Chapter 1 - THE SIRENS
The sirens grew louder.
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
For one second, nobody in the kitchen moved.
Then Victoria slowly lowered her wineglass.
Arthur muted the television.
Dominic looked toward the front windows.
“Did you call someone?”
I stayed on the floor and held my burned hand against my chest.
“I can barely move.”
His eyes dropped toward the kitchen island.
That was when I saw understanding enter his face.
Not certainty.
Suspicion.
He stepped toward me.
“What did you do?”
Before I could answer, red and blue lights flashed across the living room walls.
Victoria’s face drained of color.
“Dominic.”
He reached for my arm.
I pulled away.
Three violent knocks shook the front door.
“Police!”
Dominic froze.
Detective Chloe Park’s voice followed.
“Claire Bennett, if you can hear me, move away from Dominic.”
Victoria stared at me.
“You planned this?”
The front door burst open before I could answer.
Three officers entered.
Chloe came directly toward the kitchen.
Dominic lifted both hands.
“This is ridiculous.”
He pointed at the overturned frying pan.
“My wife had an accident.”
Chloe’s eyes went to my hand.
Then to the glowing burner.
Then to the towel Dominic had shoved against my palm.
“Step away from her.”
“She burned herself.”
Chloe looked at him.
“We were watching.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Victoria’s glass slipped slightly in her fingers.
Dominic stared at Chloe.
“What?”
“The live transmission.”
His eyes snapped toward the island.
An officer moved between us.
Dominic’s face changed completely.
The charming husband vanished.
“You recorded me?”
I finally stood.
My knees were shaking.
But my voice wasn’t.
“Yes.”
He lunged one step toward me.
The officers grabbed him immediately.
“You lying bitch!”
Chloe positioned herself in front of me.
“Dominic Bennett, you’re under arrest.”
Victoria rushed forward.
“This is a family misunderstanding.”
Chloe turned.
“We heard you too, Mrs. Bennett.”
Victoria stopped.
For the first time since I had married Dominic, she looked frightened.
Paramedics entered behind the officers.
As they wrapped my hand, Dominic continued shouting from the hallway.
He said I was unstable.
He said I had been planning to steal from him.
He said nobody would believe me.
Then Chloe crouched beside me.
“There’s something you need to know.”
I looked at her.
She lowered her voice.
“While the feed was running, Dominic sent somebody a message.”
My stomach tightened.
“What message?”
Chloe showed me a photograph of his phone screen.
Four words were visible.
MOVE THE BLUE FILES NOW.
I stared at them.
“What are the blue files?”
Chloe watched my face carefully.
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
I couldn’t.
But Victoria could.
May you like
Because when she saw Chloe holding Dominic’s phone, she stopped arguing.
And for the first time that night, my mother-in-law looked more afraid of what was hidden inside her own house than of the police standing in it.
