Chapter 7 - WHAT HE MISSED
Nathan played the clip again.
He remembered that call. He had been leaving a meeting in Chicago. Emma had waved behind Vanessa, and Nathan had promised to call back after dinner.
He never had.
On the screen, Emma raised the paper for less than two seconds. It said HELP US.
Nathan closed the laptop.
Diane waited until he could speak.
“Who sent this?” he asked.
“The address was created this morning.”
“Peter?”
“Maybe. Someone wants you to see it.”
At Rachel’s house, Nathan sat with the girls in the kitchen while she made grilled cheese sandwiches. No one rushed them to finish. Sophie asked for another sandwich, then looked worried.
“You can have one,” Rachel said. “You can have two.”
After lunch, Nathan asked Emma about the sign.
“I held it up when we talked,” she said. “I thought you couldn’t read it because the phone was too far away.”
Nathan swallowed. “I saw you. I didn’t look carefully.”
Emma considered that. “You’re looking now.”
“I am.”
He wanted to promise her he would never miss anything again. He knew that would be easy to say and impossible to guarantee. Instead, he asked if she could tell him when something felt wrong, even if he was busy.
“You have to answer,” Emma said.
“I will.”
That evening, Vanessa arrived at Rachel’s front door with a suitcase. Rachel kept the chain on.
“What do you want?” Rachel asked.
“To speak to Nathan.”
Nathan came to the door. Vanessa looked worn out. Without the ballroom lights, her diamonds seemed strangely out of place.
“I made terrible choices,” she said. “I kept telling myself the girls were acting out. Peter said if I lost control of the house, you’d blame me for everything.”
“You were in charge of their food.”
“I know.”
Nathan waited.
Vanessa reached into her coat and pulled out a small notebook. “The payments to the staff. The dates Peter came to the house. I wrote it down when I realized he was moving money.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I took money from him, too.”
May you like
Rachel’s hand tightened on the door.
Vanessa looked straight at Nathan. “And because Peter has Claire’s letters.”
