Chapter 2
The first police cruiser arrived three minutes later.
Then another.
Then an unmarked sedan.
Our wedding guests spilled from the church like people leaving a burning building.
Nobody knew whether to go home.
Nobody wanted to miss what happened next.
I barely noticed them.
Detective Rachel Monroe introduced herself near the entrance.
She was in her forties, calm, sharp-eyed, with the kind of voice that made people stop talking.
“Who found the phone?”
“My daughter.”
She looked at Sophie.
“Seven?”
“Yes.”
Rachel crouched several feet from her.
“You’re not in trouble, Sophie.”
Sophie held Grandma’s hand tighter.
“I know.”
Rachel almost smiled.
“Good.”
Then she looked at me.
“I need the device.”
I handed it over.
Lauren immediately stepped forward.
“That phone belongs to me.”
Rachel’s expression didn’t change.
“You’re saying it’s yours?”
Lauren hesitated.
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
Rachel noticed.
“Thank you.”
Lauren blinked.
“That’s it?”
“For now.”
“You can’t just take my property.”
Rachel slipped the phone into an evidence bag.
“You just identified yourself as the owner of a device containing messages that may relate to an openable death investigation. I strongly recommend you stop talking until you have legal counsel.”
Lauren went silent.
Her father grabbed her elbow.
“We’re leaving.”
Rachel blocked them with one sentence.
“No, sir.”
He stared at her.
“Excuse me?”
“Everyone directly involved stays until we finish initial statements.”
“This is my daughter’s wedding.”
Rachel glanced at Lauren’s torn veil.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a wedding.”
I should have felt something when she said that.
Loss.
Embarrassment.
Grief.
Instead I felt nothing.
My entire relationship with Lauren had collapsed so completely that my brain hadn’t caught up.
Fourteen months together.
Eleven months living in the same house.
Six months engaged.
Every dinner.
Every kiss.
Every night she lay beside me.
Every time she told Sophie, “I’m not trying to replace your mother.”
Every time she hugged me when I woke from a nightmare about Emily’s crash.
Had all of it been a performance?
Michael came inside.
“I gave an officer the plate numbers you photographed.”
“Anything?”
“Not yet.”
Rachel looked at him.
“You chased the man too?”
“No. Daniel did.”
She turned to me.
“Describe him.”
“Maybe forty. Around six feet. Brown hair. Gray suit.”
“Know him?”
“No.”
“But you’ve seen him?”
“At Emily’s funeral.”
Lauren shifted.
I looked at her.
She stared at the floor.
Rachel saw that too.
“Ms. Carter, do you know the man?”
“No.”
Too fast.
Rachel didn’t challenge her.
She wrote something down.
That worried Lauren more than an accusation would have.
My mother came over.
“Sophie needs to go home.”
Rachel nodded.
“I agree. But I’d like a child interviewer to speak with her later, in a proper setting.”
“Not today,” I said.
Rachel studied me.
“Probably not today.”
I crouched beside Sophie.
“You’re going with Grandma.”
“No.”
“Sophie.”
She wrapped both arms around my neck.
“No, Daddy.”
I held her.
“I’m coming home.”
“Lauren will be there.”
“No.”
She pulled back.
“What?”
“Lauren is never coming home with us again.”
Lauren heard me.
Her face changed.
“Daniel.”
I ignored her.
Sophie searched my eyes.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She hugged me again.
“I’m sorry I ruined your wedding.”
My throat closed.
“You didn’t ruin anything.”
I kissed her forehead.
“You protected me.”
She whispered, “Mommy told me to.”
I pulled back.
“What?”
The room around us seemed to stop.
Sophie looked confused by my reaction.
“In my dream.”
Lauren was staring at us.
My mother stroked Sophie’s hair.
“She’s had dreams about Emily lately.”
I swallowed hard.
“What happened in the dream?”
Sophie looked down.
“Mommy was standing by the lake.”
My skin prickled.
“She told me there was something hidden under the bed.”
I looked at Lauren.
She looked terrified.
Rachel stepped closer.
“What bed, Sophie?”
“Our bed. Daddy’s bed.”
“And that’s where you found the phone?”
Sophie nodded.
“In a box.”
“What box?”
“A little metal one.”
Lauren interrupted.
“She went through my private things.”
Rachel looked at her.
“You might want to stop helping.”
Lauren clenched her jaw.
I asked Sophie, “Where is the box now?”
She reached into the pocket on the other side of her dress.
Then she pulled out a tiny brass key.
Lauren lunged.
Rachel caught her arm.
It happened so fast that several people screamed.
Lauren fought for half a second.
Then stopped.
Rachel held her.
“What opens this?”
Lauren said nothing.
Sophie pointed toward her.
“She said the box was at Aunt Claire’s house.”
Lauren closed her eyes.
I stared at her.
“Who is Claire?”
Lauren opened her eyes again.
“My sister.”
“You told me you were an only child.”
“I practically am.”
“What does that mean?”
“We haven’t spoken in years.”
Sophie shook her head.
“That’s not true.”
Lauren looked at her.
Sophie hid behind my mother.
I stood between them again.
“What did you hear?”
Sophie whispered, “She calls her every night.”
Rachel released Lauren but stayed beside her.
“Do you know where Claire lives?”
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“You think this is some movie?”
“No,” Rachel said. “I think your fiancé’s late wife died under circumstances that may need a second look, and your secret phone contains messages about that death.”
Lauren looked at me.
“You really believe I killed Emily?”
I said nothing.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You think I’m capable of that?”
“You lied about knowing her.”
“I had reasons.”
“You lied about having a sister.”
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“You tried to keep my daughter out of our wedding.”
Lauren’s expression hardened.
“Sophie has made it impossible for us from day one.”
There it was again.
The hatred.
Not frustration.
Not jealousy.
Hatred.
My mother stepped forward.
“She’s a child.”
“She’s a reminder,” Lauren snapped.
I felt my stomach turn.
“A reminder of what?”
Lauren realized too late.
Rachel asked quietly, “Yes. A reminder of what?”
Lauren looked around.
Her father said, “Don’t answer.”
Rachel nodded.
“Good advice.”
Then an officer hurried toward her.
“Detective.”
He held out his phone.
Rachel looked at the screen.
Her eyes narrowed.
“What?”
The officer glanced at us.
“The SUV came back registered to a company called Harlow Medical Consulting.”
I knew the name.
My chest tightened.
“That was Emily’s employer.”
Rachel looked at me.
“What did she do?”
“She was a financial analyst at Harlow Medical.”
Lauren whispered something.
I barely heard it.
But Rachel did.
“What did you say?”
Lauren didn’t answer.
I stepped closer.
“What did you say?”
She stared at me.
Then her shoulders dropped.
“I said we’re too late.”
My blood ran cold.
“Too late for what?”
Before she could answer, her father moved.
He grabbed Lauren and shoved an officer hard enough to knock him against a pew.
Chaos exploded.
Lauren screamed.
Her father ran toward the doors.
Two officers tackled him.
People shouted.
Lauren stumbled backward.
I saw something fall from her bouquet.
A folded piece of paper.
Nobody else noticed.
I picked it up.
Lauren saw me.
“No!”
I unfolded it.
It wasn’t wedding vows.
It was an address.
Beneath it, in handwriting I recognized as Lauren’s, were four words.
BURN EVERYTHING BEFORE MIDNIGHT.
Rachel took the paper from me.
“Where is this?”
I stared at the address.
I knew that place too.
It was Emily’s childhood home.
May you like
The house had been empty since her mother died.
And according to the clock above the church doors, we had less than nine hours until midnight.
