Chapter 5
I wanted to believe Lily had misunderstood.
She was seven.
Terrified.
Exhausted.
Maybe the man had said something confusing.
Maybe Vanessa had fed her another lie.
Maybe anything was true except the possibility forming in my head.
Ruiz must have seen it on my face.
“Mr. Bennett, don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Then tell me what conclusion I’m supposed to reach.”
He didn’t answer.
Lily was sitting on the hotel bed with Maria beside her.
The police had moved us to another secure location.
Ruiz asked Lily to repeat what the man had said.
“He said Vanessa stole me.”
“When?”
“At school.”
“How many times did you speak with him?”
“Two.”
I stared at her.
“Two?”
She immediately looked scared.
I softened my voice.
“You’re not in trouble.”
“She told me not to tell.”
“Vanessa?”
Lily nodded.
“What else did the man say?”
“He asked if my daddy was nice.”
My throat tightened.
“What did you say?”
“I said yes.”
Ruiz asked, “Did he tell you his name?”
“Chris.”
My stomach dropped.
Christopher.
“What happened the second time?”
“He gave me something.”
“What?”
“A bracelet.”
I looked at her wrists.
She wasn’t wearing one.
“Where is it?”
“Vanessa took it.”
“Did she get angry?”
Lily nodded.
“She cried.”
That surprised me.
“Vanessa cried?”
“She went in the bathroom and cried.”
Ruiz looked at me.
“Do you know where the bracelet is?”
“No.”
Police returned to the house and searched.
Three hours later, they found it hidden in the back of Vanessa’s jewelry safe.
Ruiz sent me a photograph.
A small gold bracelet.
Inside the clasp were engraved letters.
E.W.
Emma Whitmore.
My stomach turned.
“That belonged to Emma?”
“Likely.”
“Why give it to Lily?”
“We’ll ask Christopher if we find him.”
Forensics tested the bracelet.
Then Ruiz requested something else.
DNA samples.
From me.
From Lily.
I understood immediately.
“No.”
Ruiz stayed calm.
“Michael.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“A DNA test doesn’t change how you raised her.”
“She’s mine.”
“I’m not disputing that.”
“You’re asking because of what Christopher said.”
“I’m asking because Vanessa had photographs of Lily from infancy, your first wife knew Vanessa, and Christopher told Lily she was stolen.”
I paced across the room.
Maria said nothing.
Lily was watching cartoons with headphones.
Ruiz continued.
“We need facts.”
I hated the word.
Facts had already destroyed everything I thought I knew.
But he was right.
I agreed.
They took samples.
The waiting was worse than anything.
During those two days, Vanessa remained in custody on child-abuse charges while investigators reopened Emma’s case.
Then Vanessa requested to speak with me.
I refused.
She requested again.
I refused again.
On the third request, her lawyer included a message.
ASK MICHAEL WHETHER HE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT RACHEL DID.
I read it five times.
Then I agreed.
Not alone.
The meeting took place at the county jail.
Glass separated us.
Vanessa entered wearing an orange uniform.
No makeup.
Hair pulled back.
For the first time in nine years, I saw her without the careful image she had always maintained.
She picked up the phone.
I did too.
“You look tired,” she said.
I nearly hung up.
“Tell me about Rachel.”
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“Still giving orders.”
“Tell me.”
“Did the police show you the letters?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know your perfect dead wife had secrets.”
“Why did she know you?”
Vanessa leaned closer to the glass.
“Because Rachel knew Emma.”
“How?”
“She worked at Emma’s school.”
I stopped.
Rachel had been a child psychologist before Lily was born.
I remembered.
For one year, she had consulted with several private schools in Austin.
I had forgotten.
“Did she treat Emma?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Fear.”
“Fear of whom?”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“Her father.”
“Christopher?”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t what Maria says.”
“Maria was a housekeeper. She saw what people wanted her to see.”
“Emma disappeared while she was with you.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not the whole story.”
“What happened?”
She smiled again.
“You think I’m going to tell you everything while Detective Ruiz is probably recording this?”
“I don’t care who’s listening.”
“I do.”
“Then why ask me here?”
Her face changed.
“Because Lily is in danger.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“From you?”
“From Christopher.”
“He says you stole her.”
“I saved her.”
The world seemed to stop.
“What did you just say?”
Vanessa leaned closer.
“I saved your daughter.”
“From what?”
“From him.”
“Christopher is not Lily’s father.”
Vanessa’s expression told me enough.
I felt sick.
“No.”
“You should have waited for the DNA test.”
“No.”
“Michael—”
“No.”
My voice cracked.
“Rachel was pregnant with my child.”
“Rachel was pregnant.”
I stared at her.
Vanessa said the next words slowly.
“That doesn’t mean the baby was yours.”
I stood so fast the chair fell.
A guard looked over.
Vanessa kept talking.
“Ask yourself why Rachel wrote that you could never know.”
“You’re lying.”
“Ask yourself why she met me.”
“You’re lying!”
“Ask yourself why Christopher has been watching Lily.”
I slammed the phone down.
Vanessa shouted through the glass.
I started walking away.
Then I heard her muffled voice.
“EMMA IS ALIVE!”
I stopped.
Every person in the room seemed to disappear.
I turned around.
Vanessa had both hands against the glass.
I slowly returned.
Picked up the phone.
“What did you say?”
“Emma is alive.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She was alive the last time I saw her.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
My heart hammered.
“What happened the night she disappeared?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“When I took Emma to the cabin, Christopher followed us.”
“Why did you take her?”
“Rachel called me.”
“What did Rachel say?”
“That Emma had told her something.”
“What?”
Vanessa opened her eyes.
“That Christopher had been hurting her.”
Rage moved through me.
“Hurting her how?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
That answer was enough.
Vanessa continued.
“Rachel wanted Emma out of that house. I agreed.”
“You kidnapped your stepdaughter.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“Then why the cellar?”
Vanessa went still.
I saw it.
Fear.
“Who told you about the cellar?”
“Maria.”
“That stupid—”
“Why were there restraints?”
“They weren’t mine.”
“Whose?”
“Christopher’s.”
I shook my head.
“You expect me to believe he built a prison under his own vacation house?”
“He used it before I ever married him.”
“For what?”
Vanessa looked away.
“I don’t know.”
“Bullshit.”
“I swear.”
“What happened to Emma?”
“Rachel took her.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Rachel was waiting near the lake.”
“No.”
“She took Emma.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I never saw Emma again.”
I stared at her.
“Then how can she be alive?”
Vanessa looked directly at me.
“Because someone has been sending me birthday pictures every year.”
My mouth went dry.
“Pictures of Emma?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why hide them?”
“Because Christopher believes I know where she is.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“What does any of that have to do with Lily?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Then whispered.
“Rachel came back three months after Emma disappeared.”
“So?”
“She was pregnant.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“And Christopher was convinced the baby was his.”
I couldn’t speak.
“She told me he was wrong.”
“Then he was wrong.”
“Maybe.”
I slammed my fist against the counter.
“Stop saying maybe!”
The guard approached.
I lowered my voice.
Vanessa continued.
“Rachel begged me to help keep Christopher away.”
“Why you?”
“Because I knew what he was.”
“What was he?”
She stared at me.
“A man who believed his children belonged to him.”
I thought of Lily.
“What did you do?”
“I watched your family.”
“For years?”
“Yes.”
“You stalked us.”
“I protected Lily.”
“You abused her!”
For the first time, Vanessa looked ashamed.
“I lost control.”
“Lost control?”
“I thought…”
She stopped.
“What?”
“I thought she was becoming like Emma.”
My blood chilled.
“She is seven years old.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
I wanted to break the glass.
Instead, I whispered, “You will never be alone with her again.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Then keep Christopher away.”
I turned to leave.
“Michael.”
I looked back.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
She swallowed.
“If the DNA test says you’re not Lily’s biological father, do not confront Christopher.”
“Why?”
“Because he won’t just want Lily.”
“What else does he want?”
Vanessa leaned toward the glass.
“He wants Emma.”
“I don’t know where Emma is.”
“No.”
Her voice became almost inaudible.
“But Rachel may have left you something that tells you.”
My heartbeat stopped.
“What?”
“Did Rachel ever give you a blue box?”
I stared at her.
A memory surfaced.
After Rachel died, I had packed her belongings.
There had been a small blue metal box.
Locked.
I had never found the key.
I had put it in storage.
Vanessa saw my face.
“You have it.”
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you know about it?”
“Rachel told me.”
“When?”
“The last time I spoke to her.”
“What did she say?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“She said if anything happened to her, the truth would be inside.”
I left the jail without another word.
Ruiz was waiting outside.
“You heard?”
“All of it.”
“We need that box.”
“It’s in storage.”
We drove there immediately.
The storage unit had not been opened in years.
I unlocked the door.
Boxes.
Furniture.
Rachel’s old books.
I went straight to the back.
The blue box was gone.
I stood frozen.
“No.”
Ruiz looked around.
“When did you last see it?”
“Years ago.”
“Who knew it was here?”
“Only me.”
Then I remembered.
Vanessa had helped me move the boxes.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
The blue box.
Sitting on a wooden table.
Below it was a message.
LOOKING FOR THIS?
Then another message appeared.
BRING LILY TO LAKE TRAVIS IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH.
Ruiz grabbed the phone.
“No.”
I stared at the screen.
A final message appeared.
May you like
COME ALONE.
OR I OPEN THE CELLAR AGAIN.
