Chapter 4
Richard swore the ambulance looked legitimate.
Two uniformed attendants had arrived with a court order bearing a judge’s signature.
“They knew her medication,” he said. “They knew everything.”
“Did Mom want to go?”
“No. She screamed that the papers were forged.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
“I did. By the time they arrived, the ambulance was gone.”
Detective Ruiz contacted every hospital and licensed care facility in the county.
None had admitted Eleanor Hart.
My mother had been kidnapped.
Emma sat in the back of a police car with a female officer. She was wrapped in a blanket even though the night was warm.
I wanted to stay with her.
I also wanted to tear the city apart until I found Mom.
Ruiz approached me.
“The ambulance plate was stolen.”
“Can you track it?”
“We’re checking traffic cameras.”
I showed her the silver key.
The initials M.H. belonged to Michael Hart, my younger brother.
He had died twelve years earlier.
At least, that was what I had always believed.
Richard stared at the key.
“Michael had a safe-deposit box.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew?”
“He opened it a month before the crash.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know. After he died, Eleanor told me the key was missing.”
Emma had said Mom gave it to her.
That meant Mom had kept it for twelve years.
“Which bank?” Ruiz asked.
Richard gave her the name.
The branch manager agreed to meet us after Ruiz explained the emergency.
The box was still registered to Michael.
As his surviving brother, I could not legally open it without a court order.
But Richard’s name was listed as a co-owner.
He inserted the key.
Inside was a stack of photographs, an old phone, and a sealed envelope addressed to me.
My hands shook as I opened it.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, something happened to me.
Dad has been moving money from the company. Mom knows, but she is afraid of what will happen if she exposes him. Vanessa knows too.
I stopped reading.
“Vanessa?” I whispered.
Twelve years ago, Vanessa and I had not been married.
But we had been dating.
I looked at Richard.
He backed away.
“Michael was confused.”
I continued.
Vanessa gave Dad access to employee passwords. I confronted her. She begged me not to tell you. She says she did it because Dad promised to pay her mother’s medical bills.
If anything happens, check North Valley.
North Valley Consulting.
The same company that had received Mom’s three hundred thousand dollars.
I looked at Richard again.
“You own it.”
“No.”
“Michael says you moved money through it.”
“That letter proves nothing.”
Ruiz took the documents.
“You’ll need to come with us.”
Richard suddenly ran.
He knocked a chair into Ruiz’s path and rushed for the door.
I caught him in the lobby.
We slammed into a table.
He punched me once, but I held him until officers entered.
As they handcuffed him, he shouted, “Vanessa killed Michael, not me!”
The words tore through me.
I grabbed his shirt.
“What did you say?”
“She was driving the night he died!”
I remembered the police report.
Michael’s car had gone through a guardrail and burned. Investigators believed he had been alone.
Richard laughed bitterly.
“Your mother found Vanessa walking along the highway. She paid a witness to keep quiet.”
I turned to Ruiz.
“Is that true?”
“We’ll reopen the file.”
My phone rang from a blocked number.
Mom’s voice came through in a whisper.
“Daniel?”
“Mom! Where are you?”
“I don’t know. It looks like a clinic.”
A door slammed near her.
She spoke faster.
“Vanessa wants the key. Don’t give it to her.”
“We opened the box.”
Silence.
“You read Michael’s letter?”
“Yes.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Did Vanessa kill him?”
Mom began crying.
Before she could answer, someone grabbed the phone.
Vanessa came on the line.
“You should have brought me that memory card.”
“Let my mother go.”
“I need one more signature.”
“She will never sign anything.”
“She will if she believes Emma is next.”
The call ended.
Ruiz immediately began tracing it.
An officer entered holding Richard’s phone.
“There’s a message you need to see.”
May you like
It was from Melissa.
I DID WHAT YOU ASKED. VANESSA HAS ELEANOR AT ST. AGNES. NOW TELL ME WHERE YOU HID MICHAEL’S REAL CAR.
