Chapter 14 - Mrs. DaltonMrs. Dalton's apartment had been empty for two days.
No sign of struggle.
No broken lock.
No blood.
Nothing.
Except a handwritten note on the kitchen table.
I should have told her.
Hale read it twice.
"Who?"
Elena asked.
He shook his head.
"We don't know."
Ava walked through the apartment.
Something felt familiar.
The furniture.
The smell.
The old clock.
Then she noticed the wall.
Photographs.
Ava as a child.
Elena at work.
Daniel leaving the apartment.
The building entrance.
The hallway.
Ava stared.
"She was watching us."
Hale nodded.
"Looks like it."
Rebecca stepped into the room.
"Or protecting you."
Ava turned.
"How?"
Rebecca pointed to a drawer.
Inside were envelopes.
Each one labeled with dates.
Every year.
From when Ava was fourteen until now.
Ava opened one.
A note.
He came home at 10:43. Ava cried afterward.
Another.
Elena left at 6:02. Daniel locked the door.
Another.
Ava asked me today if I thought she was bad.
Ava began crying.
Mrs. Dalton had known.
She had seen.
But she had been afraid too.
Hale opened the final envelope.
It contained a key.
And a sentence:
If Ava tells her mother, give her this.
The key fit nothing in the apartment.
Then Elena recognized it.
"The old church."
Ava frowned.
"What church?"
"The one across from your elementary school."
They drove there.
An abandoned church stood behind rusted gates.
The key opened the side door.
Inside, everything was covered in dust.
Ava's footsteps echoed.
At the altar was a wooden box.
Inside were letters.
Dozens.
All addressed to Elena.
Written by Mrs. Dalton.
The first letter explained everything.
She had seen Daniel threaten Ava.
She had tried to intervene once.
Daniel had warned her.
"Stay out of family matters."
She had been too frightened to challenge him.
So she watched.
And recorded.
Not audio.
Dates.
Patterns.
People.
Names.
Her final letter was different.
Elena,
If you are reading this, Ava finally told you.
Do not trust everyone who offers help.
Someone close to Daniel will pretend to help you.
That person has already infiltrated the police investigation.
Hale stopped reading.
"Someone close to Daniel."
Elena looked at him.
"Who?"
The church fell silent.
Then they heard footsteps behind them.
Slow.
Measured.
Ava turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Suit.
Gray hair.
Calm expression.
Martin Shaw.
Daniel's attorney.
He smiled.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Hale reached for his weapon.
Martin raised his hands.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone."
"Then why are you here?"
Martin looked directly at Ava.
"Because you're about to make the biggest mistake of your life."
Elena stepped forward.
"We're done listening to men who tell us what is best for her."
Martin sighed.
"I was afraid you'd say that."
Then he pulled a folder from his coat.
Inside was one photograph.
Ava froze.
It showed Daniel.
Standing beside Victor.
And another man.
A man Ava recognized immediately.
Detective Hale's supervisor.
May you like
Martin looked at her.
"Now ask yourself which side the police are really on."
