Chapter 4
I didn’t ask another question.
Every instinct in my body wanted answers.
But Karen’s warning echoed in my head.
Don’t question him repeatedly.
So I held Ethan until he fell asleep again.
Then I found Karen.
“There’s a blue room.”
She looked at me carefully.
“What do you mean?”
I told her about Vanessa’s visit to my mother.
Then I told her what Ethan had just said.
Daddy said nobody was supposed to know.
Karen made a call.
Within an hour, a child advocacy investigator named Michelle Barnes arrived.
She told me Ethan would not be interviewed again that night.
“He needs sleep and safety.”
“What about the blue room?”
“We’ll document what you reported.”
“Daniel’s house doesn’t have a blue room.”
“Are you sure?”
“I lived there for seven years.”
“Attic?”
“No.”
“Converted garage?”
“No.”
“Detached structure?”
“There’s a small shed in the backyard.”
“What color inside?”
“I don’t know.”
Michelle wrote something down.
Then asked, “Did Daniel ever take Ethan anywhere regularly without you?”
My mind raced.
Parks.
Grandparents.
Hardware store.
Soccer practice.
Then I remembered.
“My father-in-law’s cabin.”
“Where?”
“About forty minutes north.”
“Who owns it?”
“Daniel’s father died three years ago. Daniel inherited it.”
“How often did he take Ethan there?”
“A few times.”
“Recently?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer made me feel like I had failed all over again.
When had my life become a collection of things I didn’t know about my own child?
The police searched Daniel’s house that night.
They found nothing called a blue room.
The backyard shed contained lawn equipment.
The basement was normal.
The next morning, Vanessa was released pending formal charges.
I nearly exploded when Michelle told me.
“How can they release her?”
“The investigation is active.”
“She tied my child and put him in a bag.”
“The prosecutor is reviewing the evidence.”
“She could come near us.”
“A temporary protective order is being filed.”
“Temporary?”
Michelle stayed calm.
“I understand why you’re angry.”
“No. You understand this as a case. I understand it as my son screaming from a garbage bag.”
She didn’t argue.
That helped more than anything she could have said.
Daniel was also released after questioning.
He had not been charged.
But child services immediately suspended his unsupervised parenting time.
Daniel called me that afternoon.
I didn’t answer.
He called again.
And again.
On the fifth call, I picked up.
“What?”
“Rachel, please let me explain the blue room.”
My heart stopped.
“You know what it is?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“It’s at the cabin.”
I closed my eyes.
“What did you do to him there?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why is he afraid?”
“I don’t know if he’s afraid of the room.”
“He cried when I mentioned it.”
Daniel exhaled.
“It was supposed to be a surprise.”
I said nothing.
“I renovated the storage room downstairs. Painted it blue. I was turning it into a playroom for Ethan.”
“Why tell him not to tell me?”
“Because I wanted to surprise you too.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You and I were divorced.”
“I know.”
“So why would a playroom in your cabin be a surprise for me?”
Silence.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Then what aren’t you telling me?”
“Rachel—”
“What happened in that room?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Why did Vanessa know about it before our divorce was final?”
He stopped breathing for a second.
I heard it.
“You didn’t know she knew.”
“No.”
“Then how did she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Daniel, you brought her there?”
“No.”
“Did Ethan?”
“No.”
“Then how did Vanessa know?”
“I said I don’t know.”
He sounded scared now.
Not guilty.
Scared.
That distinction bothered me.
“What’s in the room?”
“A couch. Television. Toys. Shelves.”
“Cameras?”
Long pause.
“Yes.”
My stomach twisted.
“Why?”
“Security.”
“In a child’s playroom?”
“Rachel, stop making it sound sinister.”
“Your wife put our son in a garbage bag yesterday. I’m done giving anybody the benefit of the doubt.”
He lowered his voice.
“The cameras weren’t for Ethan.”
“Who were they for?”
Another pause.
Then Daniel said, “Vanessa.”
I almost hung up.
“What are you talking about?”
“I suspected she was meeting someone at the cabin.”
I sat down.
“You thought your wife was having an affair?”
“Yes.”
“So you put hidden cameras in the cabin?”
“One camera.”
“In the blue room?”
“The blue room has the main entrance from downstairs.”
“Did you catch her?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Did you catch her?”
“Yes.”
“With who?”
“I don’t know his real name.”
“What does that mean?”
“He called himself Marcus.”
“Who is Marcus?”
“A man she said was her cousin.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“Was he?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because cousins don’t kiss like that.”
My stomach churned.
I wasn’t jealous.
Whatever Daniel and Vanessa had was their disaster now.
But none of this explained Ethan.
“What does this have to do with my son?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Yet?”
“Rachel, when I reviewed footage from that camera three months ago, Vanessa and Marcus weren’t talking about an affair.”
“What were they talking about?”
Daniel’s voice became almost inaudible.
“You.”
My grip tightened.
“What about me?”
“Your divorce settlement.”
I stopped moving.
“What?”
“They talked about your house.”
My house had belonged to my grandmother.
It was separate property.
Daniel never fought for it.
“They talked about money you inherited from your grandmother. Your custody agreement. Your schedule. Ethan’s school.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is that footage?”
“I copied it.”
“Give it to police.”
“I tried.”
“You tried?”
“It disappeared.”
I stood.
“What do you mean disappeared?”
“Someone broke into my office two weeks ago. Nothing looked stolen. But the drive was gone.”
“And you didn’t report it?”
“I didn’t know what to say.”
“You say someone stole evidence!”
“Evidence of what? My wife cheating and talking about your schedule?”
“Yes!”
“I thought I could figure it out first.”
I wanted to scream.
Daniel’s obsession with fixing everything himself had ruined our marriage.
Apparently, divorce had not cured him.
“Who is Marcus?”
“I’ve been trying to find out.”
“And?”
“I found a last name.”
“What is it?”
“Vale.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Daniel continued.
“I hired a private investigator.”
I almost dropped the phone.
“You did what?”
“I needed to know who was around Ethan.”
“You should have gone to the police.”
“I didn’t know Vanessa was dangerous.”
“You knew enough to hire an investigator.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that!”
Ethan looked at me from across my mother’s living room.
I lowered my voice.
“Where is Vanessa now?”
“I don’t know.”
“And Marcus?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you calling me?”
“To warn you.”
My body went cold.
“About what?”
“I got a text fifteen minutes ago.”
“What did it say?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then read it aloud.
“You should have left the blue room buried.”
I looked toward my mother’s front windows.
The curtains were open.
The street outside looked normal.
Cars.
Trees.
A teenager walking a dog.
“Who sent it?”
“Unknown number.”
I walked to the window and pulled the curtain shut.
“Did you tell police?”
“Yes.”
“At least you did one thing right.”
“Rachel.”
“What?”
“Don’t stay at your mother’s.”
My chest tightened.
“How do you know I’m here?”
Silence.
“Daniel?”
“I didn’t.”
I stopped breathing.
Then I heard a sound outside.
A car door closing.
My mother came into the room.
“What is it?”
I held up my hand.
Ethan was building a tower with plastic blocks on the rug.
I moved toward him.
Through the narrow gap in the curtain, I saw a black SUV parked across the street.
Tinted windows.
Engine running.
Daniel’s voice sharpened through the phone.
“Rachel?”
“There’s a black SUV outside.”
“Take Ethan away from the windows.”
I picked him up.
“Mom, kitchen. Now.”
My mother didn’t question me.
We moved toward the back of the house.
I called 911 on my mother’s phone.
The black SUV stayed there.
Two minutes.
Three.
Five.
Police arrived.
The SUV drove away before they turned onto the street.
An officer took our statements.
Another checked the neighborhood.
No plate number.
No clear description of the driver.
Then my mother noticed something lying on the front porch.
A blue envelope.
The officer opened it with gloves.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of Ethan.
He was sleeping on a couch I had never seen.
The walls behind him were painted bright blue.
May you like
On the back, someone had written one sentence.
HE HEARD TOO MUCH.
