Chapter 3 - THE CRASH REPORT THAT DISAPPEARED
Six years earlier, Maren drove home from a Whitaker Medical board dinner in heavy rain.
She remembered headlights.
A curve.
The brake pedal sinking farther than it should.
Then metal.
Glass.
Darkness.
She woke after surgery unable to move her legs.
Police found no mechanical defect significant enough to explain the crash.
Reed became her hero.
He slept beside her hospital bed.
Pushed her through rehabilitation.
Told reporters he would never abandon her.
Maren had loved him more deeply after the accident.
Now Evelyn placed an old report across the blanket.
WHITAKER PRIVATE SECURITY - VEHICLE EXAMINATION.
Brake-line pressure compromised.
Hydraulic fitting manually loosened.
Possible deliberate tampering.
Maren stared.
“This was never in the police file.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Your father received it privately.”
“He died eight months after your crash.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He tried.”
Evelyn slid over a handwritten letter.
Maren recognized her father’s handwriting.
Sweetheart,
If you are reading this, I did not get enough time.
Do not confront Reed about the car.
Not yet.
Maren’s throat tightened.
Reed.
Her father had written his name.
“He suspected my husband?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because security footage showed Reed entering the garage at 11:17 the night before your crash.”
Maren felt nauseated.
“No.”
“He said he was checking a tire.”
“Did Dad believe him?”
“No.”
Maren stared at Evelyn.
“Why did Reed want me injured?”
Evelyn’s answer came slowly.
“We don’t know that he meant to cause the crash.”
“What?”
“The fitting may have been loosened to create a mechanical problem.”
“Maybe to frighten you.”
“Maybe to delay you.”
“Maybe worse.”
“We do not invent intent where we cannot prove it.”
Maren almost laughed.
Even after fifteen years underground, her mother still sounded like a board attorney.
Then Evelyn added.
“But after your crash, something changed.”
“What?”
“Reed obtained medical power of attorney.”
“He gained access to your personal accounts.”
“He began attending company meetings as your representative.”
“And your father discovered Reed had been communicating with one of the men involved in my disappearance.”
Maren’s blood turned cold.
“Who?”
Evelyn said the name.
“Graham Voss.”
Maren knew it immediately.
Former Whitaker Medical chief financial officer.
Retired.
May you like
Respected.
A man who gave the eulogy at her father’s funeral.
