Chapter 7 - THE EMPTY TRUNK
The blood belonged to Rebecca.
But there wasn’t much of it.
Not enough to suggest she had been seriously injured.
Richard refused to explain.
He hired two attorneys before noon.
Neither could stop police from holding him on suspicion of obstruction and evidence tampering.
Then surveillance footage surfaced.
At 11:38 the previous night, Richard’s sedan entered a gas station twenty-three miles from Blackwood Manor.
Rebecca got out.
She was crying.
She had blood on one hand.
Richard followed her.
The cameras had no audio.
But the argument was obvious.
Rebecca shoved him.
Richard pointed toward the car.
Rebecca refused.
Then a white pickup entered the station.
Rebecca climbed into it.
Richard tried to stop her.
The pickup left.
The driver was identified three hours later.
A retired nurse named Helen Carter.
Police found Helen at home.
Rebecca was gone.
But Helen told them something important.
“She asked me to take her to a bus station.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“No.”
“Did she say why she was running?”
Helen nodded.
“She said her father would destroy her before he let her talk.”
Daniel heard about the interview from Bennett.
“What does Rebecca know?”
“We’re trying to find out.”
That afternoon, Emily was well enough to sit up.
Daniel brought her apple juice.
She looked at him carefully.
“Is Aunt Rebecca in jail?”
“Not yet.”
Emily stared at the cup.
“Grandpa will help her.”
“He can’t help her forever.”
Emily looked uncertain.
Daniel sat beside her.
“Sweetheart, there’s something I need to ask.”
She nodded.
“When you said you told Grandpa, what exactly did you tell him?”
Emily’s face changed.
“I told him Aunt Rebecca showed me the room.”
“What room?”
“The room where Noah slept.”
Daniel went still.
“You knew Noah?”
“Not really.”
She looked confused.
“I found his picture.”
“Did Rebecca tell you what happened to him?”
Emily nodded.
“What did she say?”
“She said Grandpa killed him.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“What?”
Emily looked frightened.
“She said she left Noah with Grandpa.”
“She came back.”
“And Noah was in the pool.”
Daniel stood.
That was different from Vanessa’s story.
Very different.
“Did Rebecca say she had been drinking?”
Emily shook her head.
“She said Grandpa made everyone say that.”
Daniel called Bennett immediately.
But before she answered, Emily grabbed his sleeve.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“Aunt Rebecca said there was proof.”
“What proof?”
Emily pointed toward his phone.
“She said Grandpa kept everything because powerful people don’t destroy secrets.”
“They keep them.”
“Why?”
May you like
Emily repeated Rebecca’s words.
“So they can control everyone who knows them.”
