PART 13:

Anna rung her dish towel between her hands. I’m scared. What if he tries something? Natalie was already dialing Michael. He answered on the second ring, sounding annoyed. This better be important. I’m in a deposition. Daniel violated the restraining order. He was parked outside the house yesterday watching the children.

The annoyance vanished instantly. You have proof. Witness testimony from my housekeeper. Maybe security footage. Ethan installed cameras. Get me that footage now. This is exactly the kind of violation that will bury him in court. She heard papers rustling. I’m leaving this deposition. Meet me at my office in an hour with everything you have.

Natalie found Ethan in his workshop. Really just the guest house garage he’d converted into a workspace. Tools hung neatly on pegboards. Projects in various states of completion. He was sanding a wooden jewelry box, probably for Clare, who’d mentioned wanting a place to keep her grandmother’s necklace. I need the security footage from yesterday, Natalie said without preamb

1. Around 400 p.m., Anna saw Daniel parked outside. Ethan set down the sandpaper immediately. Son of a I was inside repairing the dishwasher. I didn’t see him. Can you pull the footage? Already on it. He moved to a laptop set up on a workbench, fingers flying over keys. Multiple camera angles appeared on screen. Front gate, street view, sideyard, back patio.

He scrolled through timestamps until he found 4:13 p.m. There, a silver Audi. Daniel’s car. Natalie recognized it immediately parked across the street. The angle wasn’t perfect, but she could make out a figure in the driver’s seat. Ethan zoomed in, enhanced the image. Daniel’s face appeared slightly grainy, but unmistakable.

He was staring directly at the house, phone in hand. “He’s taking pictures,” Ethan said grimly. “See, he’s holding the phone up, pointing it toward the driveway where the kids were getting out of your truck.” Yeah. Ethan’s jaw clenched. I should have seen him. Should have been watching. You can’t watch everything. That’s why we have cameras.

Natalie pulled out her phone. Send this to my email. Michael needs it immediately. While Ethan worked on the transfer, Natalie called the police. She explained about the restraining order, the violation, the footage. The officer who responded sounded bored until she mentioned the recording devices. You have video evidence timestamped.

Yes, crystal clear. We’ll send a unit to document the report. Don’t delete anything. And ma’am, if he shows up again, call 911 immediately. Restraining order violations are taken seriously, especially involving children. After she hung up, Natalie sank into the folding chair Ethan kept in the garage. Her hands were shaking, adrenaline making her fingers twitch.

“He’s not going to stop,” she said quietly. “Is he?” Even with legal consequences, even with everything against him, he’s going to keep trying. Ethan crouched in front of her, his weathered face serious. Men like Daniel don’t accept losing control easily. In his mind, you took something that belonged to him, not people he loved. Property, and he wants it back.

The kids aren’t property. We know that. He doesn’t. Ethan stood, pacing the small space. I’ve seen this before. Guys who snap when their authority is challenged. Most of them are cowards who back down at the first real resistance. But some he trailed off, shaking his head. Some what? Some escalate. They can’t handle the humiliation of losing, so they double down. Get dangerous.

You think Daniel’s dangerous? Physically dangerous. I think he’s drunk most evenings, desperate, and losing everything. That’s a volatile combination. Ethan met her eyes. I’m not trying to scare you. I’m trying to prepare you. We need better security. Not just cameras. Actual security personnel. You mean bodyguards.

I mean professionals who know how to protect high-risisk families. People who can escort the kids to school, watch the house, respond if something happens. I’m one man, Natalie. I can’t be everywhere at once. The use of her first name, he rarely did that, emphasized his seriousness.

Natalie wanted to argue to say it was excessive that Daniel wouldn’t actually hurt anyone, but she’d thought he wouldn’t hurt the children emotionally either, and she’d been catastrophically wrong. “Okay,” she said. “Arange it. Whatever you think we need. It’ll be expensive. I don’t care. Price isn’t a factor when it comes to their safety.

” Ethan nodded and pulled out his phone. I know some people from my Marine days. Good people who do private security now. I’ll make calls. By noon, two former Marines, Jackson and Torres, both built like refrigerators and trained in executive protection, were walking the property with Ethan, identifying vulnerabilities. By 300 p.m.

, they’d installed additional motion sensors, upgraded the gate security, and established a rotation schedule. One of them would be on site at all times, 24/7, until the threat was neutralized. This feels like overkill, Natalie murmured, watching Jackson test the panic buttons he’d installed in every room.

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