Daniel stared at the initials until the letters seemed to blur.
Mara stood beside him, waiting. Leah had gone pale. Ruth remained near the chair, one hand pressed against her mouth.
Nobody wanted to say the name first.
Daniel looked at the signature again.
The initials were small, written beneath the main signature as though someone had added them after the form was completed. He knew the handwriting. He knew the person who used those letters.
His wife's.
Mara saw his expression change.
"Daniel?"
He did not answer.
"Who is it?"
Daniel folded the document once.
"My wife."
Leah whispered, "What?"
"Her initials."
Ruth shook her head immediately.
"That isn't possible."
"Why?"
"She never saw that form."
"How do you know?"
"Because I would have known."
Daniel looked at her.
"That's exactly the problem."
His voice was not angry anymore. It was quieter, and that made everyone listen.
He took out his phone and called his wife.
No answer.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Mara watched him lower the phone.
"Where is she?"
"She said she was visiting her sister this afternoon."
Leah looked toward the window.
"She isn't answering?"
"No."
Daniel checked the time.
It was nearly evening.
The house had grown darker while they argued. The last daylight had faded behind the curtains, leaving the nursery lit only by the lamp beside the crib.
Nora stirred against Mara's shoulder.
Mara looked down.
The baby made a small sleepy sound.
Daniel immediately softened.
"Let's get her somewhere else."
Mara nodded.
Ruth stood.
"Daniel, wait."
He looked at her.
"I need to tell you something before you leave."
"Then tell me."
"The form wasn't the first document."
Daniel's expression tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"There was another one."
"Where?"
Ruth looked toward the hallway.
"I destroyed it."
Mara stared.
"Why?"
"Because I thought it was dangerous."
Daniel stepped closer.
"What did it say?"
"I don't remember everything."
"You destroyed a document involving my daughter?"
"I was frightened."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I was."
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
"Where did you get it?"
"At my house."
"When?"
"Three weeks ago."
Mara exchanged a glance with Leah.
That was the same time Ruth had said the planning began.
Daniel noticed.
"You said the backup plan started three weeks ago."
"It did."
"Was that when you found the other document?"
Ruth nodded.
"What was it?"
"A transfer request."
The words seemed to drain the remaining warmth from the room.
Mara tightened her hold on Nora.
"Transfer where?"
"I don't know."
"Then why was it addressed to Nora?"
"I never signed it."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Who did?"
Ruth shook her head.
"I couldn't tell."
"Why not?"
"The signature was copied."
"Whose?"
Ruth looked at him.
"Yours."
Daniel went still.
Leah whispered, "Dad's signature?"
Ruth nodded.
Mara looked at the authorization.
Her thoughts raced.
Someone had apparently copied Daniel's signature on another document, while his wife's initials appeared on the childcare authorization.
Someone was creating paperwork that could make it appear as though Nora's parents had agreed to arrangements they knew nothing about.
The threatening message suddenly seemed more serious.
Daniel looked at the door.
"We're not staying here."
This time nobody argued.
Mara carried Nora into the hallway.
Daniel followed, checking each room before they crossed it. The house felt unfamiliar now. Every window looked like a possible vantage point. Every shadow seemed to have a purpose.
Leah stayed behind with Ruth.
"Mom."
Ruth looked at her.
"What?"
"You need to tell him everything."
"I have."
"No."
Leah's voice cracked.
"Not everything."
Ruth stared at her daughter.
"You know something else."
Leah looked toward the hallway.
"Something happened before I came here."
"What?"
"I saw someone outside."
Ruth's face changed.
"When?"
"This morning."
"Who?"
"I couldn't see their face."
"Where?"
"Across the street."
Ruth sat down again.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought it was nothing."
"What did they do?"
"They watched the house."
Ruth's hands began shaking.
"How long?"
"Maybe ten minutes."
"Then?"
"They left."
"Did you see a car?"
Leah nodded.
"Gray."
"License plate?"
"No."
Ruth closed her eyes.
She seemed suddenly exhausted.
Leah whispered, "Mom, what have we gotten ourselves into?"
Ruth opened her eyes.
"I don't know."
In the hallway, Daniel heard them.
He turned.
"Come with us."
Leah looked at him.
"Where?"
"To the police."
Ruth stood.
"Daniel—"
"No."
He held up his phone.
"I've saved the messages."
He held up the authorization.
"I have the document."
Then he looked toward the front door.
"And we have a baby who needs to be somewhere safe."
Nobody objected.
They left together.
Daniel drove.
Mara sat in the back seat with Nora.
Leah sat beside her.
Ruth took the passenger seat.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Streetlights slid across the windows.
Nora slept.
Mara watched the reflection of the car behind them.
A gray sedan.
She looked again.
It remained several car lengths back.
Her pulse quickened.
"Daniel."
He glanced into the mirror.
"What?"
"That car."
He looked.
The gray sedan remained behind them.
Ruth turned.
"That's the same kind of car Leah saw."
Leah leaned forward.
"I think it is."
Daniel changed lanes.
The sedan changed lanes too.
He turned at the next intersection.
The sedan followed.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel accelerated slightly.
The sedan remained behind them.
Mara reached for her phone.
"Call the police."
Daniel nodded.
Before she could dial, the gray car turned suddenly down another street.
They watched it disappear.
Daniel slowed.
"Maybe it was nothing."
Mara looked at him.
"Maybe."
But none of them believed it.
They continued toward the police station.
Halfway there, Daniel's phone buzzed.
A new message.
He opened it.
"Do not trust the woman who signed the first form."
Daniel stared at the screen.
Mara leaned forward.
"Who signed it?"
Daniel looked at his wife’s initials again.
He didn't answer.
Because the message had arrived from the same blocked number.
And beneath the warning was one more sentence.
"She is closer to the baby than you think."
Click Here to continue read next: PART6: Daniel Follows the Paper Trail Into a Carefully Hidden Arrangement, While Mara Discovers a Clue That Changes Who She Fears
A Tiny Pair of Scissors Turns an Ordinary Visit Into a Terrifying Struggle No One in the Family Can Explain Away
Part 5 of 8
