Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN I MARRIED
I couldn’t stop looking at Vanessa’s photograph.
She had told me we first met at a charity fundraiser two years after Rachel died.
That was a lie.
Rachel had known her.
Michael had known her.
And apparently Vanessa had been close enough to my family to be photographed days before Rachel’s death.
“Explain this.”
Vanessa stared at the picture.
“I can.”
“Then do it.”
She glanced toward the officers.
“Not here.”
I laughed once.
A cold, humorless sound.
“This is exactly where.”
Her face tightened.
“Michael introduced us.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Before Rachel died?”
“Yes.”
My entire body went cold.
“You told me you didn’t know Rachel.”
“I barely knew her.”
“Rachel had your photograph hidden under my floor.”
Vanessa’s eyes flicked toward the metal box.
That was all Detective Morgan needed to notice.
“You knew the box existed?”
“No.”
“You looked at it like you did.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I’m nervous.”
“So are the children you were hitting.”
She said nothing.
I opened the black notebook.
Rachel’s handwriting filled the pages.
Dates.
Names.
License plates.
Bank transfers.
Then one word appeared over and over.
HARBOR.
I recognized it immediately.
Harbor Ridge Development.
My family’s company.
Founded by my father.
Run by Michael after Dad’s stroke.
I owned forty percent.
Michael owned forty percent.
A family trust controlled the remaining twenty.
Rachel had been the company’s outside financial auditor before we married.
I had always believed she stopped looking at corporate books when Ethan was born.
Apparently she never did.
One entry was underlined three times.
HARBOR RIDGE - SHELL PAYMENTS - $4.8M.
Below that.
M.W. + V.H.
Michael Warren.
Vanessa Hart.
Vanessa’s maiden name.
My hands began to shake.
“You worked with Michael.”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
“Daniel.”
“You worked with my brother.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Detective Morgan quietly took the notebook.
“I’m going to need financial crimes.”
Vanessa moved toward the hallway.
An officer blocked her.
“Where are you going?”
“I need air.”
“You can have air right there.”
For the first time, panic appeared in her face.
I looked toward my children.
Ethan was watching Vanessa.
Not me.
Watching her like a child watches a dog that has already bitten once.
That hurt more than anything.
I crouched.
“Ethan.”
He looked at me.
“How long?”
He understood.
His eyes filled.
“Since Christmas.”
I closed mine.
Six months.
Six months of bruises.
Six months of fear.
Six months while I worked late and thanked Vanessa for “holding the family together.”
Lily whispered.
“She said if we told you, you’d send us away.”
I looked at Vanessa.
Something inside me died.
Not love.
That had disappeared the moment I saw the hanger.
Trust.
Maybe the memory of ever having known her.
Detective Morgan opened one of Rachel’s envelopes.
It was addressed to me.
DANIEL.
IF YOU’RE READING THIS, SOMEBODY FOUND THE FLOOR.
Inside was a single page.
The first sentence read.
Michael is stealing from the company.
The second sentence was worse.
Vanessa is helping him.
May you like
And the third sentence made me sit down.
They know I know.
