Chapter 3 - Daniel Had Told Me His Father Stayed Away From The School
I had never met Walter Carter.
I knew three things about him.
He was wealthy.
He had helped build Hawthorne Academy into whatever parents were paying absurd tuition to call it now.
Daniel hated him.
For twelve years, whenever I asked why, Daniel gave me a different version of the same answer.
Control.
My father thinks paying for something means he owns the room.
That was enough when we were dating.
Less enough after marriage.
Much less now that our daughter attended a school Walter apparently still had access to.
“I was told he doesn't come here.”
Celeste looked at me.
“By whom?”
“My husband.”
She did not answer.
That was an answer.
“How often is Walter here?”
“Not often.”
“Meaning?”
“A few times a month.”
My mouth went dry.
“Has he seen Sophie?”
Celeste hesitated.
“Not that I know of.”
I looked through the glass toward my daughter.
Sophie was laughing softly because Mia had made a face at the school crest printed on the lobby wall.
“Does he have access to student records?”
“No.”
“The cameras?”
Celeste looked annoyed.
“He shouldn't.”
“Yet he just spoke through one.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he now?”
“Upstairs.”
I stood.
“I want to see him.”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
I stared.
Celeste corrected herself.
“I mean, I would like to confirm—”
“Is he physically in the building?”
“Yes.”
“Then confirm while we're walking.”
She sighed.
“Mrs. Carter.”
“Claire.”
“Claire, there are children in this lobby.”
“Exactly.”
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I picked up on the first vibration.
“Where are you?”
“Claire.”
“Where?”
Long pause.
“On my way back.”
“From Philadelphia?”
Another pause.
No.
I felt it.
“Where are you, Daniel?”
“Twenty minutes away.”
“Were you ever in Philadelphia?”
Silence.
I laughed once.
Celeste looked away.
“Where were you?”
“With Leah.”
Mia turned at her mother's name.
I walked farther from the girls.
“Who is Leah Monroe?”
“Claire.”
“No.”
I lowered my voice.
“You told a nine-year-old to wait behind Sophie’s school. You told our daughter to keep meeting her without telling me. Your father is upstairs using a security camera to order me around. You do not get to say my name like it buys time.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Is Mia okay?”
That irritated me more than it should have.
“She was sitting in an alley hungry.”
“What?”
“You didn't know?”
“No. She was supposed to wait in the counseling office.”
I looked at Celeste.
She frowned.
“Who changed that?”
Daniel asked.
I stared at Mia.
“Mia says you told her alley.”
“I didn't.”
That was the first real contradiction.
I walked back.
“Mia.”
She looked up.
“Daniel says you were supposed to wait in the counseling office.”
Her face changed.
“He said alley.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Did he call?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
She reached into her backpack.
Not a mysterious document.
A cheap phone.
Cracked screen.
She opened a message thread.
No saved contact name.
Just a number.
WAIT BEHIND THE GYM AFTER DISMISSAL. SOPHIE WILL FIND YOU.
I showed Daniel on video.
“That isn't my number.”
Mia stared.
Sophie stopped smiling.
“Then who sent it?”
Daniel said nothing for a moment.
Then:
“Claire, get both girls out of there.”
I looked toward the ceiling.
“Your father just told me to leave Mia.”
“What?”
“Through the camera.”
Daniel’s breathing changed.
“Don't listen to him.”
“That was already the plan.”
“I'm serious.”
“So am I.”
“Claire, Walter was never supposed to know Mia was there.”
That sentence cut through everything.
Before I could ask why, a door opened at the far end of the administrative hallway.
An older man stepped out.
Gray hair.
Dark blazer.
No hurry.
Celeste whispered:
“Mr. Carter.”
Walter looked past me.
Not at Sophie.
Not at Mia.
At me.
Then he said:
“Daniel has been lying to both women.”
I stared.
May you like
He continued walking.
“And if he's twenty minutes away, we have exactly nineteen minutes before he starts deciding which lie to explain first.”
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