Chapter 6
We left the courtroom.
Thomas ran ahead.
Bursting with excitement.
“We won, Mom! We actually won!”
I caught him.
Held him tight.
But I couldn’t share his joy.
Not completely.
Because Daniel’s eyes were burned into my memory.
That look of hatred.
That promise of revenge.
He wasn’t done.
My lawyer walked beside me.
“Valerie, I know what you’re thinking. And you’re right to be worried. Daniel is out on bail for now. The criminal case takes time to build. He’s free. And he’s dangerous.”
“Then why did the judge let him go?”
“Because the recording only proves threats. Not the abuse. Not the fraud. Not yet. We need more. Much more. The former employee who contacted me… he’s willing to testify. But he’s scared. He won’t come forward unless we have something concrete first. Something that makes him feel safe.”
I thought about Nick.
About what he’d said.
About recording everything.
“Nick,” I said. “Is there more on that phone? More recordings?”
Nick shrugged.
“Lots of stuff. Things I recorded when I was on the streets. Conversations I overheard. People I saw. I don’t know if any of it is about Daniel.”
“Let’s find out,” my lawyer said.
We went back to the hotel.
My lawyer brought in a tech expert.
They went through Nick’s phone.
Every recording.
Every photo.
Every note.
Most of it was nothing.
Street noise.
Random conversations.
Then…
One recording.
Dated three months earlier.
A man’s voice.
Daniel’s voice.
And another man’s.
Talking in low tones.
About money.
About accounts.
About “cleaning things up.”
About “making sure Valerie never finds out.”
The tech expert looked up.
“Is that Daniel?”
I nodded.
“Who’s the other man?”
The expert enhanced the audio.
Ran it through a voice recognition database.
Five minutes later.
He had a name.
And a photo.
My blood ran cold.
It was Frank.
My restaurant manager.
The man I’d trusted for ten years.
The man who ran my business when I couldn’t be there.
The man who was like family.
He’d been working with Daniel the entire time.
Helping him steal from me.
Helping him destroy everything I’d built.
“I need to go to the restaurant,” I said.
“Valerie, wait,” my lawyer said. “If he’s been working with Daniel, he might be dangerous. Let the police handle it.”
“The police don’t have enough yet. And if I don’t go now… he might destroy everything. The records. The proof. Everything we need.”
I stood up.
“I’m going. And I’m taking Nick with me.”
“Nick?” my lawyer said.
“He knows how to be invisible,” I said. “He can get in and out without being seen. He can help me find the proof we need.”
My lawyer hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Be careful. And call me the second you have something.”
We drove to the restaurant.
It was closed.
Dark.
But Frank’s car was in the parking lot.
“Stay here,” I told Nick.
“No way,” he said. “We’re in this together. Remember?”
I looked at him.
This brave, stubborn boy.
“Okay. Stick close. And stay quiet.”
We slipped in through the back door.
The one I used for deliveries.
The restaurant was dark.
Quiet.
But there was light coming from my office.
Voices.
Frank.
And someone else.
Sarah.
I crept closer.
Pressed my ear to the door.
“Daniel called,” Frank was saying. “He’s furious. The recording ruined everything. Stanton dropped him as a client.”
“Then we need to move faster,” Sarah said. “Empty the accounts. Transfer everything to the offshore accounts. Tonight. Before Valerie can freeze anything.”
“She’s already frozen the main accounts,” Frank said.
“Not the secondary ones,” Sarah said. “The ones Daniel set up through the shell companies. Only we know about those. We take everything. And we disappear. Tonight. Before Daniel can get to us first.”
My heart hammered.
They were going to take everything.
And run.
Leaving me with nothing but debt.
I needed proof.
I looked at Nick.
He was already pulling out his phone.
Recording.
We listened.
Heard more.
Names.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Everything.
Then Sarah said something that made my blood run cold.
“What about the boy? Thomas? And that homeless kid?”
Frank shrugged.
“Daniel will handle them. He said he has a plan. One way or another… they won’t be a problem much longer.”
I stepped back.
Horrorstruck.
Daniel was planning to hurt my son.
To hurt Nick.
And Sarah and Frank knew.
And they were going to let him.
I backed away.
Too quickly.
My elbow hit a vase.
It crashed to the floor.
Shattered.
Silence from the office.
Then the door flew open.
Frank stood there.
His face draining of color when he saw me.
“Valerie.”
Sarah appeared behind him.
Her face going pale when she saw Nick’s phone.
Still recording.
Still capturing everything.
“You recorded us,” Sarah whispered.
I stood tall.
Stepped between them and the boys.
“Everything. Every word. And now… the police are on their way.”
Frank and Sarah exchanged a look.
Then Frank reached behind the counter.
Pulled out a baseball bat.
The one I kept by the door for protection.
“I’m sorry, Valerie,” he said. “But I can’t go to prison. I have a family. You have to understand.”
He took a step forward.
Sarah stepped back.
Scared.
But she didn’t stop him.
I backed away.
Nick stepped in front of me.
Just like he’d stepped in front of Thomas.
“You’ll have to go through me first,” he said.
His voice didn’t tremble.
Not even a little.
Frank raised the bat.
And then…
Blue and red lights flashed through the windows.
Sirens wailed.
Frank froze.
The bat slipped from his hand.
Crashed to the floor.
My lawyer had called the police.
Just in case.
And they had arrived.
Just in time.
Officers burst through the door.
Frank and Sarah were arrested.
Led away in handcuffs.
Sarah looked at me as she passed.
Tears in her eyes.
But I felt nothing.
No pity.
No anger.
Just… nothing.
An officer walked up to me.
“Mrs. Carter? We received a call about a break-in and possible threats. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “And I have proof. Everything you need. Recordings. Names. Account numbers. Everything.”
I handed him Nick’s phone.
And in that moment…
I knew.
The tide had turned.
We were finally winning.
But Daniel was still out there.
May you like
And he was planning something terrible.
Something that would make everything before it look like child’s play.
