Chapter 6
The police treated the message seriously.
By noon, two detectives were sitting across from me in a small interview room.
Detective Morgan placed the printed threat between us.
“Do you recognize the number?”
“No.”
“Do you think Ryan sent it?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
That was the truth.
Twenty-four hours earlier, I thought I knew my husband.
Now I wasn’t even sure which parts of our marriage had been real.
Detective Morgan opened a folder.
“We pulled records from the night your mother died.”
My heart jumped.
“Already?”
“The case file was archived, not destroyed.”
She slid a page toward me.
“Your mother called emergency services nine minutes before the crash.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“The call disconnected.”
“Nobody ever told me.”
“It was categorized as an accidental pocket call because she didn’t speak clearly.”
“Can I hear it?”
Morgan hesitated.
Then she played the audio.
Static filled the room.
My mother’s breathing.
Fast.
Terrified.
Then her voice.
“He’s following me.”
My hands went numb.
A male dispatcher asked, “Ma’am, who is following you?”
More static.
Then my mother whispered something.
Morgan replayed it.
I leaned forward.
The words became clearer.
“Ryan knows.”
I broke.
Not loudly.
I simply folded over and covered my face.
All those years of wondering what my mother wanted to tell me.
Something strange happened today.
She had known.
She had tried to warn me.
Detective Morgan waited.
When I could finally speak, I asked, “Why wasn’t this investigated?”
“The crash scene suggested excessive speed in bad weather. No second vehicle was documented.”
“But there was one.”
“We’re reopening the evidence.”
The door opened.
Another detective entered and whispered to Morgan.
Her expression hardened.
“What happened?” I asked.
She turned toward me.
“Ryan was released.”
I stood.
“What?”
“On the assault complaint. We don’t currently have grounds to hold him on the older case.”
“He threatened me.”
“We can’t prove he sent the message.”
My fear became anger.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“We’re arranging protection and requesting an emergency order.”
My phone started ringing.
Diane.
I stared at the screen.
Morgan said, “Answer it.”
I put the call on speaker.
“What do you want?”
Diane was crying.
“Emily, you need to leave town.”
Morgan began recording.
“Why?”
“Because Ryan is angry.”
“He’s always angry.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Diane breathed shakily.
“Ryan came to my house.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
The detectives exchanged looks.
“What did he say?”
“He knows Thomas hired someone.”
“We already know that.”
“He knows about the traffic photo.”
My chest tightened.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Diane whispered, “He asked me where you were.”
Morgan motioned for me to continue.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m afraid of him too.”
I almost laughed.
“You protected him for years.”
“I know.”
“You knew about Lauren.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about his gambling.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he saw my mother the night she died.”
Silence.
“Diane?”
Her voice cracked.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Morgan leaned forward.
“Ask where.”
“Where did Ryan see my mother?”
Diane started sobbing.
“At the old Riverside gas station.”
My heart stopped.
My mother had crashed seven miles from there.
“Why?”
“She had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Diane inhaled.
“That Ryan had been stealing from you before you were even married.”
A sudden crash came through the phone.
Diane screamed.
Then a man’s voice.
Ryan.
May you like
“Mom?”
The line went dead.
