Chapter 5 - The Sister
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Hannah was already at the diner when I arrived.
She looked like me—same brown hair, same green eyes—but harder. Sharper. A decade of criminal law had worn away the softness.
"You look terrible."
"Feel worse."
I sat down. Ordered coffee. Waited until the waitress was gone.
Then I told her everything.
The ice machine. The memory card. The video. The confession.
When I was done, Hannah sat back. Her face was pale.
"Jesus Christ."
"I know."
"You have the card?"
"In my pocket."
"Give it to me."
I handed it over. She pulled out her laptop. Watched the video. Read the document.
When she was done, she closed the laptop. Pushed it away.
"This is... this is huge. This is murder. Conspiracy. Money laundering. Everything."
"Can we use it?"
"We can. But we have to be careful. The Hartleys have resources. Connections. If we go to the wrong person, this disappears. And so do we."
"So what do we do?"
"We go to the FBI. There's a field office in the city. I know a guy. An agent who's been investigating the Hartleys for years."
"Why didn't he do anything?"
"No proof. No witnesses. Everyone who knew anything ended up dead or disappeared."
"Until now."
"Until now." She looked at me. "Charlotte, this is dangerous. If the Hartleys find out you have this—"
"They already know. Eleanor saw Lily pick it up. She thinks Lily still has it."
"She'll come after you."
"I know."
"You need to get out of town. Take Lily. Go somewhere safe."
"I'm not running."
"Charlotte—"
"I'm done running. I've spent ten years pretending everything was fine. Pretending my in-laws weren't monsters. Pretending my husband wasn't part of it."
"Your husband?"
I stopped. Realized what I'd said.
"Michael. He knows. He has to know."
"Have you talked to him?"
"He's been texting. Calling. I've been ignoring him."
"You need to talk to him. Find out what he knows."
"He'll lie."
"Probably. But we need to know where he stands."
I thought about Michael. My husband. Lily's father. The man I'd loved for twelve years.
Was he part of it? Had he known about Emily Morrison? About the money? About everything?
I didn't know.
But I was going to find out.
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I called Michael from the parking lot.
He answered on the first ring.
"Charlotte? Thank God. Where are you? Where's Lily?"
"She's safe."
"What happened? My mother said you attacked her. Said you kidnapped Lily."
"Your mother is a liar."
"What?"
"She put Lily's hand in an ice machine. She tortured our daughter to get a memory card."
Silence. Long. Heavy.
"Michael?"
"I... I didn't know."
"Didn't know what? That your mother is a psychopath? Or that your family are murderers?"
"Charlotte—"
"I saw the video, Michael. I saw what your father did to Emily Morrison. I saw the cover-up. I saw everything."
"You don't understand—"
"Then explain it to me. Explain how your family killed a fourteen-year-old girl and got away with it."
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"Both." His voice cracked. "Charlotte, you need to give me the card. Before it's too late."
"Too late for what?"
"Too late for you. For Lily. My mother... she's not going to stop. She's going to find you. And when she does..."
"She'll kill us. Like she killed Emily."
"I don't know what she'll do. But please. Just give me the card. I can fix this."
"You can't fix this. Nobody can fix this. Your family is evil, Michael. And I'm going to make sure they pay."
"Charlotte—"
I hung up.
My hands were shaking. My heart was pounding.
But I knew what I had to do.
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