Chapter 5
I didn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Vanessa holding the iron.
Then I heard that message.
I can handle the baby. You handle Michael.
At six in the morning, Detective Brooks asked me to meet him at the police station.
Rebecca insisted on keeping Noah.
Maria stayed with her.
I drove downtown with David Kim beside me.
Houston was waking up around us.
Traffic.
Coffee shops.
People going to work.
Normal life.
Mine had disappeared in less than twelve hours.
Brooks met us in a conference room.
He placed several printed photographs on the table.
One showed the hidden camera inside my home office.
Another showed a small transmitter attached behind a bookshelf.
The third showed a storage drive found in the locked closet.
“How sophisticated is this?” David asked.
Brooks folded his arms.
“Not something installed accidentally.”
“Could Vanessa have done it alone?”
“We don’t know.”
I pointed at the drive.
“What’s on that?”
“Video.”
“Of what?”
“Your house.”
“How much?”
“Months.”
My stomach tightened.
“Have you watched it?”
“Some.”
“What did you see?”
Brooks exchanged a glance with another detective.
Then he pushed a laptop toward me.
“Before you watch this, understand that your child is safe now.”
I hated that sentence.
He pressed play.
The video was dated three weeks earlier.
Nursery camera.
Vanessa entered carrying Noah.
He was crying.
She put him into the crib.
Then she leaned over him.
“You ruined everything.”
I stopped breathing.
On the screen, Noah kicked his legs.
Vanessa continued.
“Do you know that?”
I clenched my fists under the table.
“You ruined my body. My marriage. My plans.”
She walked away.
Noah kept crying.
She turned at the door.
“If it weren’t for your father’s money, I would never have had you.”
I looked away.
David put a hand on my shoulder.
Brooks paused the recording.
“There’s more.”
“I don’t want to see it.”
“You need to.”
I forced myself to look.
The next clip showed Vanessa talking on the hidden phone.
The camera had no audio from the other person, only her side.
“Yes, I know.”
Pause.
“No, he suspects nothing.”
Pause.
“The merger closes next month.”
Pause.
“I told you, once the shares vest, the divorce becomes much easier.”
David looked sharply at me.
“What shares?”
“My founder shares.”
He nodded grimly.
Vanessa continued on the recording.
“No, Michael would never agree to sell. That’s why we need leverage.”
Pause.
“Yes.”
Pause.
“The custody issue gives me leverage.”
My stomach turned.
Brooks stopped the video.
“What does she mean?”
“I don’t know.”
David did.
He leaned forward.
“If Vanessa filed for divorce and accused Michael of being an unsafe father, she could use custody negotiations to pressure a financial settlement.”
Brooks looked at me.
“Any history of violence?”
“Never.”
“Drugs?”
“No.”
“Affairs?”
“No.”
“Anything that could be used against you?”
I shook my head.
Then remembered something.
“Wait.”
David turned.
“What?”
“Two months ago, Vanessa told me I should start taking sleeping pills.”
Brooks frowned.
“Prescription?”
“No. Over-the-counter.”
“Did you?”
“A few times.”
“Why?”
“She said I was exhausted.”
David’s expression changed.
“Did you ever feel strange after taking them?”
I thought.
“Groggy.”
“That’s normal.”
“No.”
I leaned back.
“More than groggy.”
The memory returned slowly.
One morning, I woke up on the sofa.
Vanessa said I had been drunk.
But I had only had one glass of wine.
Another night, I woke up in the guest room and didn’t remember going there.
Brooks pulled out a notepad.
“When?”
I gave him approximate dates.
“Any video from those nights?”
He looked at the other detective.
“We’ll check.”
My phone buzzed.
My mother.
I ignored it.
Then she called again.
I answered.
“Mom, I can’t talk.”
“Michael, Vanessa is here.”
I stood up.
“What?”
“She came ten minutes ago.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Lock yourself in your bedroom.”
“Michael, what is going on?”
“Do it now.”
Brooks was already moving.
He motioned for another officer.
I kept my mother on the line.
“Where is Vanessa?”
“Downstairs.”
“What does she want?”
“She says she needs to explain.”
“Do not go downstairs.”
My mother lowered her voice.
“She’s crying.”
“I don’t care.”
“Michael—”
“Mom, listen to me. Police are coming.”
Silence.
Then she whispered, “Police?”
“Stay upstairs.”
Suddenly I heard a voice through the phone.
Vanessa.
“Elaine?”
My mother gasped.
“She’s coming up.”
“Lock the door!”
I heard footsteps.
Then my mother moving.
A door slammed.
A lock clicked.
Vanessa knocked.
“Elaine, please.”
My mother whispered, “She’s outside.”
I could barely breathe.
“Stay quiet.”
Vanessa knocked again.
“Elaine, I know Michael has told you terrible things.”
My mother said nothing.
“I love him.”
Another knock.
“I love Noah.”
My jaw tightened.
Then Vanessa’s voice changed.
“Please don’t make this worse.”
Brooks was on his phone dispatching officers.
I listened.
Vanessa tried the handle.
My mother whimpered.
“Michael.”
“Police are almost there.”
Then Vanessa said something strange.
“I only need the envelope.”
I froze.
What envelope?
My mother whispered, “What is she talking about?”
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa knocked harder.
“Elaine, Michael gave you documents last month. I need them.”
I remembered.
Before a business trip, I had left a sealed backup package with my mother.
Estate planning documents.
Emergency corporate instructions.
A copy of my updated will.
I had forgotten about it.
So Vanessa hadn’t.
“She wants documents from my safe,” I told Brooks.
“What documents?”
“My will.”
His eyes narrowed.
Over the phone, my mother shouted through the door.
“You need to leave.”
Vanessa replied calmly.
“I can’t do that.”
Sirens approached.
I heard them through my mother’s phone.
Vanessa heard them too.
For a moment, everything went silent.
Then running footsteps.
“She’s leaving!” my mother said.
Brooks shouted instructions to the responding units.
A minute later, someone pounded on my mother’s front door and identified himself as police.
I exhaled.
Then Brooks’ phone rang.
He answered.
His expression darkened.
“What?”
He listened.
“How?”
Another pause.
“Find her.”
He hung up.
“What happened?” I asked.
“She got out through the backyard before officers arrived.”
I sat back down.
David cursed under his breath.
Brooks looked at me.
“Why would she want your will?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who inherits your company shares if you die?”
The question hit me like ice water.
I stared at him.
“My trust.”
“Who controls the trust for Noah?”
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because suddenly I understood.
My will had been updated before Noah was born.
At the time, it seemed obvious.
If something happened to me, Vanessa would manage most of Noah’s inheritance until he turned twenty-five.
Brooks saw the answer on my face.
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
The room went quiet.
David leaned back slowly.
“Michael.”
I looked at him.
“We need to amend everything today.”
Brooks stood.
“And we need to find Vanessa.”
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Brooks gestured for me to answer on speaker.
I did.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then Vanessa spoke.
“You shouldn’t have involved the police.”
I gripped the table.
“Where are you?”
“You embarrassed me.”
“Stay away from my mother.”
“You turned everyone against me.”
“You did that yourself.”
She laughed softly.
“No, Michael. Maria did.”
My blood chilled.
“What are you going to do?”
“You always thought you were the smartest person in the room.”
“Vanessa.”
“But you never asked the most important question.”
“What question?”
“Why did Maria really start recording me?”
I looked at Brooks.
Vanessa continued.
May you like
“Ask her who told her to.”
Then the line went dead.
