Chapter 5 - Olivia Told Me Why She Really Came
I called 911 while watching the live feed.
The hooded figure moved toward the side gate.
A second camera captured the person lifting the gasoline container.
I turned on every exterior light from my phone.
The figure froze.
Then ran.
Officer Morales arrived within six minutes.
Another patrol car searched the neighborhood.
They found no one.
The gasoline container had been left beside the fence.
It was empty.
At first, that seemed reassuring.
Then Officer Morales smelled the soil beneath the living-room windows.
Gasoline.
Someone had poured a line along the side of the house.
No flame had been lit.
Maybe the lights scared them.
Maybe they never intended to start a fire.
Maybe the threat itself was the purpose.
The container carried a partial fingerprint.
The police collected it.
They also recovered a black knit glove near the alley.
I called the hospital and requested emergency leave.
My supervisor approved it without hesitation.
By sunrise, a fire investigator had examined the property.
He found no damage but advised us not to remain there until the yard was cleared and the ventilation checked.
I moved Emma and Olivia to a hotel.
Julia arranged private security for forty-eight hours.
Daniel called when he heard.
“Are Emma and Olivia safe?”
I almost hung up.
“How did you hear?”
“The police contacted me because Emma is my daughter.”
“Did you send someone to my house?”
“What?”
“Someone poured gasoline along the wall.”
His silence lasted too long.
“Rachel, I didn’t know.”
“Where were you at two this morning?”
“At my parents’ hotel.”
“Which hotel?”
“The Rosemont.”
I wrote it down.
“Did your father leave?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ask him.”
“He’s asleep.”
“Wake him.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“You need to stop treating us like criminals.”
“The police are treating the gasoline as a threat.”
“My father would never burn your house.”
“I didn’t say burn.”
Silence.
I had said someone poured gasoline.
Daniel supplied the word burn.
Perhaps it meant nothing.
Perhaps he imagined the obvious.
I ended the call and gave the information to Officer Morales.
At the hotel, Olivia would not leave the bathroom.
Emma sat on the bed with her knees against her chest.
“Was Grandpa trying to kill us?” she asked.
“I don’t know who it was.”
“You think it was him.”
“I think the police need evidence.”
Emma looked toward the bathroom door.
“Olivia does know something.”
I knocked.
“Olivia?”
No answer.
“Open the door.”
“I’m fine.”
“No one who says that through a locked bathroom door is fine.”
The lock clicked.
Olivia sat on the edge of the tub.
Her face was wet.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t pour gasoline.”
“No.”
“Then why are you apologizing?”
She held out her phone.
A message from Gerald had arrived at 1:36 a.m.
Come outside when the alarm starts. Don’t bring Emma.
My blood became cold.
“When did you see this?”
“After the police came.”
“Why would he send it?”
Olivia’s breathing became uneven.
“Because he thinks I still belong to him.”
“You don’t.”
“He has videos.”
“What videos?”
She covered her face.
“My mom.”
I sat beside her.
Emma remained in the doorway.
Olivia explained that Gerald had installed cameras in Vanessa’s apartment.
He claimed they were for security after a break-in.
Instead, he used them to record Vanessa while she was using drugs.
Some footage showed Olivia trying to take pills away from her mother.
Other videos showed Vanessa unconscious.
Gerald threatened to give the recordings to the police and child welfare authorities unless Olivia followed his instructions.
“He said if I stayed with you, Mom would lose me forever.”
“Your mother asked you to stay here.”
“She doesn’t know about all the videos.”
“Did Gerald send you to our house originally?”
Olivia nodded.
“Why?”
“To watch Daniel.”
That answer surprised me.
“Watch him do what?”
“Move papers.”
She described the months before Vanessa entered treatment.
Daniel and Gerald had argued constantly about money.
Gerald believed Daniel might leave the business and expose the forged loan.
Marlene placed Olivia in our house to report on whether Daniel copied records, contacted attorneys, or spoke privately with me.
“Then why did Daniel let you come?”
“He thought I needed help.”
“Did he know you were watching him?”
“No.”
For the first time, Daniel appeared in a slightly less calculated role.
Not innocent.
But also manipulated.
“Why did Gerald want you in Emma’s room?”
Olivia looked at Emma.
“Because of the vent.”
Emma frowned.
“What vent?”
Olivia explained that the wall between Emma’s room and my home office contained an old ventilation opening hidden behind a bookshelf.
When my father renovated the house, he sealed most of it but left a narrow gap.
From Emma’s room, someone could hear conversations in my office.
Gerald wanted Olivia positioned there to listen.
Emma stared at her.
“Were you going to spy on Mom?”
“I didn’t want to.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Olivia began crying again.
“Yes.”
Emma left the bathroom.
I wanted to follow.
But Olivia grabbed my wrist.
“There’s more.”
She told me Gerald expected me to contact my attorney after the eviction.
He wanted information about my legal strategy.
He believed Daniel could claim partial ownership if he proved household funds had significantly improved the inherited property.
Gerald planned to manufacture invoices from Hart Renovation Group showing hundreds of thousands of dollars in upgrades.
“That explains why the business records list our address,” I said.
Olivia nodded.
“He said if Daniel owned part of the house, the bank couldn’t take everything.”
“Did Daniel know about fake invoices?”
“I don’t know.”
I contacted Marcus immediately.
He requested copies of all permits, renovation receipts, tax records, and bank statements connected to the house.
Most improvements had been paid from my inherited account.
A roof replacement came from insurance.
The kitchen remodel was paid by money my father left specifically for property maintenance.
Hart Renovation Group had never performed substantial work.
Gerald had repaired a porch railing once.
He sent no invoice.
By noon, Officer Morales confirmed that the Rosemont Hotel security cameras showed Gerald leaving at 1:48 a.m.
He returned at 2:39.
The hotel was twelve minutes from my house.
Police obtained a warrant for his vehicle.
Inside the trunk, they found another knit glove matching the one from the alley.
They also found gasoline residue.
Gerald was arrested.
The charges initially included attempted arson, criminal mischief, intimidation of a witness, and endangering minors.
He claimed he had poured gasoline only to frighten me.
That explanation did not help.
Marlene called Daniel before the police took Gerald away.
According to Daniel, she screamed that I had destroyed his father’s life.
Daniel came to the hotel that afternoon.
Security stopped him in the lobby.
I met him downstairs with Marcus present.
Daniel looked exhausted.
“Dad did it.”
“I know.”
“He says he never planned to light it.”
“He texted Olivia to come outside without Emma.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know about the message.”
“Did you know about the cameras in Vanessa’s apartment?”
“No.”
“The fake renovation invoices?”
He opened his eyes.
“What invoices?”
I studied his face.
For once, his confusion appeared genuine.
“Your father planned to create records showing his company improved my house.”
“Why?”
“To support your claim against the property.”
“I never asked him to do that.”
“You filed for rights to the house yesterday.”
“Temporary access. My attorney said I needed to protect my position.”
“You also described yourself as Emma’s primary caregiver.”
“I was home more.”
“You were pretending to work.”
“I took her to school.”
“Mrs. Ellis took her three days a week.”
Daniel looked away.
Marcus placed copies of the security transcripts on the table.
“You should obtain independent criminal counsel,” he said. “Your interests may no longer align with your parents.”
Daniel read the garage conversation.
His hands began shaking.
“He told me he had a strategy.”
“You discussed pressuring Rachel,” Marcus said.
“I thought he meant financially.”
“That is not the defense you believe it is.”
Daniel looked at me.
“I didn’t know he would put Emma outside.”
“The video shows you discussing it gradually.”
“I thought Olivia would use the room during the day for studying. I thought Emma would move to the guest room.”
“You never asked Emma.”
“I was trying to help Olivia.”
“You were trying to help everyone except the person who trusted you.”
He lowered the pages.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Tell the truth.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Daniel’s eyes moved toward the elevators.
“My mother will be alone.”
“Your mother notarized my forged signature.”
“She’ll go to prison.”
“That depends on what she did.”
“She’s seventy.”
“And Emma is sixteen.”
Daniel pressed both hands against the table.
“I can’t lose my entire family.”
May you like
I looked at him.
“You already chose which part you were willing to lose.”
