebecca.”
She looked at him.
May you like
He hissed only three words.
“You said nobody knew.”
