Chapter 3: The Man Dad Paid to Find Mom
Dad sank onto an overturned milk crate.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The photograph trembled between his fingers.
“Michael told me he never found her.””
Mom’s expression hardened.
“He found me on the third day.””
Dad looked up.
“What?””
“He came to my motel.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
“He said every lead went cold.””
“He lied.””
Dad stood so quickly the crate scraped backward.
“I paid that man twelve thousand dollars.””
Mom gave him a tired look.
“Apparently Vanessa paid him more.””
Dad opened the binder again.
Behind the photograph was a printed bank transfer.
I couldn’t understand the numbers, but I understood Dad’s reaction.
His lips parted.
“Twenty-five thousand?””
Mom nodded.
“Three payments.””
Dad looked closer.
“From V Holdings.””
“Vanessa Holdings.””
Dad turned another page.
More photographs.
Mom entering a motel.
Mom leaving a grocery store.
Mom sitting inside a lawyer’s office.
Someone had followed her everywhere.
Dad looked sick.
“You knew?””
Mom’s eyes flashed.
“I knew someone was following me. I didn’t know it was the investigator you hired.””
Dad pressed both hands against his head.
“Michael sat in my house.””
“I know.””
“He looked Emma in the face and promised he’d find you.””
“I know.””
“He told me you’d probably left the state!””
“I KNOW, DANIEL!””
Mom’s shout made me jump.
She immediately lowered her voice.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.””
“It’s okay.””
“No. None of this is okay.””
She crouched and took my hands.
“I need you to understand something, Emma. I wanted to come home every day.””
“Then why didn’t you?””
The question hurt her.
I could see it.
“Because I was scared that coming back would put you in danger.””
“Vanessa?””
“I didn’t know it was Vanessa then.””
Dad turned pages faster.
“Why would she do any of this?””
Mom stood.
“That’s the question.””
“She wanted the restaurant saved?””
“This goes beyond a restaurant.””
“She wanted me?””
Mom looked at him.
“You tell me.””
Dad went silent.
I remembered all the evenings Vanessa came to our house.
The casseroles.
The coffee.
The way she sat beside Dad after I went upstairs.
Once, I had come down for water and found her hand resting over his.
At the time, I thought she was comforting him.
Now Mom asked, “Are you sleeping with her?””
Dad’s head snapped up.
“No.””
“Did you kiss her?””
He hesitated.
Mom laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Daniel.””
“One time.””
“When?””
“Three months after you disappeared.””
Mom looked away.
“She kissed me. I stopped it.””
“But you kept letting her into our house.””
“I thought my wife had abandoned us!””
“And who taught you to believe that?””
Dad’s anger vanished.
He looked back at the binder.
“Vanessa.””
Mom nodded.
A siren sounded outside.
The ambulance had arrived.
Dad stepped toward Mom.
“You need a doctor.””
“I need that binder somewhere safe.””
The teenage dishwasher raised his hand awkwardly.
“I made pictures.””
We all looked at him.
“What?”” Dad asked.
The boy swallowed.
“I saw some weird papers a few weeks ago. Ms. Vanessa yelled at me when she caught me near the office.””
“You photographed them?””
“Some.””
“Why?””
He shrugged nervously.
“My mom always says if somebody gets angry because you saw something, remember what you saw.””
Mom almost smiled.
“What’s your name?””
“Tyler.””
“Tyler, where are the pictures?””
“On my phone.””
Dad held out his hand.
“Can I see?””
Tyler hesitated.
Then handed it over.
Dad scrolled.
His expression grew darker.
There were pictures of printed emails.
A spreadsheet.
Copies of checks.
Then he stopped.
“What is this?””
Tyler leaned over.
“That was on Ms. Vanessa’s desk.””
Dad enlarged the image.
Mom moved beside him.
At the top was my father’s name.
DANIEL HARPER.
Below it were columns.
Restaurant debt.
Property.
Insurance.
Investment accounts.
And beside several entries were handwritten notes.
Dad read one aloud.
“Leverage through Emma.””
Mom went still.
I didn’t understand.
Dad did.
“What does that mean?”” I asked.
He immediately locked the phone.
“Nothing you need to worry about.””
Mom looked at him sharply.
“Don’t do that.””
“What?””
“Don’t lie to her because you’re frightened.””
Dad’s shoulders fell.
Mom knelt in front of me.
“It means Vanessa was using things your dad loved to control him.””
“Like me?””
Mom hesitated.
“Yes.””
I looked at Dad.
“Did she hurt me?””
“No,” he said quickly.
Then Tyler spoke.
“Mr. Harper?””
Dad turned.
Tyler looked miserable.
“There’s something else.””
“What?””
“The cameras.””
Dad frowned.
“What cameras?””
“Ms. Vanessa had cameras in places employees weren’t supposed to know about.””
Mom’s expression sharpened.
“Where?””
“Office. Storage hall. Parking lot.””
Dad looked toward the ceiling.
“There’s no camera in this hallway.””
“Not anymore.””
Tyler pointed to a dark circular mark above the service door.
“She removed it last month.””
Mom stared at the spot.
“Where did the recordings go?””
“Computer in her office.””
Dad immediately moved.
We followed him through the restaurant.
Customers were being ushered toward the front while paramedics came through the side entrance.
Dad pushed open Vanessa’s office.
The computer was gone.
Not turned off.
Gone.
Cables hung behind an empty space on the desk.
Dad swore.
Tyler said, “There might be backups.””
“Where?””
“Manager’s server.””
The kitchen manager joined us.
“Security footage backs up automatically for thirty days.””
Mom’s face fell.
“Thirty days doesn’t help us.””
Tyler shook his head.
“Not the normal cameras.””
He looked at the empty desk.
“Her private ones.””
Dad stepped closer.
“How do you know?””
“I helped replace the router. She told me never to touch a folder called V-Archive.””
The manager rushed to the second computer.
He typed his password.
Folders appeared.
He clicked through them.
“Here.””
V-ARCHIVE.
Password protected.
Dad looked at Mom.
“Any idea?””
Mom stared at the login box.
Then typed one word.
MICHAEL.
Wrong password.
Dad tried Vanessa’s birthday.
Wrong.
The restaurant name.
Wrong.
After several attempts, a warning appeared.
ONE ATTEMPT REMAINING.
“Stop,” Mom said.
Dad pulled his hands away.
Tyler suddenly whispered, “Try Emma.””
I stared at him.
“Me?””
He nodded.
“I heard Ms. Vanessa talking to Michael once. She said, ‘Everything depends on Emma.’”
Dad’s face tightened.
He typed my name.
E-M-M-A.
For one terrible second, nothing happened.
Then the folder opened.
Hundreds of video files filled the screen.
Dad whispered, “Oh my God.””
Folders were labeled by dates.
Some went back eight months.
Before Mom disappeared.
Mom pointed.
“That date.””
It was the night she and Dad had fought.
The manager opened the folder.
Several camera angles appeared.
Parking lot.
Office.
Hallway.
Dining room.
Dad clicked the office footage.
Vanessa appeared on-screen.
She was alone.
Then the office door opened.
Michael walked in.
Dad gripped the desk.
The video had sound.
Vanessa handed Michael an envelope.
“You know what to do,” recorded Vanessa said.
Michael opened it.
“This is more than we discussed.””
“You’re going to earn it.””
“What exactly do you want?””
Vanessa leaned back in her chair.
“I want Claire gone long enough for Daniel to stop waiting.””
Mom covered her mouth.
Dad stared at the screen.
Michael asked, “And the kid?””
Vanessa’s answer came instantly.
“Emma is the reason Claire will stay away.””
My father stopped breathing.
On-screen, Michael frowned.
“You said nobody gets hurt.””
Vanessa smiled.
“Then make sure Claire believes someone will.””
Dad paused the video.
His hands were shaking violently.
Mom whispered, “Play it.””
“Claire—”
“Play it.””
He did.
Michael looked uncomfortable.
“What happens when Daniel realizes she didn’t abandon him?””
Vanessa leaned forward.
“He won’t.””
“You’re awfully confident.””
“I know Daniel.””
Then Vanessa reached into her desk and placed something in front of Michael.
Dad leaned closer to the monitor.
So did Mom.
It was a photograph.
A photograph of me asleep in my bedroom.
Dad made a broken sound.
Mom grabbed the desk to steady herself.
On-screen, Michael stared at the picture.
“Where did you get this?””
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“That doesn’t matter.””
“It matters to me.””
“You’re being paid not to ask questions.””
Michael pushed the photograph back.
“I agreed to track Claire. Fake some messages. Keep her scared. I didn’t agree to go inside Daniel’s house.””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
Michael’s face changed.
“You went inside.””
Still nothing.
“Vanessa, how did you get into that child’s bedroom?””
The video suddenly glitched.
Static filled the screen.
Then the image returned.
But now Michael was standing.
Angry.
“You never told me about him.””
Dad leaned toward the speakers.
Mom whispered, “Him?””
Vanessa’s voice came through clearly.
“You don’t need to know about him.””
Michael pointed toward the photograph.
“If he’s been inside that house, I’m done.””
Vanessa stood too.
“You’re done when I say you’re done.””
“Who is he?””
Vanessa stepped directly toward the hidden camera.
For one second, her face filled the screen.
Then she said the words that made my mother grab my father’s arm.
“He’s the reason Claire had to disappear in the first place.””
The video ended.
Nobody moved.
Dad stared at the black screen.
“What man?””
Mom’s breathing became shallow.
“Claire?””
She backed away.
“Mommy?”” I whispered.
Her eyes were fixed on something across the office.
A framed photograph on Vanessa’s bookshelf.
Mom walked toward it.
She lifted it with both hands.
The picture showed Vanessa at a restaurant opening years earlier, standing beside several people.
Mom pointed to a man in the background.
Her finger shook.
“I know him.””
Dad came beside her.
“Who is he?””
Mom looked at him.
“I saw him the night I left you.””
Dad’s face tightened.
“Where?””
“Outside our house.””
She swallowed.
“And three weeks ago, I saw him again outside my motel.””
Dad took the photograph.
“Claire, who is he?””
Before she could answer, my old phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
I looked at Mom.
Mom looked at Dad.
The phone rang again.
Dad answered and switched on the speaker.
For two seconds, there was only silence.
Then a man’s voice said:
“Daniel, if Claire is standing beside you, ask her what she stole from Vanessa seven months ago.””
May you like
Mom went completely white.
And the call disconnected.
