Chapter 3 - THE WARNING DANIEL HAD DELETED
Daniel still had Mark’s number.
He had deleted the old messages.
He had not deleted the contact.
Mark answered after the fourth ring.
“Daniel?”
The surprise in his voice made Daniel feel worse.
“I need to ask you something about Vanessa.”
Silence.
Then Mark said:
“Is the kid okay?”
Not Vanessa.
Not their marriage.
The kid.
Daniel stood in the dark kitchen.
“Why did you warn me?”
Mark exhaled slowly.
“My daughter.”
Her name was Avery.
She had been eight when Mark married Vanessa and eleven when they divorced.
Vanessa had told Daniel Avery was difficult.
Jealous.
Manipulative.
Always trying to destroy the marriage.
Mark told a different story.
Whenever he traveled overnight for work, Avery’s rules changed.
Meals at the table became meals alone.
Television disappeared.
Her bedroom door was sometimes locked “because she had an attitude.”
Once, Vanessa moved her blankets into the mudroom.
Daniel’s grip tightened around the phone.
“The mudroom?”
“Yes.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That Avery chose to sleep there after throwing a tantrum.”
Exactly.
Mark’s voice changed.
“I believed Vanessa at first.”
Daniel sat down.
“Why?”
“Because she was calm.”
The sentence hit harder than Daniel expected.
“Avery cried. Vanessa explained.”
Mark gave a bitter laugh.
“Guess which one sounded more believable.”
Daniel remembered every time Sophie cried when he packed for a trip.
Every time Vanessa rolled her eyes and said:
Separation anxiety again.
Every time Daniel kissed Sophie’s forehead and told her to be good for Vanessa.
His stomach turned.
“What happened with Avery?”
“She finally told a school counselor.”
“Was Vanessa charged?”
“No.”
The answer disappointed Daniel for the wrong reason.
He wanted something simple.
A record.
A finding.
Proof he could blame for not knowing.
Instead Mark said the evidence was limited.
There had been no serious physical injury.
Accounts conflicted.
The marriage ended for multiple reasons.
Avery went to live primarily with her mother.
Vanessa told everyone the girl had finally gotten what she wanted.
Mark paused.
“Daniel?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not asking you to believe me now either.”
May you like
“Then what?”
“Believe your daughter.”
