CHAPTER 8: THE THREAT
The next morning, there was a package on the doorstep.
It was addressed to me.
Inside was a single photograph: Ava and Ethan, taken just days ago, at a playground in Tucson.
I hadn't taken them to a playground in weeks.
Someone had been watching us.
I showed the photograph to Daniel.
"This is bad," he said.
"It's worse than you think. This was taken three days ago. Before we met you. She's been following us."
"Your ex?"
"Not ex. I was never married to her. She was my brother's wife."
Daniel's expression shifted. "Your brother?"
"She had an affair with my husband. My husband was Daniel."
"Wait. Your husband was Daniel? You said you didn't have one."
"My husband died three years ago," I said. "My brother's wife, Karen, was his lover. When my husband died, she tried to take custody of Ava. She claimed I was an unfit mother."
"Why?"
"Because I knew what they were doing. I was going to expose her. So she decided to destroy me first."
"By taking your daughter?"
"By taking everything. She's rich, powerful, connected. She's been trying to find us for three years. And now she has."
Daniel was quiet for a long moment.
"Sarah, I need to ask you something."
"Okay."
"Your husband died three years ago. Then you disappeared. Did you have something to do with his death?"
I stared at him.
"Are you asking me if I killed my husband?"
"I'm asking if you have a reason to be running."
I thought about the night my husband died. The argument. The fight. The way he'd looked at me with such hatred.
"I didn't kill him," I said. "But I was there. And when he died, I was the only witness. Karen made sure everyone believed I was guilty."
Daniel didn't say anything.
But I could see the calculation in his eyes.
May you like
He was trying to figure out if I was worth the risk.
And I didn't know the answer.
