part 6
PART 6
Deputy Carver took statements in the lodge conference room.
The storm raged against the windows.
Inside, everything became painfully clear.
Harper told them about the note I had given her.
Mr. Ellis described Adrian’s attempt to force the suite door open.
Naomi joined by video call and provided the sealed custody objection.
Mason explained how he found me barefoot in the snow.
Then he described the cabin.
The cut landline battery.
The smashed phone.
The missing snowmobile.
The camera recording.
Adrian sat across the room with an attorney on speakerphone, trying to look patient.
He failed whenever Lily cried.
Sienna sat separately near the fireplace.
Her white outfit, perfect when she escaped with him, looked ridiculous now.
Snow had melted into the fur trim.
Mascara had darkened beneath her eyes.
She stared at Adrian like she was finally watching him from the outside.
Deputy Carver turned to me.
“Mrs. Hartwell, did you voluntarily remain at the cabin?”
“No.”
“Did you sign custody transfer documents?”
“No.”
“Did Mr. Hartwell leave you there without transportation?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know the storm conditions?”
I looked at Adrian.
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened.
I continued.
“He brought me there because of the storm.”
Adrian laughed under his breath.
“That’s absurd.”
Mason spoke before I could.
“You canceled the hired driver two hours before the gala ended.”
Adrian’s smile vanished.
Mason looked at Deputy Carver.
“I checked the access road earlier today.”
“The driver told me Mr. Hartwell dismissed him and said he had private transport handled.”
Naomi added from the tablet.
“And his emergency petition was filed before he brought Evelyn to the cabin.”
Deputy Carver looked toward Adrian.
The room shifted.
Premeditation has a sound when people finally hear it.
It sounds like chairs stopping.
Breath holding.
A man realizing his timeline has turned against him.
Sienna whispered, “You planned this before dinner?”
Adrian glared at her.
“Be quiet.”
She recoiled.
That small command revealed something to her.
Maybe not enough to redeem her.
But enough to frighten her.
Lily sat in my lap with her arms locked around my neck.
She whispered, “Mommy, Daddy said you were sick.”
I closed my eyes.
Then I looked at her.
“I was scared.”
Her little face crumpled.
“But I came.”
She nodded and buried her face against me.
Deputy Carver asked if Lily could stay with Harper in the next room while adults continued.
I did not want to let go.
But Lily was shaking.
So I kissed her forehead and asked Harper to keep the door open.
Harper did.
When Lily left, the room became colder.
Adrian leaned back.
“You’re enjoying this.”
I stared at him.
“I am covered in snow because you left me to die.”
He looked away first.
That was new.
Naomi’s voice came through the tablet.
“Deputy, the trust modification Evelyn signed yesterday removed Adrian Hartwell as co-trustee pending custody review.”
Adrian turned sharply.
“What?”
I looked at him.
“You heard her.”
His face drained.
“You can’t do that.”
“I already did.”
Sienna looked at him.
“You said you controlled the money.”
I almost laughed.
Even now, that was what frightened her most.
May you like
Not that he had left me in the storm.
That he had lied about the prize.
