Chapter 6
Detective Cho replayed the sentence.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
“Her brother Caleb.”
Rachel's voice filled the small bank conference room.
I stared at the screen.
She looked frightened.
But determined.
The Rachel in that video wasn't speaking like someone guessing.
She believed she was in danger.
Cho resumed playback.
“I don't know if Vanessa is serious,” Rachel said. “Maybe she's trying to scare me. But Caleb owns a repair shop, and yesterday Vanessa said brakes fail every day.”
My stomach turned.
Rachel glanced behind her in the recording.
Then leaned closer.
“Ethan, if this gets to you, do not blame yourself for not knowing.”
I closed my eyes.
It was as if she had predicted exactly what I would do.
Blame myself.
Over and over.
“You work because you love us,” Rachel continued. “I didn't tell you everything because I kept thinking I could handle it. Maybe that was a mistake.”
She took a shaky breath.
“But if something happens, protect Lily.”
Then the video ended.
I sat frozen.
Cho removed the flash drive.
“This changes things.”
“Enough to arrest Vanessa?”
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
“We still need corroboration.”
I stood.
“You have threats. Video. Rachel's letter. Vanessa abusing Lily. Her brother talking about a car part.”
“And now we have evidence sufficient to move much faster.”
Her voice was firm.
“But I need you to stay out of it.”
“I am out of it.”
“No, Ethan.”
She looked directly at me.
“You're emotionally inside every part of this.”
I couldn't argue.
By the time I returned home, two detectives were already there.
Daniel had taken Lily to our mother's house for the afternoon.
I hated being away from her.
But Cho said officers might need to search parts of our home.
Vanessa's closet.
Her desk.
The garage.
I signed consent forms.
They opened drawers.
Photographed documents.
Bagged an old laptop Vanessa claimed was broken.
Then a detective found a prepaid phone taped beneath a drawer in Vanessa's home office.
Cho looked at me.
“You ever see this?”
“No.”
The phone still worked.
They took it.
Three hours later, Cho called from the station.
“We found messages between Vanessa and Caleb.”
I stood in the dark kitchen.
“What do they say?”
“I can't disclose all of it.”
“Give me something.”
A pause.
Then:
“Two days before Rachel's death, Vanessa wrote: Is it done?”
My throat tightened.
“Caleb responded: She's driving it now?”
I stopped breathing.
“What did Vanessa say?”
“Yes.
Then Caleb wrote: Then stop texting me.”
I gripped the counter.
That was enough for me.
Maybe not for a courtroom yet.
But for me, the world had changed.
Rachel's accident no longer felt like an accident.
“Where is Vanessa?”
“We are locating her.”
“She isn't where she said she'd be?”
“No.”
Fear hit me.
“What about Caleb?”
“Still missing.”
I immediately called Daniel.
“Where's Lily?”
“With Mom.”
“Get her inside.”
“She is inside.”
“Lock the doors.”
“Ethan, what's happening?”
“Vanessa is missing.”
Daniel became quiet.
“I'll stay here.”
“Don't leave her.”
“I won't.”
I drove to my mother's house.
The entire way, I checked my mirrors.
Every dark SUV made my heart jump.
When I arrived, Lily ran out of the living room.
“Daddy!”
I hugged her.
My mother, Carol, stood near the kitchen.
She looked older than she had yesterday.
“What did police find?”
I couldn't discuss everything in front of Lily.
“Enough.”
Carol looked toward her granddaughter.
“Lily, honey, want to help Uncle Daniel choose a movie?”
Lily frowned.
“Is it scary?”
“No scary movies.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She took Daniel's hand.
After they left, I told my mother about Rachel's video.
Carol sat down.
Tears filled her eyes.
“That poor girl.”
“She was scared and I didn't know.”
“You didn't know because she didn't tell you.”
“I should've seen it.”
Carol reached across the table.
“You're not a mind reader.”
“I married Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“I brought her into Lily's home.”
“You believed she loved your child.”
“I was wrong.”
“Then be right now.”
I looked at her.
“That's all you can do.”
For once, I let the words sink in.
At seven thirty, Detective Cho called.
“We found Vanessa.”
“Where?”
“At a motel near Tacoma.”
“Is she arrested?”
“Yes.”
My knees almost buckled.
“For what?”
“Child abuse charges initially. Additional charges are under review.”
“And Caleb?”
“No sign.”
Relief lasted only seconds.
Because if Caleb was involved in Rachel's death and he knew Vanessa was arrested, what would he do?
Cho seemed to read my thoughts.
“Officers will increase patrol around your residence and your mother's.”
“Should Lily stay here?”
“For tonight, yes.”
I slept on my mother's couch.
At two in the morning, I woke to the sound of glass breaking.
I sat up instantly.
Daniel came running from the hallway.
“What was that?”
Another crash.
From the kitchen.
I grabbed my phone.
“Call 911.”
I moved toward the hallway but stopped before entering the kitchen.
Protect Lily.
That was all that mattered.
I went upstairs instead.
Carol was already in Lily's room.
She had locked the door.
“What happened?”
“Someone broke a window.”
Lily woke up.
“Daddy?”
“It's okay.”
But it wasn't.
Downstairs, something moved.
A drawer slammed.
Daniel whispered through the phone to the dispatcher.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Then the back door opened.
Footsteps ran across the yard.
Police arrived less than a minute later.
They searched the house.
The yard.
The alley.
Whoever had entered was gone.
Nothing valuable was missing.
No television.
No jewelry.
No wallets.
Only one thing had been taken.
Rachel's letter.
I had brought it home after investigators copied it.
It had been inside my jacket pocket hanging on a chair.
The jacket was still there.
The letter was gone.
Cho arrived at three fifteen.
She looked furious.
“Someone knew you had it.”
“Caleb.”
“Maybe.”
“Who else?”
“We don't guess.”
I looked toward Lily.
She was sitting on the stairs wrapped in a blanket.
Cho lowered her voice.
“You need somewhere secure.”
“We can go to a hotel.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Too easy to follow.”
She thought for a moment.
“We can arrange temporary relocation.”
That sounded terrifyingly serious.
By sunrise, we were staying in an apartment owned by one of Daniel's friends.
Only Cho and two detectives knew the location.
I turned off location services.
Left my car at my mother's house.
Bought Lily a new toothbrush and pajamas.
She thought we were having an adventure.
I let her believe it.
Around noon, she sat cross-legged on the floor eating noodles from a paper bowl.
Then she looked at me.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Why does Mr. Caleb want Mommy's paper?”
My fork stopped.
“What did you say?”
She continued eating.
“Mr. Caleb.”
I stared at her.
“You know Caleb?”
She looked confused.
“He's Mr. Gray.”
My entire body went cold.
“Lily, you told the lady Mr. Gray came to our house.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You saw him?”
“Twice.”
“What did he look like?”
She described a tall man.
Brown beard.
Scar near his eyebrow.
I pulled up an old wedding photo from my cloud account.
Caleb had attended our ceremony.
I showed Lily.
“Is this Mr. Gray?”
She pointed immediately.
“Him.”
My heart pounded.
“What did he do when he came over?”
“Talked to Vanessa.”
“About what?”
“I don't know.”
“Try to remember.”
She frowned.
“Vanessa got mad because he said no more.”
“No more what?”
“I don't know.”
Then Lily put down her fork.
“He gave Vanessa a metal thing.”
“What kind of metal thing?”
She held her hands apart.
“Like this.”
Six inches.
Maybe eight.
“Where did Vanessa put it?”
“In the garage.”
I immediately called Cho.
Police searched my garage again.
This time they removed shelving.
Behind a cabinet, they discovered a plastic container.
Inside were several automotive parts.
One carried an old manufacturer serial number.
That number matched Rachel's vehicle model.
Hours later, an expert delivered the first conclusion.
The part appeared to be from Rachel's braking system.
And according to Detective Cho, it had been intentionally damaged.
But there was something even worse.
The investigators found a partial fingerprint on the container.
May you like
It belonged to Caleb Gray.
And a second fingerprint belonged to Vanessa.
