Chapter 8 - The Second ChildDaniel could barely hold the phone.
Each viewing hurt more.
“My doctors couldn’t explain why I kept becoming violently ill after visiting hours,” Emily said from the screen. “I began tracking who entered my room.”
She lifted a notebook.
“Margaret visited eleven times during the period when my symptoms became significantly worse.”
Daniel whispered,
“No…”
Emily continued.
“I saved blood samples and asked an independent laboratory to test them.”
She displayed documents.
“Small amounts of digoxin were found. I was never prescribed digoxin.”
Daniel knew enough to understand.
In high doses, the heart medication could be dangerous.
Emily wiped tears from her face.
“I confronted Margaret privately.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“She told me I was imagining things. Then she told me something I will never forget.”
Emily looked directly into the camera.
“She said, ‘Some wives know when it’s time to leave a family.’”
Daniel shut his eyes.
Claire sat silently during a video call from the hospital.
Detective Ruiz watched from across the room.
Emily continued.
“I didn’t tell you immediately because I needed proof. Margaret has always known how to make you doubt yourself when it comes to her.”
Daniel flinched.
Even dying, Emily had understood him.
“There is more,” Emily said.
“I investigated William’s death.”
Daniel looked at Ruiz.
Emily held up his father’s medical report.
“William Parker supposedly died from sudden cardiac arrest. Margaret arranged for his body to be cremated within forty-eight hours.”
Daniel remembered.
His mother claimed William had requested cremation.
Emily continued.
“I found a nurse who treated William the night he died. She remembers Margaret bringing him tea shortly before he collapsed.”
The video shifted.
An elderly woman appeared.
“My name is Nora Jenkins. I worked at Northwestern Memorial for thirty-one years. Mr. Parker was recovering well. Mrs. Parker insisted on giving him herbal tea. Forty minutes later, his heart stopped.”
Daniel’s stomach turned.
The recording returned to Emily.
“I believe Margaret killed William because he discovered her financial crimes. I believe she poisoned me because I discovered the truth.”
Emily took a shaky breath.
“And if anything happens to me, protect Owen.”
Daniel broke.
He lowered his head into his hands.
Claire whispered through the phone,
“Daniel.”
He couldn’t speak.
His wife had known she was in danger.
He hadn’t believed her.
Just like he hadn’t believed Owen.
Ruiz paused the video.
“This is evidence, but we still need Margaret.”
Daniel wiped his face.
“And my son.”
Police received a break at 7:42 p.m.
A gas station clerk near Freeport reported seeing a woman matching Margaret’s description with a young boy.
Owen had deliberately knocked over a display of windshield fluid.
While Margaret argued with the clerk, Owen slipped a folded receipt beneath the counter.
Written in pencil:
Old windmill. White house. Train tracks.
Ruiz smiled.
“Your kid is remarkable.”
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“Where does that point?”
Investigators identified three possible properties.
One was a farmhouse owned through an LLC connected to Margaret.
Police surrounded it at 9:13 p.m.
Inside they found food.
Owen’s backpack.
A map.
But no Owen.
Another clue waited on the kitchen table.
Three crayons arranged in a line.
Red.
Blue.
Green.
Daniel stared.
“Those were our family code.”
Ruiz frowned.
“What code?”
Emily had taught Owen traffic-light colors.
Red meant danger.
Green meant safe.
Blue meant water.
Daniel looked at the map.
“There’s a lake.”
Five miles north.
Police raced there.
They found Margaret’s SUV abandoned beside a private dock.
Fresh tire tracks indicated another vehicle had picked them up.
Ruiz cursed.
“She’s staying one move ahead.”
Daniel noticed something inside the SUV.
A child’s sneaker.
Owen had removed it deliberately.
Inside was another note.
MAN WITH SNAKE TATTOO
Marcus was brought back into questioning.
Ruiz placed the note in front of him.
“Who has a snake tattoo?”
Marcus went pale.
“No.”
“Who?”
“Our old security chief.”
“Name.”
“Victor Hale.”
Daniel knew him.
Victor had worked for Parker Development for fifteen years before being fired for misconduct.
“Where is he?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I haven’t seen him in years.”
Ruiz’s officers found otherwise.
Phone records showed Marcus had called Victor eleven times in two months.
Daniel nearly overturned the table.
“You said you wanted to help!”
“I didn’t know Victor was involved!”
“But you called him.”
“Mother told me to!”
“Why?”
“To install cameras.”
Silence.
Daniel stared.
Marcus had hired Victor to install the hidden camera.
Victor therefore had access to the recordings.
Including the deleted seventeen minutes.
“Where does he live?”
Marcus gave them an address.
Police raided Victor’s apartment.
Empty.
But his computer remained.
Technicians recovered deleted files.
Thousands of surveillance clips from the Parker house.
The dining room.
Nursery.
Kitchen.
Daniel’s office.
Even Owen’s bedroom.
Ruiz looked disgusted.
“They monitored your child while he slept.”
Daniel’s fists tightened.
Then technicians found the missing recording.
Seventeen minutes.
Restored.
Daniel watched.
Claire entered the dining room.
Margaret followed.
Owen was nowhere nearby.
Margaret stepped behind Claire.
She pretended to adjust the back of Claire’s dress.
Then slipped the medicated needle beneath a fold of fabric.
Claire didn’t notice.
Minutes later, Owen entered.
He saw something silver.
Reached toward it.
Claire moved.
The needle punctured her skin.
She screamed.
Owen pulled it out instinctively.
Exactly as he had said.
Daniel began crying.
The recording was absolute proof.
His son had told the truth from the beginning.
Then the video continued.
After Daniel rushed Claire from the house, Margaret remained briefly.
She walked toward the camera.
Victor Hale entered.
“You’re getting reckless,” he said.
Margaret replied,
“We’re almost finished.”
“And the boy?”
“He’ll be institutionalized.”
“And Daniel?”
“When he has nothing left, he’ll sign anything I put in front of him.”
Victor smiled.
“What about Marcus?”
Margaret’s answer chilled everyone watching.
“Marcus is disposable.”
Marcus turned pale.
Daniel stared at him.
For the first time, Marcus fully understood.
Their mother had never intended to protect him.
A police technician suddenly called Ruiz.
“Detective.”
“What?”
“We found something else on Hale’s computer.”
A live GPS tracker.
One device currently moving east toward Chicago.
Ruiz zoomed in.
“What is it attached to?”
“Vehicle registered to Victor Hale.”
Daniel leaned toward the screen.
The tracker stopped.
At St. Matthew’s Hospital.
Claire’s hospital.
Daniel’s blood turned cold.
He called her.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Claire’s phone finally connected.
But it wasn’t Claire who answered.
May you like
Margaret’s voice whispered,
“Hello, Daniel.”
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