Chapter 12 - Officer Delaney
Frank Delaney retired eighteen months after Anna’s crash.
He lived comfortably.
Too comfortably for a retired detective with no known investments.
When confronted, he denied everything.
Then investigators showed him the payment.
His story changed.
Victor had paid him for “consulting.”
Nobody believed that.
Delaney asked for an attorney.
By evening, he began talking.
The truth was uglier than I expected.
Victor had not ordered Anna killed.
At least, Delaney claimed he hadn’t.
The truck driver owed money to one of Victor’s lenders.
Victor paid him to frighten Anna.
Follow her.
Force her vehicle off the road if necessary.
Make her believe she was in danger.
The plan was intimidation.
Then the truck crossed the line too sharply.
Rain reduced visibility.
Anna swerved.
Both vehicles crashed.
Victor arrived minutes later because he had been following from a distance.
He saw Anna’s car.
Instead of calling for help immediately, he searched it.
He was looking for evidence she had collected.
The first emergency call came from another driver.
Victor left before police arrived.
Delaney later discovered Victor’s connection to the truck.
Victor paid him to bury it.
I sat completely still while Detective Collins explained.
“So Anna might have lived longer if Victor called immediately.”
“We can’t prove that.”
“But he left her.”
“Yes.”
Something broke inside me.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just a final piece of my belief that the Hart family had ever cared about Anna more than themselves.
Evelyn was confronted with Delaney’s statement.
For the first time, she turned on Victor completely.
She claimed she had never known he arranged the intimidation.
She admitted covering financial crimes.
She admitted helping manipulate my custody situation.
But she insisted Anna’s death had not been part of her plan.
Maybe that was true.
It no longer mattered as much as she hoped.
Her decisions built the road that led there.
Then Victor called me.
Directly.
Unknown number.
I answered before Detective Collins could stop me.
“Daniel.”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“Where are you?”
“You know I can’t tell you.”
“What do you want?”
“The box Anna left.”
“You have it.”
“No.”
He laughed bitterly.
“The storage box was a decoy.”
My chest tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
“Anna always knew I would find that locker.”
“She left the real evidence somewhere only you would look.”
I said nothing.
Victor continued.
“She told you where it is the night before she died.”
I froze.
Because suddenly, I remembered our last dinner.
Anna had looked at Lily.
Then at me.
And said something strangely specific.
“If you ever forget where home is, check beneath the place we first became a family.”
At the time, I thought she was being sentimental.
May you like
Now I knew she had been giving me directions.
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