Chapter 3 - SOPHIE’S SECRET RECORDINGS
The camera had been Sophie’s idea.
Three months earlier, Alejandro had bought her a tablet for school.
Sophie discovered that it could automatically record when it detected movement.
At first, she used the feature to see whether her stuffed rabbit fell off the bed while she slept.
Then Valerie began coming into her room.
“I got scared.”
Sophie’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“So I left it recording.”
Alejandro sat beside her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sophie looked down.
“Because she said you’d think I was lying.”
“I would never—”
“She said grown-ups believe wives.”
That sentence silenced him.
Sophie continued.
“She said you picked her.”
Alejandro’s eyes burned.
“No.”
He leaned closer.
“I picked you first.”
Sophie looked at him.
“And I will pick you every single time.”
Her chin trembled.
“Even if she gets mad?”
“Especially then.”
Sophie finally nodded.
Elena sat on the opposite side of the bed.
“Sweetheart, do you know where the other recordings are?”
Sophie pointed toward the tablet.
“There’s a folder.”
“What’s it called?”
“Muffin.”
Alejandro almost smiled.
Muffin had been Marissa’s nickname for Sophie.
Elena opened the tablet.
The folder required a four-digit password.
Sophie whispered,
“Mommy’s birthday.”
Elena entered it.
The folder opened.
There were thirty-seven videos.
Alejandro stared at the screen.
Thirty-seven.
Some were seconds long.
Others lasted twenty minutes.
The oldest dated back nearly two months.
They called hospital security.
Then the police.
Detective Rachel Monroe arrived at 1:38 in the morning.
She was in her early forties with a tired face and a voice that never rose above conversational volume.
She watched several recordings.
Then she stopped.
“Mr. Rivers, don’t contact your wife again.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“She’s still in my house.”
“Not anymore.”
“What?”
Rachel turned the tablet toward him.
“One of my officers drove by fifteen minutes ago.”
“And?”
“Her car is gone.”
Alejandro stood.
“She left?”
“Looks that way.”
Elena remembered the phone call Valerie had made.
“They found it.”
We need to move tonight.
She told Rachel.
The detective’s expression changed.
“She said we?”
“Yes.”
“Exactly?”
“Exactly.”
Rachel made a call.
“Get units to the Rivers residence.”
Alejandro’s stomach tightened.
“You think someone else is involved?”
“I think your wife believed someone else was involved.”
Rachel stood.
“And until I know who that is, nobody goes back to that house alone.”
At 2:17 a.m., officers entered the Rivers residence.
Valerie was gone.
So were two suitcases.
Her passport was missing.
Several drawers had been emptied.
But the most important discovery was in the garage.
A trash bag.
Inside were prescription labels.
Receipts.
Disposable cups.
And three empty bottles matching the one Elena found upstairs.
One receipt had been paid in cash.
Another carried a name.
MARCUS DALE.
Alejandro stared at it when Rachel showed him the photograph.
“Who is Marcus Dale?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Rachel watched him.
“What about Valerie?”
“I never heard her mention him.”
Rachel checked her phone.
“We’re running it.”
Ten minutes later, she received an answer.
Marcus Dale was thirty-four.
No serious criminal history.
Former veterinary supply salesman.
Current occupation listed as private medical distributor.
And his home address was less than four miles from one of Alejandro’s trucking depots.
Alejandro’s face went still.
“What?”
Rachel asked.
“He worked near my company.”
“That mean something?”
“Maybe.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“Valerie didn’t meet me by accident.”
Rachel didn’t respond.
But they were both thinking the same thing.
At 3:06 a.m., officers knocked on Marcus Dale’s door.
No answer.
His vehicle was gone.
At 3:14, a traffic camera captured Valerie’s SUV entering Interstate 35.
A second vehicle followed three cars behind.
Registered to Marcus Dale.
They were heading south.
Toward Austin.
Rachel looked at Alejandro.
“Now we have two people running.”
Alejandro’s hands curled into fists.
“Find them.”
“We will.”
But Sophie knew something the adults didn’t.
When Elena returned to her bedside, Sophie whispered,
“Grandma?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“The man came here before.”
Elena froze.
“What man?”
“The one Valerie called Marcus.”
Elena stared at her.
“You know him?”
Sophie nodded.
“He came when Daddy was at work.”
“What did he do?”
Sophie’s answer changed the entire investigation.
“He asked Valerie how much longer she needed.”
Elena felt the blood drain from her face.
“How much longer for what?”
Sophie looked toward Alejandro.
May you like
Then whispered,
“Until Daddy didn’t have me anymore.”
