Derek didn’t answer right away. He pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and slid it across the table toward me. On the screen was a text from Dad, sent at 12:21 a.m. Garage is open. Come in quiet. Don’t let your sister in. She needs to learn. I read it twice. Then I turned the phone around so Mom could see it too.

“He was watching you from the kitchen,” Derek said, his voice cracking. “I asked him to let you in, and he told me to mind my business.” Mom stared at the screen for a long time. Then she looked at Dad. “I asked you three times to let her in,” she said quietly. “You told me if I touched that chain, I could sleep in the car with her.”