Chapter 8 - “All I Need Is One Hit”
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Detective Cole played the recovered audio for Daniel and Rachel at the station.
Diane’s voice filled the interview room.
Calm.
Almost bored.
“If he comes through the patio door, keep the camera running.”
Another voice answered from somewhere off-screen.
A woman.
Daniel looked at Cole.
“Who is that?”
“We’re identifying her.”
The recording continued.
Diane spoke again.
“He’ll see Lily. He’ll lose his mind.”
The second woman sounded nervous.
“What if he calls the police?”
“Let him.”
“And if he doesn’t touch you?”
Diane laughed.
“He will.”
Daniel’s face went cold.
Then came the sentence.
Quiet.
Clear.
Deliberate.
“All I need is one hit. Then the guardianship is mine.”
Nobody in the interview room moved.
Rachel finally whispered, “There it is.”
Daniel stared at the speaker.
His own mother had put Lily into a terrifying situation specifically to trigger him.
Not just to punish Lily.
Not just to scare her.
To manufacture violence.
Cole continued the video.
The second woman said, “You’re taking a big risk.”
Diane answered—
“Not compared to what happens if Daniel audits the account.”
Daniel looked at Rachel.
The money.
Confirmed.
Then Lily’s voice could be heard faintly.
“Grandma, please don’t.”
Diane walked toward her.
The video shook.
Then stopped.
Daniel stood abruptly.
“I’m done.”
Cole looked up.
“With what?”
“Listening.”
He walked into the hallway.
He made it ten steps before the anger became grief.
Daniel leaned against the wall.
Thirty-four years.
Birthdays.
Christmases.
His mother at his wedding.
His mother holding Lily after Claire died.
His mother telling him, “We’ll get through this.”
Had it all been fake?
No.
That was almost worse.
People could love you and still become dangerous.
People could once be good and later choose something cruel.
Rachel joined him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“She used Lily because she knew I’d react.”
“Yes.”
“And I did.”
“You rescued your child.”
“I knocked down a sixty-one-year-old woman.”
“Who was physically blocking access to your locked child.”
Daniel looked at her.
“A judge will see that?”
“If the judge sees everything.”
Rachel held up the evidence request.
“And we’re going to make sure the judge sees everything.”
Detective Cole appeared in the hallway.
“We identified the second woman.”
Daniel turned.
“Who?”
“Patricia Lane.”
Daniel frowned.
The name meant nothing.
Rachel knew it.
Her face changed.
“Patricia Lane?”
“You know her?”
“She’s not a lawyer.”
“What is she?”
Rachel looked at Daniel.
“She runs a private ‘family advocacy’ consulting company.”
Daniel still didn’t understand.
Rachel did.
“She helps people prepare custody petitions.”
Cole nodded.
“And according to the messages on Diane’s phone, she’s been working with your mother for two months.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“How much did Diane pay her?”
Cole looked at the report.
“Thirty-eight thousand dollars.”
“For what?”
Cole’s eyes hardened.
“To build a case that you were an unstable father.”
May you like
👉 Diane had not improvised the scheme alone—she had paid someone tens of thousands of dollars to teach her exactly how to make Daniel look dangerous.
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