Chapter 6 - THE FATHER HE WANTED TO BECOMEDaniel did not sleep.
He sat in a chair outside Emma’s bedroom until sunrise.
Every sound became a threat.
A furnace turning on.
Tree branches scraping glass.
A passing car.
At 4:30, Rachel found him with his hands clasped between his knees.
“You’re still here.”
“I’m fine.”
“That sentence should be illegal in this family.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I can’t lose her.”
“You’re not going to.”
“I couldn’t protect her from prison.”
Rachel sat beside him.
“You’re not in prison anymore.”
“Maybe I should be.”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“Don’t.”
“The note said—”
“I know what it said.”
“If I had stayed locked up—”
“Then Hale would still be stealing, Ethan would still be lying, and Emma would still be touching her father through glass.”
Daniel looked toward her bedroom.
Rachel touched his face.
“We are not solving fear with another sacrifice.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“That’s what I know how to do.”
“Then learn something new.”
He turned toward her.
Rachel whispered, “Stay.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
She rested her forehead against his.
Neither kissed the other.
Not yet.
But neither moved away.
The FBI relocated them to a protected apartment.
Emma thought it was a vacation.
“Where’s my purple room?”
“At home.”
“Why aren’t we home?”
Daniel crouched.
“Some people are helping us keep the house safe.”
Emma frowned.
“Bad people?”
Rachel and Daniel exchanged a look.
Daniel answered carefully.
“People making bad choices.”
Emma hugged Buttons.
“Like you?”
The question hit him harder than any prison fight could have.
“Yes.”
Emma studied him.
“But you came home.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I did.”
“Then maybe they can make good choices now.”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“I hope so.”
Victor Hale did not.
Within seventy-two hours, two witnesses connected to Cross Manufacturing received threats.
One former accountant vanished.
Another found his car burned.
News stations picked up the story.
Daniel’s photograph appeared beside headlines describing the prisoner whose wrongful conviction had exposed a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
Reporters wanted interviews.
Daniel refused all of them.
Then one network producer offered money.
Enough to pay Emma’s future college tuition.
Rachel looked tempted.
Daniel shook his head.
“Our daughter isn’t content.”
Rachel smiled.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
He looked at her.
Something had changed between them.
Not repaired.
But changing.
Three evenings later, Emma refused to sleep.
She sat cross-legged on the bed.
“Tell me prison.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Tell me what you did.”
Rachel stood in the doorway.
They had agreed they wouldn’t lie.
Daniel sat beside Emma.
“I told people something happened that didn’t happen.”
“Why?”
“I thought it would help Grandma.”
“Did it?”
“No.”
“So lying is bad.”
“Usually.”
Emma tilted her head.
“Usually?”
Rachel gave Daniel a look.
He corrected himself quickly.
“Very bad.”
Emma nodded.
“Did you have a bed?”
“Yes.”
“TV?”
“Sometimes.”
“Cookies?”
“Not good ones.”
Emma gasped.
“That’s terrible.”
Daniel laughed.
She crawled into his lap.
“Did you miss me?”
“Every second.”
“Even when you slept?”
“Especially then.”
“Why?”
“Because I dreamed about you.”
Emma became serious.
“What dream?”
Daniel looked down.
“I dreamed I hugged you.”
Emma wrapped both arms around his neck.
“Like this?”
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut.
“Exactly like this.”
Rachel quietly stepped into the hall before they saw her crying.
The missing accountant was found the next morning.
Alive.
Terrified.
And ready to cooperate.
His name was Martin Greene.
For five years, he had secretly copied transaction records because he suspected Hale.
When Hale discovered it, Martin fled.
He had one crucial piece of evidence.
An encrypted laptop.
On it were transaction logs tracing tens of millions through offshore accounts.
There was also audio.
Victor Hale discussing the warehouse incident with Ethan.
The FBI played the recording for Daniel and Rachel.
Hale’s voice was calm.
“You have a witness problem.”
Ethan answered, “Daniel already confessed.”
“And if he changes his mind?”
“He won’t.”
“Everybody changes their mind.”
“So what do we do?”
“Make sure Mercer understands prison is the best outcome available to him.”
Daniel felt Rachel grip his arm.
The recording continued.
Ethan asked, “You mean threaten him?”
Hale laughed.
“I mean whatever you need me to mean.”
Daniel stared at the speaker.
Rachel whispered, “You never told me anyone threatened you.”
Daniel didn’t answer.
She turned.
“Daniel.”
He exhaled.
“Two days before my plea hearing, someone sent photographs.”
“Of what?”
“You. Pregnant.”
Rachel went pale.
“They knew your doctor’s office. Your schedule. Where you parked.”
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“They said they’d hurt you.”
“And you believed them.”
“Yes.”
Rachel stood.
“You spent three years in prison because you thought someone would hurt me?”
“I was already planning to plead.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Daniel stood too.
“What did you want me to do? Gamble with your life?”
“I wanted you to trust me!”
“I was terrified!”
“So was I!”
Emma’s voice came from the hallway.
“Mommy?”
Both stopped.
Emma stood clutching Buttons.
Rachel immediately wiped her eyes.
“Sweetheart.”
“Are you mad at Daddy?”
“No.”
Daniel looked away.
Emma came closer.
“You sound mad.”
Rachel knelt.
“Sometimes grown-ups are angry about things that happened a long time ago.”
Emma looked at Daniel.
“Did Daddy lie again?”
The question broke him.
Daniel crouched beside her.
“Yes.”
Rachel looked at him.
Daniel continued.
“I hid something from Mommy because I was scared.”
Emma considered this carefully.
“Say sorry.”
Rachel almost laughed.
Daniel did.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma turned to Rachel.
“Now you.”
“Me?”
“You yelled.”
Rachel stared at her daughter.
Then looked at Daniel.
“I’m sorry I yelled.”
Emma nodded, satisfied.
“Good.”
She walked back toward the bedroom.
Daniel and Rachel stood silently.
Then Rachel began laughing.
Daniel joined her.
It was ridiculous.
Painful.
Wonderful.
Their four-year-old had just accomplished more than three years of lawyers.
That night, Daniel finally told Rachel everything.
The threats.
The photographs.
The anonymous calls.
The reason he refused to challenge Ethan’s testimony.
Rachel listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she moved closer.
“You were trying to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“You were still wrong.”
“I know.”
She touched his cheek.
“But now I understand.”
Daniel covered her hand with his.
“I don’t deserve you.”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“Stop saying things like that.”
“What?”
“Deciding for me again.”
Daniel stared.
“If I stay married to you, that’s my decision.”
His breath caught.
“If?”
Rachel smiled faintly.
“I’m still angry.”
“Fair.”
“I might be angry for a while.”
“Also fair.”
“But I never stopped loving you.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
Rachel kissed him.
Softly.
Carefully.
Three years disappeared for one second.
Then—
Glass shattered downstairs.
Daniel shoved Rachel behind him.
A firebomb rolled across the living-room floor.
Flames exploded.
Alarms screamed.
Emma began crying.
May you like
Daniel ran toward her room.
And outside the supposedly secret apartment, someone sped away into the darkness.
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