Chapter 3: Everything He Thought He Knew
Mark took the document from Jack's hands.
He read it once.
Then again.
His lips moved slightly on the second pass, like he was trying to make the words mean something different.
They didn't.
"This is a property transfer." His voice came out flat.
"This is our house."
"Mark—" Diane started.
"Signed by Lucy.
Witnessed and notarized." He looked up.
"Three days after she disappeared."
"She came to me." Diane's chin lifted.
"She wanted out.
She asked me to help her make it clean."
Lucy made a sound that wasn't quite a laugh.
"I was already locked in here when I signed that."
"That's a lie."
"My wrists were tied.
You untied my right hand, held the pen out, and told me Jack would never see me again if I didn't sign.
Then you tied me back up."
Mark set the document on the steel prep table.
He pressed both palms flat against it and looked at Diane.
"How long were you planning this?"
"I wasn't planning anything.
She's confused.
She's been through something traumatic and she's confused."
"She's been in a freezer for seven months, Diane."
"I kept it warm enough.
She had food.
She had—" Diane stopped herself.
The room went very still.
Jack stepped back from his mother.
He stared at his stepmother like he was seeing her for the first time.
"You knew she was in there," he said.
"This whole time.
You knew."
"Jack, you don't understand adult situations."
"I'm twelve.
I'm not stupid."
Mark pulled out his phone.
"What are you doing?" Diane asked.
"Calling the police."
She moved fast.
Her hand came down on his wrist before he could dial.
"Think about what you're doing," she said quietly.
"Think about what happens to this family if you make that call.
Think about Jack."
"I am thinking about Jack."
"If you call them, everything comes out.
The restaurant.
The accounts.
Everything I've built for us." Her grip tightened.
"I did this for us, Mark.
She was never right for you.
She was never going to let you go.
I just — I needed time to make you see that."
Mark looked down at her hand on his wrist.
"Let go of me."
She didn't.
"Diane." His voice dropped to something she hadn't heard before.
"Let go."
She released him.
He dialed.
Diane walked to the far side of the kitchen and stood with her back against the wall.
She didn't run.
She didn't speak.
She looked at the steel freezer door, still hanging open, and her expression shifted into something that was almost calm.
That was the part that frightened Lucy most.
Not the rage.
Not the denial.
The calm.
Lucy pulled Jack close and pressed her face into his hair.
He was shaking.
So was she.
But she kept her arms around him and didn't let go while Mark spoke to the dispatcher in a low, careful voice on the other side of the kitchen.
"Yes.
I need police and an ambulance." A pause.
"My wife.
My ex-wife.
She's been held here against her will." Another pause, longer.
"Seven months."
He gave the address.
He answered their questions.
He never looked away from Diane.
When he ended the call, he set the phone on the table next to the document.
"They're on their way."
Diane nodded slowly, like she'd already known that was how this would end.
Then she said, very quietly: "You should know there's a second document."
Lucy's arms tightened around Jack.
Mark didn't move.
"What second document?"
May you like
Diane's eyes found Lucy's.
"The one that makes everything she just told you inadmissible."
