"Your daughter."
Scott's voice became firm.
"Anything involving Grace can go through our attorney."
Gwen laughed quietly.
"You really think lawyers can protect you?"
Scott didn't answer.
"You don't understand what you're dealing with."
"What am I dealing with?"
Silence.
Then Gwen said:
"Ask your daughter what she saw after the accident."
Scott froze.
"What does that mean?"
Gwen hung up.
Scott immediately went upstairs.
Grace was sitting on her bed.
"What happened after the accident?"
Grace looked confused.
"What?"
"After Dylan left."
She hesitated.
Then her face changed.
"I saw something."
Scott sat beside her.
"What?"
"His truck stopped again."
"When?"
"About five minutes later."
"Where?"
"Behind the warehouse."
"Why didn't you tell the police?"
"Because I didn't know what it meant."
Grace took a deep breath.
"I saw Dylan get out."
"And?"
"He opened the truck bed."
"What was inside?"
"I couldn't see clearly."
She closed her eyes.
"But there was another person there."
Scott felt his heart pound.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Man or woman?"
"Man."
"Could you see his face?"
"No."
Grace looked at her father.
"But I remember the watch."
"The silver one?"
She nodded.
Scott immediately called Sarah.
The investigation had just taken a new turn.
The damaged fence, the threats, the surveillance and the pressure on Grace might not have been separate events.
They could all be connected to something that happened after the accident.
Something Grace had witnessed without understanding its importance.
And someone was desperate to make sure she never remembered clearly.
Scott spent the next three days reviewing every piece of footage they had.
He watched the backyard camera.
The driveway camera.
The doorbell camera.
Even old recordings from the week before the fence was damaged.
At first, there was nothing.
Then he noticed something.
A person appeared in the background of one recording.
Only for twelve seconds.
The person was walking behind the neighboring properties.
The face was hidden.
But the silver watch was visible.
Scott froze the frame.
He sent it to Sarah.
Her response came twenty minutes later.
Don't share this with anyone.
Then she called.
"I've contacted investigators."
Scott listened.
"They want the original recording."
"I'll bring it."
"There is one more thing."
"What?"
"The plate number of the gray sedan."
Scott gave it to her.
Sarah became quiet.
"Scott, this vehicle is registered to a company."
"Which company?"
"One connected to Martin Cole."
Scott closed his eyes.
Everything was finally forming a pattern.
But there was still one question.
Why Gwen?
Why had she damaged his property?
Why had she threatened Grace?
Sarah believed the answer was pressure.
"Gwen may believe protecting Dylan means protecting the person who helped him."
Scott wasn't convinced.
"She could have simply hired an attorney."
"People don't always act rationally when their family is threatened."
Scott understood that.
But understanding did not excuse what had happened.
That afternoon, Scott found Gwen standing beside the damaged fence.
"What are you doing here?"
She looked at him.
"I came to apologize."
Scott was surprised.
"For what?"
"The fence."
He waited.
Gwen looked exhausted.
"I shouldn't have done it."
"No."
"I was angry."
"You threatened my daughter."
"I know."
Scott stared at her.
"Then tell me why."
Gwen looked toward her house.
"Dylan is scared."
"Of what?"
She didn't answer.
"Gwen."
She closed her eyes.
"Martin Cole."
Scott's entire body became still.
"You know him?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"He used to work with my husband."
"And Dylan?"
"He met him through his father."
Scott stepped closer.
"What does Martin want?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are you protecting him?"
Gwen shook her head.
"I'm not."
"Then what?"
She looked directly at Scott.
"I'm trying to protect Dylan from people who have more power than we do."
Scott didn't know what to believe.
"Why attack my family?"
"Because I thought if Grace changed her statement, everything would stop."
"It didn't."
"No."
Gwen's voice broke.
"It only made everything worse."
For the first time, Scott saw genuine fear in her expression.