Chapter 8 - VANESSA’S REAL NAME
The man refused to talk after that.
His name turned out to be Eric Shaw.
Petty arrests.
Fraud.
Burglary.
Nothing that connected him directly to Vanessa or Michael.
But his phone did.
Deleted messages were recovered overnight.
One mentioned “V.”
Another mentioned “ML.”
Another said:
THE BOY KNOWS ABOUT CAROL.
Noah had seen the bag at the lake.
Had Vanessa and Michael been hiding evidence from a crime twelve years old?
Or something newer?
By morning, police finally identified Vanessa.
Her real name was not Vanessa Brooks.
It was Rebecca Lane.
Michael Lane’s younger sister.
I stared at the report.
“So they’re siblings.”
Hale nodded.
“She changed her name eleven years ago.”
“Right after the fire.”
“Yes.”
I felt nauseated.
“She married me because of money.”
“That’s one possibility.”
“Possibility?”
“Daniel, we don’t know when you became a target.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I have a $900,000 policy and a child who inherits everything. Michael’s wife died in a suspicious fire. Her son died with her. Then his sister marries me.”
Hale didn’t argue.
I stood at the motel window, staring through a narrow gap in the curtains.
“So what was the plan?”
“We’re working on that.”
“Kill me?”
“Possibly.”
“Then what? Vanessa controls Noah’s trust?”
“If she remains his legal guardian long enough, she could potentially gain access to funds depending on the trust terms.”
“She was going to keep him?”
Hale’s expression told me he didn’t believe that.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No. Say it.”
He exhaled.
“If she and Michael repeated the pattern from the Lane case…”
My knees nearly gave out.
“No.”
“We don’t know.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“She was not going to kill my son.”
The words sounded ridiculous the moment they left my mouth.
I had found him inside a dog cage.
I grabbed the bathroom sink and vomited.
Noah didn’t see.
Thank God.
Later that afternoon, Hale received a call.
A dive team had searched the lake.
They found the black bag.
Inside were remains.
Not Carol Lane.
Not her son.
A man.
Dead perhaps six months.
His identity came back quickly from dental records.
Thomas Reed.
An accountant from another county who had disappeared in February.
The name meant nothing to me.
Until Hale showed me his photograph.
I recognized him.
“He came to our house.”
“When?”
“Maybe five months ago.”
“Why?”
“Vanessa said he was helping us update financial documents.”
Hale’s face hardened.
“What documents?”
“I don’t know. I signed some paperwork.”
“Daniel.”
My throat went dry.
“What did I sign?”
Hale leaned closer.
“We need to find out immediately.”
My phone buzzed.
This time the message came from Vanessa’s number.
I opened it.
YOU SIGNED EVERYTHING WE NEEDED.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
ASK HALE WHO OWNS YOUR HOUSE NOW.
