Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WHO DIDN’T DIE
Lucas pressed the phone harder to his ear.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask yourself why there was no body.”
“The fire—”
“Couldn’t identify her?”
Charles laughed.
“Convenient.”
Lucas’s knees almost weakened.
“What happened to my wife?”
“Give Vanessa the box.”
“Tell me.”
“Your daughter first.”
The call ended.
Lucas immediately told the detective.
Police confirmed Charles was still in custody.
The call had been routed through an accomplice using prerecorded audio mixed with live voice manipulation.
Lucas didn’t care.
The words mattered.
Rachel survived.
Maybe.
The tactical team entered the warehouse.
Gunshots erupted.
Lucas heard shouting.
Then an officer yelled, “Move!”
Lucas ran in behind them.
Michael Cole was on the ground.
Vanessa was nowhere in sight.
Emma was found inside an office.
Lucas reached her before anyone else.
“Daddy!”
He wrapped both arms around her.
“I’ve got you.”
Emma sobbed against him.
“They said Mommy was bad.”
“Who said that?”
“Vanessa.”
Lucas looked around.
“Where is she?”
Emma pointed toward a rear exit.
“She left when the police came.”
Police pursued.
Lucas stayed with Emma.
After she calmed down, he asked gently,
“What did you remember about Mommy’s accident?”
Emma closed her eyes.
“The red car followed us.”
“Yes.”
“Mommy was going fast.”
Lucas’s throat tightened.
“Then what?”
“There was a black truck.”
“A truck?”
“It came from the side.”
Lucas stared.
“The truck hit her car?”
Emma nodded.
“And then?”
“The car went down.”
“How did you get out?”
Emma started trembling.
Lucas stopped.
“We don’t have to—”
“Mommy got me out.”
Lucas froze.
“What?”
“She opened my door.”
Emma began crying harder.
“She was bleeding.”
Lucas couldn’t move.
“She carried me.”
“Where?”
“Into the trees.”
Lucas remembered the crash site.
Dense forest.
A ravine.
Search teams had looked for days.
“What happened to Rachel?”
“A lady came.”
“What lady?”
Emma shook her head.
“I don’t remember.”
“Did Mommy leave with her?”
Emma nodded.
“Mommy kissed me.”
Lucas’s eyes filled.
“She said, ‘Daddy will find you.’”
Lucas covered his mouth.
“But I didn’t.”
Emma hugged him.
“You didn’t know.”
Police later found Emma near the road after the crash.
She had been treated for mild dehydration and shock.
Everyone assumed Rachel had died.
Emma had been too traumatized to explain.
Lucas looked at Diane.
“Who helped Rachel?”
Diane slowly sat down.
“There was one person she trusted.”
“Who?”
“A federal investigator.”
Lucas’s pulse quickened.
“Name?”
Diane whispered, “Sarah Quinn.”
A detective searched the database.
His face changed.
“What?”
Lucas stepped closer.
The detective turned the monitor.
May you like
Sarah Quinn had disappeared four years ago.
The exact same week as Rachel.
