Chapter 4 - AN UNEASY ALLIANCE
As soon as Margaret’s car sped out of the driveway, I ran back to the workshop. I knocked three times—the code Elise and I had hurriedly agreed upon.
When she opened the door, I didn't mince words. "We are in danger. Thomas’s sister knows you're here. She’s trying to frame me for keeping you captive so she can steal the million-dollar trust fund Thomas left for Lily."
Elise collapsed onto the cot, pulling Lily into her arms. "I knew it. I told Thomas his sister was evil. She saw me through the window once, two years ago. She just stared at me and smiled."
"We need to go to the police," I said.
"No!" Elise panicked. "Margaret has money. She has lawyers. If she frames you, she'll take Lily away from me. I have no money, no ID, no work history. They’ll put her in foster care, or worse, give her to Margaret!"
She was right. In a he-said-she-said battle against a wealthy, connected woman like Margaret, Elise would be painted as an unfit, unstable squatter.
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"Then we fight back," I said, my voice hardening. "Margaret thinks I'm a weak, grieving widow, and she thinks you're a helpless victim. She’s wrong about both."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out Thomas’s keys. "Pack whatever you need. You're moving into the main house."
