Chapter 6 - Ethan remembers the attic
Ethan hated closed doors after the kitchen incident.
He slept in Brooke’s room with a night-light.
Child services approved Brooke and Ethan remaining temporarily with their maternal aunt, Karen, while Laura’s role was reviewed.
Brooke did not know how she felt about that.
She loved her mother.
She also could not trust her yet.
Gary was released temporarily pending further investigation of the older financial case but faced protective orders and charges connected to Ethan.
Brooke hated knowing he was outside jail.
Police assured her he could not approach.
She did not find that comforting.
Daniel stayed nearby.
Still claiming to be only David’s friend.
Brooke watched him.
He watched Ethan with an affection that seemed too deep for an old coworker.
Something remained wrong.
One morning Ethan was drawing at Aunt Karen’s table.
Green crayon.
Brooke almost laughed at the coincidence.
Then he drew a staircase.
“Where’s that?”
“Our attic.”
“We don’t have stairs to the attic.”
“The pull-down ones.”
Brooke remembered.
A ceiling ladder in the hallway.
Gary had locked it after moving in.
“What’s up there?”
“Boxes.”
“Did you go?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Before Gary put the lock.”
“What did you see?”
Ethan colored.
“A green book.”
Brooke froze.
“Where?”
“In Daddy’s box.”
Ethan called David Daddy despite barely remembering him because Laura kept a framed photo in his room.
Brooke leaned closer.
“What box?”
“The brown one.”
“Did Gary see it?”
Ethan shook his head.
“Mom did.”
Laura was brought into a supervised interview.
She closed her eyes when Brooke mentioned the attic.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the book?”
“I moved it.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“Why?”
“David called me.”
Brooke’s anger rose.
“You spoke to Dad four years ago too?”
Laura nodded.
“How many times did he contact you?”
“More than I told you.”
“Stop making me discover my own family one phone call at a time!”
Laura cried.
Brooke did not apologize.
“Where is the ledger?”
“I gave it to someone.”
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Daniel looked stunned.
“No, you didn’t.”
Laura stared.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four years ago. Outside the church on Henderson Road.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I never met you there.”
Laura’s face changed.
“You called me.”
“No.”
“You knew the phrase David told me to ask.”
“What phrase?”
Laura whispered:
“Brooke hates peas.”
Daniel went pale.
That had been a private family joke David used as an emergency identity check.
But Daniel swore he never collected the ledger.
Someone impersonated him.
A man in a baseball cap.
Dark coat.
Same approximate height.
Laura never saw his face clearly.
She handed over the green ledger and believed Daniel had it.
Who knew the verification phrase?
David.
Daniel.
Laura.
And maybe someone who had access to David’s communications.
Gary?
Possibly.
But Gary spent years still searching.
So probably not.
Whoever took the ledger vanished.
Detective Cole asked:
“What was inside?”
Laura had opened it once.
Pages of numbers.
Building addresses.
Inspection codes.
A list of initials.
One page contained children’s names.
Brooke felt cold.
“Children?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Laura remembered one name because it matched a girl in Brooke’s elementary school.
Madison Keane.
Brooke remembered her.
She disappeared after fourth grade when her foster placement changed.
Nothing criminal was known.
Detective Cole searched.
Madison was now nineteen.
Alive.
Living in Kentucky.
When contacted, she said something strange.
“I remember Mr. Bennett.”
Brooke’s father?
“Yes.”
“He came to our foster house.”
“Why?”
“He fixed the boiler.”
“Anything else?”
Madison hesitated.
“He told my foster mom not to sign some paper.”
“What paper?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Gary Miller ever visit?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
Her voice changed.
“He told us the house was unsafe.”
The children were moved two weeks later.
The property sold.
Madison’s foster mother filed an objection and claimed the inspection was fake.
Case dismissed.
Buyer:
Midwest Community Renewal LLC.
Current owner at the time:
Marlene Reed.
Daniel stared at the name.
“My sister.”
Brooke turned.
“You have a sister?”
“Yes.”
“What does she do?”
“Real estate.”
“Did she work with Gary?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not that I knew.”
Detective Cole asked:
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Cincinnati.”
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE CHILDREN OUT OF THIS.
Attached photograph:
Brooke and Ethan asleep at Aunt Karen’s house.
Taken through the window less than an hour earlier.
Brooke’s blood went cold.
Someone knew exactly where they were.
And the message was addressed to Daniel.
Not Laura.
Not Brooke.
Daniel.
May you like
As if the children truly were his responsibility.
👉 The missing green ledger had been taken by someone impersonating Daniel, and a new threat suggested that person was still watching Brooke and Ethan—and believed Daniel had a deeper claim on them.
