Chapter 8 - THE SECOND PHONE
The SUV accelerated.
Morales shoved Vanessa behind a parked car.
“Get inside!”
Evelyn grabbed Maisie.
The SUV came fast.
Too fast.
Officer Ruiz stepped into the street with his weapon raised.
“STOP!”
The driver swerved.
Tires screamed.
The SUV jumped the curb, clipped a mailbox, then tore across a lawn.
Ruiz fired one round into the rear tire.
The SUV fishtailed.
Recovered.
Then disappeared around the corner.
“Plate!” Morales yelled.
Another officer called it in.
Vanessa was breathing hard.
“That wasn’t Gideon.”
“How do you know?” Morales asked.
“He doesn’t do his own driving.”
“Who was it?”
“Probably Keller.”
“Who’s Keller?”
“Ex-cop. Works security for Voss.”
Morales cuffed Vanessa.
“You’re coming with me.”
Vanessa did not resist.
Maisie started crying.
“Vanessa!”
Vanessa turned.
For a moment, everything disappeared from her face except pain.
“I’m sorry, bug.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“Don’t call her that.”
Vanessa flinched.
“You’re right.”
In the station, Morales searched Vanessa’s purse.
Cash.
Passport.
Two hotel key cards.
A photograph of Miriam Mercer.
And a second phone.
Not the burner from her car.
This one had no passcode.
Morales opened the messages.
Only one contact.
G.
The last message had arrived at 12:04 p.m.
BRING HER OR GRANT GOES DOWN ALONE.
Morales placed the phone in an evidence bag.
“So that’s why you came.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“You were going to take Maisie.”
“I didn’t.”
“You went to the house.”
“To warn Evelyn.”
“With a fake passport and a gun?”
“The gun stayed in the car.”
“That doesn’t help.”
Vanessa rubbed her cuffed wrists.
“I changed my mind.”
“When?”
“When I saw Maisie in the window.”
Morales laughed once.
“No. Try again.”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“I was supposed to take her.”
“Supposed to?”
“Gideon ordered me to.”
“And you do what he orders?”
“For a long time.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked away.
Morales placed Miriam’s photograph on the table.
“Does this have anything to do with it?”
Vanessa froze.
Morales knew immediately.
“You knew Miriam Mercer.”
No answer.
“She was your mother.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
Still no answer.
“And Gideon Voss?”
Vanessa’s jaw trembled.
Morales lowered her voice.
“Is he your father?”
The first tear slid down Vanessa’s cheek.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“My mother said he was.”
“Did Voss know?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I asked him once.”
Morales frowned.
“You asked if he had a daughter?”
“I asked if he’d ever had a child with Miriam Mercer.”
“What did he say?”
Vanessa smiled bitterly.
“He said Miriam was a liar who tried to trap him with a pregnancy that never existed.”
Morales sat back.
“And you still worked for him.”
“I wanted proof.”
“Of paternity?”
“Of what happened to my mother.”
“You think he killed her?”
“I think he destroys people, and accidents happen around the ruins.”
Morales was quiet.
“Did Evelyn know?”
Vanessa’s eyes sharpened.
“That’s what I wanted to find out.”
“So you married Grant.”
“Gideon wanted someone close to Evelyn. I wanted someone close to the truth.”
“And Maisie got caught between both of you.”
Vanessa looked down.
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
Morales stood.
“Your cooperation may help you.”
Vanessa nodded.
“But understand something. If you walked into Evelyn’s house today and took that child, I would charge you like anyone else.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Morales headed toward the door.
Vanessa spoke.
“There’s another reason Gideon wants Calloway Place.”
Morales turned.
“What?”
“He says it’s the last thing Evelyn stole from him.”
“It was never his.”
“Not the building.”
Vanessa looked toward the mirrored glass.
“The basement.”
Morales stopped.
“What’s in the basement?”
May you like
Vanessa answered with one sentence.
“My mother’s original files.”
