Chapter 7
I stared at Richard.
“What are you talking about?”
Another bullet struck the column.
Stone dust filled the air.
“Move!” Richard shouted.
We crawled behind the altar.
I clutched the red folder under my jacket.
Outside, tires screamed.
Then gunfire erupted.
Reed.
I recognized his voice shouting commands.
The shooter fired twice more.
Then silence.
Richard was losing blood fast.
I pressed my hand against his shoulder.
“Tell me about Vanessa.”
He laughed through clenched teeth.
“You really want relationship advice right now?”
“Tell me.”
“She knew who you were before Emily ever confronted her.”
“How?”
“She saw you at a company Christmas party.”
I remembered attending exactly one Sterling Medical event with Emily.
Lily had been a baby.
Vanessa had worked there.
“She asked Emily about you.”
My stomach turned.
“What did Emily say?”
“That you were married.”
“And?”
“That should’ve been the end.”
“It wasn’t.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“She started watching Emily. Asking questions. Finding excuses to be near her department.”
“You knew?”
“I didn’t care.”
“You used it.”
“Eventually.”
“What happened the night Emily died?”
Richard opened his eyes.
“I told Vanessa Emily had stolen evidence.”
“And she followed her.”
“Yes.”
“You just said you told her to stay home.”
“I did.”
“Then why tell her?”
“Because I was angry.”
I wanted to hit him.
“You weaponized an obsessed woman against my wife.”
“Yes.”
The honesty was almost worse.
“Did Vanessa hit Emily’s car?”
Richard hesitated.
My heart pounded.
“Tell me.”
“She hit her first.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Vanessa pulled alongside her near the gas station.”
Richard swallowed painfully.
“They were screaming through the windows.”
“And?”
“Vanessa swerved.”
“Into Emily?”
“Yes.”
My hands became fists.
“Then what did you do?”
“I followed.”
“You hit her too.”
Richard nodded.
“The second impact pushed her off.”
So both of them had done it.
Vanessa had made herself a frightened witness.
She wasn’t.
She had participated.
“She lied to the police again.”
“Of course she did.”
Richard looked toward the broken window.
“That’s what Vanessa does.”
Sirens approached.
Richard grabbed my wrist.
“Whitmore owns people everywhere.”
“So you keep saying.”
“Read the folder.”
Reed burst inside.
“Daniel!”
“I’m here!”
He rushed toward us with Parker behind him.
Two tactical officers followed.
Reed saw Richard.
“Hands!”
“He’s shot.”
Richard weakly lifted his empty hand.
“The gun’s over there.”
Reed kicked it away.
Paramedics entered minutes later.
Before they carried Richard out, he looked at me.
“Ask Vanessa why Emily had bruises before the crash.”
My entire body went cold.
“What bruises?”
Richard smiled weakly.
“She didn’t tell you that part either.”
Then they took him away.
We returned to the farmhouse before dawn.
Reed opened the red folder.
Inside were copies of bank transfers.
Photographs.
Audio transcripts.
A ledger.
And one small memory card.
Parker inserted it into an isolated laptop.
Several recordings appeared.
The first showed Richard meeting Whitmore in a hotel room.
The second showed a Sterling executive handing cash to a state procurement officer.
The third was audio only.
Vanessa’s voice.
“She won’t leave him.”
A man replied, “That’s not my problem.”
Richard.
Vanessa said, “You said you’d help me.”
“I said I’d deal with the documents.”
“What about Daniel?”
“What about him?”
“He deserves better.”
Richard laughed.
“Vanessa, stay away from her husband.”
“I love him.”
“You’ve spoken to him twice.”
“I know him.”
The recording ended.
I felt nauseated.
Parker looked at me carefully.
“This was recorded three weeks before Emily died.”
Three weeks.
Vanessa hadn’t accidentally fallen for me during grief counseling.
She had wanted me while Emily was alive.
Another recording.
Vanessa again.
This time angry.
“You think you’re better than me?”
Emily answered.
My heart nearly stopped when I heard her voice.
“I think you need help.”
“I know how Daniel looks at me.”
Emily laughed once.
“No, you don’t.”
“He’s unhappy.”
“My husband loves me.”
“You don’t appreciate him.”
“Stay away from my family.”
Then the sound of movement.
Emily gasped.
A slap.
Something fell.
The recording ended.
I remembered Richard’s words.
Ask Vanessa why Emily had bruises before the crash.
Emily had worn long sleeves that week.
It was summer.
I had asked why.
She said the office air conditioning was too cold.
I believed her.
Again.
Always.
I looked at Reed.
“Vanessa attacked her.”
“It appears so.”
“And you gave Vanessa a deal?”
“No deal has been finalized.”
“Good.”
I stood.
“I want to see her.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“I don’t care.”
“Daniel.”
“She has lied about everything.”
Reed considered it.
Eventually, he nodded.
Hours later, I sat behind reinforced glass in a detention center.
Vanessa entered wearing orange.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
She picked up the phone.
“Daniel.”
I didn’t say anything.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Is Lily okay?”
“Don’t say her name.”
She flinched.
“I’m sorry.”
“Were you obsessed with me before Emily died?”
Her face changed.
That was all I needed.
“You attacked her.”
“Daniel—”
“You hit Emily.”
“She insulted me.”
I almost laughed.
“That’s your defense?”
“No.”
“You followed her because Richard ordered you?”
“Yes.”
“Try again.”
Silence.
“I spoke to Richard.”
Vanessa went pale.
“He’s alive?”
“Yes.”
Fear appeared.
“Then he’s lying.”
“We found recordings.”
Her eyes closed.
I leaned toward the glass.
“You wanted my wife gone.”
“No.”
“You hit her.”
“I lost control.”
“You followed her.”
“Yes.”
“You drove your car into hers.”
Her eyes flew open.
“He told you that?”
“Did you?”
She began crying.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Did you hit her car?”
“Yes.”
One word.
My whole body trembled.
“Why?”
“She called me sick.”
“She was right.”
“She said you would never want me.”
“She was right.”
Vanessa wiped tears.
“She said I would never be part of your family.”
“And then you proved why.”
“I didn’t mean to kill her.”
“You helped.”
“I panicked.”
“You married her husband afterward.”
“I loved you.”
I stared at her.
“No. You wanted what she had.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“You wanted her life.”
“No!”
“You took her necklace.”
Vanessa slammed her palm against the glass.
“Because she always had everything!”
A guard stepped forward.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“She had you. Lily. That house. Everybody loved her.”
“And you thought killing her would give you those things?”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“You pushed her toward a man who did.”
She broke down.
For once I saw her clearly.
Not as a mysterious criminal mastermind.
Not as a grieving widow’s replacement.
A jealous, cruel woman who had convinced herself she deserved someone else’s life.
Then she looked up.
“There’s something you still don’t know.”
“I’m done with your secrets.”
“Richard didn’t finish Emily.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He thinks he did.”
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa looked around.
Then whispered into the phone.
“When Richard left, Emily was still breathing.”
My fingers tightened around the receiver.
“You told me she stopped moving.”
“She did.”
“But?”
“A car arrived.”
“Who?”
“I thought it was police.”
“Who was it?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Senator Whitmore.”
My skin went cold.
“He was there?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“I hid behind my car because Richard told me to leave.”
“What did Whitmore do?”
“He checked Emily.”
“And?”
“He made a phone call.”
“What kind?”
“I heard him say, ‘She’s alive.’”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Then what?”
“Another car arrived.”
“Who?”
“An ambulance.”
“That’s impossible.”
The official ambulance came later.
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not a real ambulance.”
I stared through the glass.
“Where did they take her?”
“I don’t know.”
The room began spinning.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Emily was found in her car.”
“Her body was.”
I could barely speak.
“What are you saying?”
Vanessa moved closer to the glass.
“I’m saying the woman they took away from that crash was alive.”
I stared at her.
“And when they brought her back…”
May you like
Vanessa swallowed.
“She was dead.”
