Chapter 2 - Eleven Minutes Away
“Turn around.”
Miranda’s driver glanced at her in the mirror.
“Mrs. Hale?”
“Turn the car around now.”
The SUV changed lanes.
Miranda never took her eyes off the phone.
“Ryan, can you hear me?”
Inside the mansion, Ryan looked up at the camera.
“Yes, Mom.”
“Take Bennett to the library. Lock the door.”
Lorraine moved.
“Miranda, this is being misunderstood—”
“Don’t touch them.”
Lorraine stopped.
Miranda’s voice had changed.
Ryan recognized that voice.
It was the one his mother used when something was no longer a discussion.
“Ryan,” Miranda said, “go.”
Ryan grabbed Bennett’s hand.
Lorraine stepped sideways, partially blocking the route.
“Wait.”
Ryan froze.
Miranda saw it.
“Lorraine, move.”
“Bennett slipped.”
Ryan’s fear suddenly broke through.
“No, he didn’t!”
Lorraine turned toward him.
“You should be very careful about lying.”
Ryan flinched.
Miranda’s stomach twisted.
She opened another screen and called 911.
“My children are at my home with their nanny. I have video of her striking my nine-year-old, and my three-year-old is crying and appears to have food smeared over his face after an incident at the table. I’m eleven minutes away.”
The dispatcher kept her on the line.
Miranda switched back to the house camera.
Lorraine was no longer blocking Ryan.
The boys ran.
Miranda heard a door slam.
Then a lock clicked.
Good.
Lorraine stood alone in the grand hall.
“Miranda.”
“Don’t.”
“You know me.”
“No. Apparently I don’t.”
Lorraine looked toward the study again.
Miranda noticed.
“What’s in my study?”
Lorraine went still.
That tiny hesitation told Miranda more than any answer could have.
“Nothing.”
“What did you take?”
“Nothing.”
Sirens were faintly audible through the phone connection.
Lorraine heard them too.
Her eyes widened.
“You called the police?”
“You hit my son.”
“I barely touched him.”
Miranda’s hand tightened around the phone.
“He’s nine.”
“You’ve been under enormous pressure lately. I understand why the footage might look upsetting.”
Miranda stared at the screen.
There it was.
A sentence too polished for panic.
Something rehearsed.
“What do you mean, I’ve been under pressure?”
Lorraine’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But Miranda caught it.
“Everyone knows about the company situation.”
Miranda said nothing.
Almost no one knew about the company situation.
Her late husband Evan’s family business, Hale Meridian Holdings, had spent the past six months undergoing an internal financial review. Miranda owned Evan’s controlling shares through his estate plan, while Evan’s older brother, Adrian, remained chief financial officer.
Three days earlier, Miranda had learned that $4.8 million in payments to supposedly independent contractors could not be properly documented.
Only four people knew.
Miranda.
Her attorney Claire Donovan.
The forensic accountant.
And Adrian.
Lorraine had never been told.
Miranda leaned closer to the screen.
“Who told you about Hale Meridian?”
Lorraine stepped backward.
“No one.”
“You just said everyone knows.”
“I meant generally.”
“Generally what?”
Lorraine looked toward the front doors.
Red and blue light began flashing against the tall windows.
“Miranda, please.”
The front bell rang.
Then pounding.
“Police!”
Lorraine’s shoulders dropped.
Miranda watched her expression carefully.
It was not the expression of a woman afraid she had been caught hitting a child.
It looked like someone calculating what else might be found.
Officers entered moments later after Miranda remotely released the smart lock.
Ryan opened the library door only after an officer identified himself through Miranda’s phone.
Miranda’s SUV reached the circular drive less than three minutes later.
She was out before the vehicle had fully settled.
“Mom!”
Ryan ran toward her.
Miranda dropped to her knees and caught both boys.
Bennett was still crying.
Ryan finally began crying too.
He had held it back until she arrived.
Miranda wrapped one arm around each child.
“I’m here.”
Ryan pressed his face against her shoulder.
“I tried to stop her.”
“I know.”
“She said you wouldn’t believe me.”
Miranda closed her eyes.
“I believe you.”
Over Ryan’s shoulder, she saw an officer escort Lorraine toward the foyer.
Lorraine looked composed again.
Too composed.
Until a second officer emerged from the hallway near Miranda’s study.
“Mrs. Hale?”
Miranda stood.
“Yes?”
“Was this door supposed to be damaged?”
Miranda looked.
The study lock had fresh scratches around the keyway.
Her blood went cold.
The officer held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
“We found this under the nanny’s chair.”
Lorraine stared at it.
Miranda stared at Lorraine.
Then Ryan whispered something Miranda almost missed.
“Mom.”
She looked down.
May you like
Ryan was pointing toward Lorraine’s handbag on the console table.
“I saw her put Dad’s blue envelope in there yesterday.”
