Chapter 6
Chapter 6 – The Snake in the Garden
"She called you?" Henry’s hand slammed onto the conference table the next morning. "We need to report this to the parole board immediately. It’s intimidation."
"It was an untraceable burner phone," I said quietly, holding a warm cup of tea to stop my hands from shaking. "She’s smart, Henry. She knows exactly how close she can push the line without crossing it."
"She’s desperate," Oliver added, looking up from his laptop. "The parole hearing is in three weeks. She wants to unnerve you so you won't testify against her release."
"I am testifying," I said firmly. "I am not that frightened woman in the extra room anymore."
But Emily wasn't just targeting me.
Two days later, it was Saturday. Peter and Alice were supposed to arrive at 10:00 a.m.
By 10:30, the porch was still empty.
Panic, sharp and immediate, seized me. I dialed the social worker, Ms. Gable.
"Catherine, I'm so sorry," Ms. Gable’s voice sounded frantic over the speaker. "There was an incident at the agency office during pickup. A woman approached the children."
My blood turned to ice. "Emily?"
"She claimed she had temporary visitation rights granted by a new court order," Ms. Gable said. "She didn't, of course. Security intervened, and she fled before the police arrived. But the children are terrified. Peter won't stop crying."
Ten minutes later, Henry drove me straight to the family services building.
When I walked into the waiting room, Peter and Alice ran into my arms, sobbing.
"Grandma! She said she was taking us away!" Peter cried, burying his face in my sweater. "She said you were going to lose the house again!"
I held them tightly, my heart breaking, but a new feeling overrode the sorrow.
Rage.
Pure, unadulterated mother’s rage.
As I comforted the children, my phone buzzed in my pocket. A text message from the same unknown number.
They look so big now. Alice has your eyes. See you at the hearing, Mom.
I looked up at Henry, my tears drying into a cold resolve.
"Oliver," I called him immediately. "Find out who is backing Vanguard Holdings. I don't care how much it costs. Dig up every grave Albert’s old partners ever buried."
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"Catherine, what are you going to do?" Henry asked, seeing the look on my face.
"I’m going to end this," I said. "Emily thinks she can use my family as leverage. She forgets that I am the one who built the foundation she tried to stand on."
