Chapter 5
I drove to the police station before sunrise.
My mother stayed with Lily.
Maria refused to sleep and sat beside Lily’s bed like a guard.
I trusted her more than I trusted almost anyone now.
That thought alone made me feel ashamed.
A housekeeper had noticed what I had missed inside my own home.
Detective Blake met me in an interview room.
On the table sat a laptop.
He didn’t waste time.
“Before I show you the video, I need you to understand something.”
“What?”
“We have questions. We don’t have conclusions.”
“My brother’s hotel key was hidden in Vanessa’s box.”
“Yes.”
“My dead wife said he paid someone to follow her.”
“She said an authorization came through his executive account.”
“That’s not the same thing?”
“It may be. It may also mean someone used his access.”
I leaned back.
“Show me the video.”
Blake opened the file.
Ana appeared first.
I recognized her from photographs Maria had shown the police.
She was younger than Maria.
Nervous.
The camera shook as she placed it on a table.
Then Emily stepped into frame.
My heart stopped.
Three years vanished.
There she was.
Alive.
Her brown hair pulled back.
The blue sweater I bought her in Boston.
Her wedding ring.
She looked terrified.
I reached toward the screen without thinking.
“Emily.”
Blake said nothing.
On the video, Emily sat down.
“If something happens to me, Ana has instructions to take this to Daniel.”
She looked directly at the camera.
My throat closed.
“I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”
She took out several papers.
“For the past month, I’ve been followed. I thought I was paranoid. Then Ana contacted me.”
Ana sat beside her.
“I worked for Vanessa Monroe.”
The name hit me hard.
Emily knew Vanessa before I did.
Ana continued.
“She kept photographs of Daniel Carter and his family. She said Daniel belonged with someone who understood him.”
Emily looked sick.
“I confronted Vanessa two days ago.”
I leaned closer.
“She denied everything at first. Then she told me to stop asking questions if I cared about my daughter.”
I clenched my fists.
The video continued.
Emily held up a bank statement.
“I traced payments made to a private investigation firm. The authorization appears under Michael Carter’s executive credentials.”
Then she looked into the camera.
“But I don’t believe Michael knows.”
I exhaled.
Blake glanced at me.
Emily continued.
“Someone has been using company accounts to move money. I think Vanessa has help inside Daniel’s company.”
My relief disappeared.
“I found something else.”
She held up a photograph.
I had seen it before.
The coffee-shop picture from Vanessa’s red box.
“Whoever is following me knows Lily’s preschool schedule.”
My stomach twisted.
“I’m going to tell Daniel tonight.”
She smiled sadly.
“I should have told him sooner.”
Her voice cracked.
“I didn’t because he’s under so much pressure with the expansion, and Michael has been telling him I’m struggling emotionally.”
I looked at Blake.
“What?”
He rewound.
Emily said it again.
Michael had been telling me Emily was struggling.
I remembered.
He had.
Not maliciously.
At least I hadn’t thought so.
After Lily was born, Emily had postpartum anxiety.
She recovered.
But Michael sometimes told me she seemed overwhelmed.
“Spend more time at the office,” he had said once. “Let Emily rest instead of making her worry about company problems.”
I had thought he was being considerate.
Now every memory felt poisoned.
On the recording, Ana leaned toward Emily.
“You can’t go home.”
Emily shook her head.
“My daughter is there.”
“We can call police.”
“With what? Photographs and accounting access that someone can explain away?”
Emily looked into the camera.
“If Daniel sees this, I need him to know one thing.”
She took a shaky breath.
“I never wanted to leave him.”
My eyes burned.
“I never had an affair.”
I froze.
Blake paused the video.
“What?”
He studied me.
“You didn’t know that allegation existed?”
“No.”
He resumed.
Emily continued.
“Someone sent Daniel photographs tomorrow.”
I stared at the screen.
Tomorrow?
The recording must have been intended before something happened.
She corrected herself.
“Someone is planning to send Daniel photographs tomorrow. They’re fake. Ana heard Vanessa discussing it.”
Ana nodded.
“She hired a man to pose with Emily outside the hotel.”
My heart hammered.
That hotel.
The key card.
Emily continued.
“They want Daniel to believe I’m cheating.”
I whispered, “Oh my God.”
Blake paused again.
“Did you ever receive photographs?”
“Yes.”
Three days after Emily died.
An anonymous envelope arrived at my office.
Photographs of Emily entering a hotel with a man.
I had never told anyone.
Not even Michael.
I hated myself for doubting her.
She was dead.
I couldn’t confront her.
I spent years wondering whether our marriage had been a lie.
And Vanessa knew.
She knew exactly which wound to touch when she told me Emily had secrets.
“She planned the photographs,” I said.
“Apparently.”
“But why?”
“We’re still investigating.”
The video continued.
Emily said she planned to confront Michael about the financial access the next morning.
She never made it.
The video ended abruptly when a noise sounded outside the room.
Ana grabbed the camera.
Emily whispered, “Someone’s here.”
Black screen.
I sat there for a long time.
Then I said, “Where was this recorded?”
“A motel in Bridgeport.”
“The same hotel from the key card?”
“No.”
“So why did Michael have a key card from another hotel the night before Emily died?”
“We’re finding out.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
Blake looked at me.
“We tried.”
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
“He’s not home.”
“Maybe he’s at the office.”
“He isn’t.”
“Call him.”
“We did.”
I pulled out my phone.
Three missed calls from Michael.
All between 2:40 and 3:10 a.m.
My skin prickled.
Then I saw a text.
CALL ME BEFORE YOU TALK TO POLICE.
I showed Blake.
His expression tightened.
“Don’t call him yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know why he thinks you haven’t.”
Another message appeared as we watched.
DANIEL, VANESSA IS LYING. DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING SHE GAVE THEM.
Then another.
EMILY FOUND OUT TOO LATE. I CAN EXPLAIN.
I stood.
“He knows.”
Blake took out his phone.
“Sit down.”
“I’m calling him.”
“Daniel.”
“I need answers.”
“If he’s involved, calling him may cause him to run.”
“He’s my brother.”
Blake stared at me.
“Exactly.”
That stopped me.
My phone rang.
Michael.
We both looked at it.
“Answer,” Blake said.
I put it on speaker.
“Michael?”
“Where are you?”
His voice was frantic.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
Blake silently shook his head.
He wasn’t.
I said, “Police came by?”
Silence.
Then Michael whispered, “So you told them.”
“Told them what?”
“Daniel, listen to me carefully.”
“No. You listen. Emily recorded a video.”
Nothing.
“Michael?”
“I know.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“How?”
“I saw it once.”
Blake wrote something down.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew?”
“I knew some of it.”
“Were you following my wife?”
“No!”
“Your credentials paid the investigator.”
“They were stolen.”
“By Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Silence.
“Michael.”
He breathed hard.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What’s the right one?”
“Ask why Vanessa married you.”
“I think I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Then tell me.”
“She didn’t want you.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“She wanted the company.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
“Where are you?”
“I need you to meet me.”
Blake shook his head.
“No,” I said.
“Daniel, please.”
“Come to the police station.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they’ll arrest me before I can explain.”
“Maybe they should.”
His voice broke.
“I tried to save Emily.”
The words hit me.
“What?”
“That hotel key card? It’s mine. I was there with her.”
My chest went cold.
“Emily?”
“Yes.”
“You just said the affair photographs were fake.”
“They were.”
“Then why were you at a hotel with my wife?”
“To hide her.”
The room went silent.
Michael continued.
“She called me after Ana contacted her. She was scared. She thought someone inside the company was helping Vanessa.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
“I know.”
“Tell me.”
“I won’t say it on the phone.”
“Then come here.”
“I told you, I can’t.”
Blake scribbled on paper.
KEEP HIM TALKING.
I swallowed.
“Michael, who was helping Vanessa?”
He hesitated.
Then he said something that made no sense.
“Look at Dad’s will.”
“Our father’s will?”
“Yes.”
“Dad died ten years ago.”
“I know.”
“What does that have to do with Emily?”
“Everything.”
“Michael—”
A loud sound came through the phone.
Like glass breaking.
Michael stopped talking.
“What was that?”
No answer.
“Michael?”
He whispered, “Someone found me.”
Then the call ended.
I stood.
Blake was already moving.
“Trace the phone.”
Officers rushed outside.
I called Michael back.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Then my phone buzzed.
A photograph arrived from Michael’s number.
It showed an old storage facility.
Unit 318.
Underneath were four words.
DON’T TRUST OUR MOTHER.
I stared at the message.
My mother.
The woman currently sitting in the house with my daughter.
I didn’t say anything.
I ran.
Blake shouted after me.
“Daniel!”
But I was already calling Maria.
She answered on the second ring.
“Daniel?”
“Where’s Lily?”
A pause.
“With your mother.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“She took Lily downstairs for breakfast.”
“Go get her.”
“What?”
“Maria, get Lily right now.”
I heard her running.
Then a door opening.
“Mrs. Carter?”
Silence.
“Maria?”
“They’re gone.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“What do you mean gone?”
“The kitchen is empty.”
“Check the garage.”
Seconds felt like hours.
Then Maria gasped.
“Her car is gone.”
My vision blurred.
“Call her.”
“I am.”
I dialed my mother at the same time.
Straight to voicemail.
Maria whispered, “Daniel, there’s something on the table.”
“What?”
“A note.”
“Read it.”
May you like
Her voice shook.
“It says, ‘I’m sorry. This is the only way to keep Lily safe.’”
