Chapter 5 - Echoes of Anna
The metallic click of the handcuffs echoed loudly.
Michael didn't fight back.
He just stood there, staring at the floor.
His shoulders were slumped in absolute defeat.
Two uniformed officers entered the room and took him by the arms.
They read him his rights as they dragged him out into the corridor.
I watched him go, feeling entirely hollow inside.
My family was completely destroyed.
My mother-in-law was in a jail cell.
My brother was on his way to join her.
I walked over to Lily’s bed and sat heavily in the chair.
I buried my face in my hands.
I felt a small, warm hand touch my arm.
“Dad?”
I looked up.
Lily’s eyes were open, and they were full of tears.
“I heard everything,” she whispered.
I gently wiped a tear from her cheek.
“I know, baby.”
“I’m so sorry you had to hear that.”
“Is Uncle Mike going to prison?”
“Yes,” I said firmly.
“He is.”
Detective Collins walked back into the room.
She closed the door quietly behind her.
Her face was grim.
She didn't look like a woman who had just solved a major case.
She looked like a woman who had just found a new puzzle.
“Daniel,” she said softly.
“My team just finished searching Michael’s bedroom at your house.”
I sat up straight.
“Did they find the gambling ledgers?”
“Yes.”
“But they found something else, too.”
She pulled her phone out and opened a secure file.
“They found a hidden safe under the floorboards in his closet.”
“Inside, there was a box of old documents.”
“And a diary.”
A strange feeling of dread washed over me.
“Whose diary?”
“It belonged to Evelyn,” Collins said.
“But the entries are from two years ago.”
“From the month your wife died.”
My lungs suddenly felt too small.
I couldn't draw enough air into my chest.
Anna had died in a tragic car accident on a rainy highway.
Her brakes had failed on a steep hill.
It was ruled a mechanical malfunction.
“What does the diary say?” I choked out.
Detective Collins looked at me with deep sympathy in her eyes.
“It details payments, Daniel.”
“Payments made in cash to a local mechanic.”
“A mechanic who specialized in imported brake systems.”
The hospital room started to spin.
The walls felt like they were closing in on me.
Evelyn hadn't just tried to take my daughter.
Evelyn had murdered my wife.
And my brother had known about it.
“We are reopening Anna’s case,” Detective Collins said firmly.
“This isn't just about child custody anymore.”
“This is a homicide investigation.”
I looked at Lily.
She looked exactly like her mother.
She had the same green eyes and the same stubborn chin.
I made a silent promise to Anna right then and there.
May you like
I would burn Evelyn’s empire to the ground.
And I would make sure she never saw the outside of a prison cell again.
