Chapter 7 - The Call at Midnight.
Maya arranged for Daniel to access the storage unit through proper documentation rather than simply using the key.
She wanted the facility manager present and a clear record of what was found.
The appointment was scheduled for the following morning.
Daniel thought that would give him one quiet night.
He was wrong.
At 11:47 p.m., the house phone rang.
Daniel almost ignored it because few people used that number anymore.
Then he remembered the unknown messages.
He answered without identifying himself.
A man's voice said, “You need to let this go.”
Daniel glanced toward the staircase.
Sophie was asleep upstairs.
“Who is this?”
“You think this is about a grandmother who worries too much.”
Daniel's pulse quickened.
“It isn't.”
The voice was distorted, possibly through an app.
Daniel put the call on speaker and used his mobile phone to record the time and number displayed.
“What is it about?”
“Claire made promises before she died.”
Daniel gripped the counter.
“To whom?”
The caller ignored him.
“Tabitha is trying to protect what Claire built.”
Daniel thought of the trust.
“By frightening a six-year-old?”
A pause followed.
Then the caller said, “You don't understand the family.”
Daniel's voice turned cold.
“I understand my daughter.”
The line went dead.
Hannah appeared in the hallway wearing a cardigan over her pajamas.
She had been staying in the guest room because Daniel did not want Sophie alone with only one adult while the situation was unfolding.
“Was that them?”
“I don't know who it was.”
Daniel showed her the call log.
Hannah crossed her arms.
“I received another message.”
Daniel looked up.
She handed him her phone.
The message said, You were hired to help with the house, not destroy a family.
Daniel felt guilt twist through him.
“You can step away from this.”
Hannah stared at him.
“No.”
“You didn't sign up for legal threats.”
“I also didn't sign up to watch someone frighten Sophie and pretend it was discipline.”
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
Hannah lowered her voice.
“Besides, I know why Tabitha doesn't like me.”
“What do you mean?”
Hannah sat at the kitchen table.
“Claire contacted me before she died.”
Daniel stared at her.
Hannah had told him she had known Claire casually through a community volunteer group.
She had never said they were close.
“When?”
“About two months before she passed away.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked whether I would be willing to check in on you and Sophie after she was gone.”
Daniel's throat tightened.
Hannah continued before he could speak.
“She knew you wouldn't ask for help easily.”
That sounded exactly like Claire.
“She didn't ask me to spy.”
Hannah's voice was firm.
“She asked me to be present.”
Daniel looked down.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she made me promise not to turn her last months into instructions you had to obey.”
Hannah took a breath.
“She wanted you to decide who belonged in your life.”
Daniel sat across from her.
“Did she mention Tabitha?”
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
“What did she say?”
“That her mother confuses being needed with being loved.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Hannah continued.
“Claire said Tabitha might try to make herself indispensable.”
“That is exactly what happened.”
“Yes.”
“She moved in, took over schedules, and started telling me I was barely holding things together.”
Hannah gave him a sad look.
“And you were grieving.”
Daniel looked toward the dark window.
He had spent a year thinking his dependence on Tabitha was proof he had failed Claire.
Now he wondered if Tabitha had carefully created that dependence.
At 12:16 a.m., Daniel's phone chimed.
An email had arrived from an address he did not recognize.
The subject line read CLAIRE'S REAL PLAN.
The body contained only one attachment.
It was a photograph of a typed document bearing Claire's name.
The first visible paragraph appeared to say Claire wanted Tabitha to become Sophie's guardian if Daniel could not provide a stable home.
Daniel felt sick.
Hannah leaned closer.
“Is that real?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel enlarged the image.
The signature looked like Claire's.
Then Hannah pointed to the date.
“This was supposedly signed three weeks after Claire's attorney says she changed the estate plan.”
Daniel read the final line.
The document claimed it replaced all previous instructions regarding Sophie's care.
For the first time since the living-room confrontation, uncertainty entered him.
What if Claire had changed her mind?
What if Tabitha had something Daniel did not know about?
Then Hannah zoomed in on the lower corner of the image.
A faint mark appeared beneath the signature.
It was not part of the document.
It looked like a scanning timestamp.
Hannah read it aloud.
“Yesterday, 4:12 p.m.”
Daniel stared at her.
May you like
Someone had scanned the document after Tabitha left his house.
And that meant someone was still working with her.
