Chapter 8 - EMILY'S VOICE
Ethan had spent years wishing he could hear Emily again.
He had old videos.
Voicemails.
Birthday recordings.
But none had prepared him for hearing her voice in that interrogation room.
Rachel pressed play.
Emily spoke first.
“You need to leave.”
Then Vanessa.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
“It belonged to Michael.”
“He’s dead.”
“And Lucy is alive.”
“Not if she keeps causing problems.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
Emily’s voice remained steady.
“If you threaten that girl again, I’m going to the police.”
“You think they’ll believe you?”
“I have records.”
“You have a baby.”
Silence.
Then Emily said quietly.
“Stay away from my daughter.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Then give me the files.”
“No.”
“You should think carefully.”
“I already have.”
The recording ended.
Ethan could barely breathe.
Lucy watched him.
“I’m sorry.”
He looked at her.
“You were a kid.”
“So was Sophie.”
That sentence hit harder than anything else.
Rachel immediately copied the recording.
Combined with Michael’s evidence and the material from Vanessa’s hidden room, prosecutors now had a growing case.
But Vanessa was still missing.
And someone had entered Ethan’s house.
That meant the danger had not disappeared.
Rachel asked Lucy about Vanessa’s friends.
Associates.
Anyone she trusted.
Lucy laughed bitterly.
“Vanessa doesn’t trust people.”
“Then who helps her?”
“People who owe her.”
One name surfaced.
Daniel Mercer.
He had worked as Michael’s accountant.
He disappeared from the company shortly after Michael died.
Records showed Daniel had recently rented a warehouse outside Oxnard.
Police searched it.
They found furniture.
Computers.
Boxes of documents.
And dozens of photographs.
Ethan.
Sophie.
Claire.
Rachel.
Lucy.
Vanessa had been collecting information on everyone.
One wall contained a timeline of Ethan’s life.
Emily’s illness.
Her death.
Sophie’s preschool.
Ethan’s company.
His charity appearances.
Even his jogging route.
Rachel stared at the wall.
“She planned everything.”
Lucy shook her head.
“No.”
Rachel looked at her.
“What?”
Lucy pointed toward a section of the wall.
“This isn’t Vanessa’s handwriting.”
Ethan stepped closer.
The notes were written in thick black marker.
Several included initials.
D.M.
Daniel Mercer.
Lucy’s face changed.
“I thought Daniel was afraid of Vanessa.”
“What if he wasn’t?”
Rachel searched the desk.
Inside she found financial records.
Payments from Vanessa to Daniel.
But then she found something stranger.
Daniel had been receiving money before Michael died.
Large amounts.
Rachel looked at Lucy.
“Your father believed Vanessa was stealing.”
“Yes.”
“What if she wasn’t working alone?”
Lucy stared at the records.
“Daniel.”
Ethan understood.
Vanessa might have been dangerous.
But she might not have created the scheme.
Daniel could have helped move the money.
He could have helped manipulate witnesses.
He could even have helped Vanessa disappear.
Then an officer called from the rear of the warehouse.
They followed him to a locked office.
Inside was a mattress.
Food.
Bottled water.
And restraints attached to a metal pipe.
Lucy stepped backward.
Ethan saw a scarf on the floor.
Lucy covered her mouth.
“That’s mine.”
Rachel turned.
“From when?”
“Seven years ago.”
Lucy began shaking.
“He kept me here.”
“Daniel?”
“I never saw his face.”
She looked around the room.
“But I remember this place.”
Ethan stared at the restraints.
Lucy had not simply disappeared.
Someone had held her.
Then Rachel’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her eyes widened.
She looked directly at Ethan.
“Claire just called 911.”
Ethan’s heart stopped.
“Sophie?”
May you like
Rachel grabbed her jacket.
“Sophie is missing.”
