Chapter 4 - THE FIRST WIFE
Rachel wasn’t dead.
That was the first thing Chloe told me.
The second thing was worse.
Nobody had known where she was for almost nine years.
After leaving Dominic, Rachel had abandoned her apartment, quit her job, changed her number, and disappeared from nearly everyone’s life.
There had been one police report.
One hospital visit.
One request for a restraining order that had been withdrawn forty-eight hours later.
Then nothing.
“Why did she withdraw it?”
Chloe slid a photocopy across the table.
Rachel’s signature appeared at the bottom.
“She said the incident was exaggerated.”
I stared at the page.
I had used almost the same sentence two years ago after Dominic shoved me into a bedroom door.
Victoria had stood beside me while I spoke to the responding officer.
It was only an argument.
I’m embarrassed.
I overreacted.
Please don’t make this bigger than it is.
The words felt poisonous now.
“Was Victoria with Rachel too?”
“We’re checking.”
Chloe opened another folder.
A former neighbor remembered Victoria visiting Rachel repeatedly after the first police report.
Another witness remembered Arthur carrying boxes from Rachel’s apartment.
Then Chloe showed me a payment.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
Sent from a Bennett family account to Rachel three days before she disappeared.
“Hush money?”
“Possibly.”
“Why keep her photograph?”
“That’s what bothers me.”
She pointed at the handwritten sentence.
I PROMISED I WOULDN’T LET HIM DO THIS TO ANOTHER WOMAN.
“This wasn’t written by Dominic.”
“How do you know?”
“We found samples of Arthur’s handwriting.”
My mouth went dry.
Arthur.
The man who had sat ten yards away while his son burned my hand.
The man who told me marriage was private.
The man who had barely looked away from the television.
“He knew.”
“It appears he knew something.”
My phone buzzed.
Erin had texted to ask when I was coming home.
I started answering.
Then Chloe’s phone rang.
She listened silently.
Her face changed.
“Where?”
She stood.
“We’re on our way.”
“What happened?”
She ended the call.
“The prepaid number Dominic messaged last night just turned on.”
“Who has it?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where is it?”
Chloe looked directly at me.
“Your sister’s neighborhood.”
I was already moving toward the door.
When we reached Erin’s house, patrol cars surrounded the block.
Her front door stood open.
I ran toward it.
An officer stopped me.
“Ma’am.”
“That’s my sister.”
Chloe entered first.
Thirty seconds later, she returned.
“Erin is fine.”
My knees nearly buckled.
Then I saw my sister behind her.
Erin was crying.
In her hands was a blue folder.
“I found this inside my mailbox,” she whispered.
Chloe took it carefully.
May you like
On the front were two typed words.
PHASE THREE.
