Chapter 9 - MRS. HARPER’S HOUSE
“Where is she?”
Emily’s voice echoed through the rehabilitation room.
Detective Reyes motioned for silence while another officer began tracing the call.
Derek answered calmly.
“That depends on you.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You still believe threats make you strong.”
“You’re the one hiding.”
Mrs. Harper’s voice sounded faintly in the background.
“Don’t give him anything, Emily!”
A sharp impact followed.
Emily flinched.
“What did you do?”
“Your neighbor is emotional.”
“Let me speak to her.”
“You can speak to her after you send a statement saying your injuries were accidental.”
“The police heard the recording.”
“A recording can be misunderstood.”
“You told Marjorie where to hit me.”
“I discussed a hypothetical.”
“You forged my signature.”
“You gave me permission to handle household matters.”
“You tried to steal my trust.”
“I protected our future.”
The words came so easily that Emily realized Derek believed them.
In his mind, ownership and love were the same thing.
“Put Mrs. Harper on the phone.”
“Record a video first.”
Detective Reyes wrote something on a pad and held it up.
KEEP HIM TALKING. UNITS TWO MINUTES AWAY.
Emily swallowed.
“What should I say?”
Derek’s voice softened.
“That you fell down the back stairs. That pain medication confused you. That Mrs. Harper pressured you to accuse my mother.”
Emily stared at the wall.
“And then you’ll release her?”
“Yes.”
“You promised to take me to the hospital too.”
Silence.
“I did take you.”
“No. I escaped.”
“You created that situation.”
“You ordered pizza.”
Derek’s breathing changed.
Emily continued.
“You sat in the living room while your wife lay with a broken leg ten feet away.”
“You humiliated my mother.”
“So you punished me.”
“You refused to respect the family.”
“What family?”
Derek’s voice sharpened.
“The one that gave you everything.”
The door to Mrs. Harper’s home crashed open in the background.
Men shouted.
Derek cursed.
The phone dropped.
Emily heard movement, breaking glass, and Mrs. Harper yelling that he had gone through the back door.
Detective Reyes grabbed his radio.
“Suspect fleeing west side!”
Emily clutched the phone.
“Mrs. Harper?”
A different male voice answered.
“This is Officer Daniels. Mrs. Harper is safe. She has a minor injury.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Where’s Derek?”
“He fled before entry. Officers are pursuing.”
“Marjorie?”
“No sign of her.”
Minutes later, Mrs. Harper came on the phone.
Her voice shook with anger more than fear.
“He hit me with my own lamp.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’ve had worse falls while gardening.”
“Please go to the hospital.”
“I am going because the officer refuses to stop looking at me like that.”
Emily began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop.”
“This happened because of me.”
“No. It happened because that man chose my house.”
Mrs. Harper drew a breath.
“He wanted your old letters.”
“What letters?”
“The box you asked me to take from your office.”
Emily remembered.
Before the surgery, Mrs. Harper had retrieved a framed photograph and a few personal items from Caldwell & Pierce. Angela had also sent a small box of mail that arrived for Emily during the week.
“I never opened them.”
“Derek did.”
“Were they from the trust company?”
“One was.”
Emily looked toward Lauren Pike, who had arrived moments earlier.
“Did you send me anything?”
Lauren frowned.
“A notice regarding your upcoming distribution. It would have included a verification code.”
“What can the code do?”
“Access your online trust portal. Not transfer funds without additional authentication, but it could reveal balances and documents.”
Derek had risked kidnapping a retired principal for a code that would only show him money he could not reach.
Unless he needed something else.
“Were there other letters?” Emily asked.
Mrs. Harper hesitated.
“One from a bank.”
“What bank?”
“First Southern Commercial.”
Emily had never used it.
Lauren searched through the financial records on her tablet.
“Whitaker Home Renewal has an account there.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“Why would the bank write to me?”
Mrs. Harper said the envelope was addressed to Emily Carter, care of Caldwell & Pierce.
Nora Kim contacted the bank’s fraud department.
Within an hour, they learned that Emily was listed as guarantor on a business loan for three hundred thousand dollars.
The application contained her signature.
The loan had funded Derek’s company.
It was six months behind on payments.
“They were going to come after me,” Emily said.
Nora nodded.
“The bank sent a default notice to your workplace because previous mail was returned.”
“Derek controlled the mail at home.”
“He may have been hiding notices for months.”
The loan documents included a personal financial statement claiming Emily already controlled her trust principal.
Derek had used money he did not own as proof that he could repay money he borrowed.
His company had then transferred large amounts to Cumberland Family Consulting.
Marjorie’s company.
The attack was not only about gaining Emily’s future trust.
It was about covering a financial collapse already in progress.
Police searched Mrs. Harper’s house after Derek fled.
They found blood on the broken lamp, muddy prints near the rear fence, and a backpack hidden beneath the porch.
Inside were zip ties, a syringe, duct tape, and a bottle of sedatives issued in Emily’s name.
“He was going to drug her,” Emily said.
“Or you,” Detective Reyes replied.
A folded paper was also found in the backpack.
It was a handwritten list.
Harper.
Angela.
Lauren.
Richard.
Beside each name was an address.
Next to Richard’s name, Derek had written:
Weakest. Bring him back first.
Richard read the note in silence.
Emily watched his face collapse.
“He still thinks I belong to him,” he whispered.
“He thinks everyone does,” Tasha said.
Richard folded the copy of the note.
“I need to make a public statement.”
Detective Reyes shook his head.
“That could interfere with the investigation.”
“Not about the evidence. About Emily.”
Emily frowned.
“What would you say?”
“The truth. That you did not attack Marjorie. That you did not fall. That I saw what happened.”
“Why publicly?”
“Marjorie has been calling relatives.”
Emily had avoided looking online, but Angela had warned her that posts were circulating.
Marjorie’s sister described Emily as mentally ill.
A cousin claimed Emily had physically abused Derek for years.
Someone posted an old photograph of Emily holding a glass of wine at a Christmas party and wrote that alcohol had destroyed the marriage.
The story had spread among church groups, neighborhood pages, and Derek’s business contacts.
Marjorie knew how to create a jury before a case reached court.
Nora advised against direct online arguments.
“A public war benefits them,” she said. “Every emotional response becomes content they can distort.”
“So we let them lie?” Richard asked.
“We preserve the lies. Then we use them as evidence of witness intimidation and defamation.”
Emily looked at Richard.
“You can give your statement to the police.”
“I already did.”
“Then testify when the time comes.”
Richard nodded slowly.
For once, Emily was the person telling him not to act from fear.
That evening, Mrs. Harper arrived at Briarwood after receiving four stitches near her temple.
A purple bruise spread along her cheek.
Emily gripped the wheelchair arms.
“I never should have involved you.”
Mrs. Harper sat on the bed.
“You didn’t involve me. I opened my own front door.”
“He could have killed you.”
“So could a drunk driver. That doesn’t mean I stop crossing streets.”
Emily began to cry.
Mrs. Harper took her hand.
“You know what he said while he searched my house?”
“What?”
“He said you would come home because you had nowhere else to go.”
Mrs. Harper squeezed her fingers.
“I told him he was wrong.”
Emily looked at her.
“I don’t know where I’m going.”
“You don’t need the full map today.”
Mrs. Harper glanced at the injured leg.
“You only need the next step.”
A security officer knocked.
Detective Reyes entered behind him.
His jacket was wet from the rain.
“Derek escaped the perimeter.”
Emily’s hope sank.
“How?”
“He had a vehicle hidden two streets away.”
“And Marjorie?”
“We believe she helped prepare it.”
Reyes placed a photograph on the table.
Traffic cameras had captured Derek entering a gray sedan.
The driver was a woman.
Not Marjorie.
Bethany was in custody.
The woman behind the wheel had red hair and wore sunglasses.
Richard stared at the photograph.
“That’s Susan Vale.”
“Who is she?” Emily asked.
“Derek’s first wife.”
Emily stopped breathing.
Derek had told her his first marriage ended after one year because Susan cheated and disappeared.
Richard continued.
“Marjorie said Susan was unstable.”
“Where has she been?” Reyes asked.
“I thought she moved to Arizona.”
Emily looked at the photograph again.
Susan’s face was partially hidden, but one detail was unmistakable.
A thin scar ran from her left eyebrow into her hairline.
Emily had seen a similar scar once before.
In a photograph Derek kept locked inside his desk.
May you like
He had told her Susan received it in a car accident.
Now Emily wondered whether Susan had fallen down stairs too.
