Chapter 7 - DANIEL RETURNS
Three weeks after the slap, Daniel returned to Willow Lane alone.
A restraining order prohibited him from approaching Loretta.
He came anyway.
The security camera showed him standing on the porch in the rain, gray sweater soaked through, hands empty.
Loretta watched from the hallway.
Marcus had told her not to speak with him.
The police were already on their way.
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“Mom, please.”
The word broke something inside her.
Not enough to open the door.
But enough to make her listen through the intercom.
“What do you want?”
“Sloan left.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She took everything.”
Loretta almost laughed.
“You helped her take everything from me.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“I was angry. I was scared. I lost my job and she said you were going to leave the house to charity.”
“I was not.”
“I know.”
“Did you know when you hit me?”
He looked up.
Rain ran down his face.
“Yes.”
The answer was more honest than any apology.
Police lights appeared at the end of the street.
Daniel stepped closer to the door.
“Sloan has the original trust papers. She plans to leave the country tonight.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because my name is on everything.”
He was not saving Loretta.
He was trying to save himself.
Still, the information mattered.
Police arrested Daniel for violating the order.
Before they placed him in the car, he gave Marcus the location of a private airfield.
Sloan was preparing to leave on a chartered plane.
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She carried one cream suitcase.
Inside were passports, cash, and Loretta’s missing documents.
