Chapter 3 - THE DEAD HUSBAND
Detective Hale arrived forty minutes later.
He was sixty-one, broad-shouldered, gray-haired, and carried the tired face of a man who had spent too many years remembering cases other people wanted forgotten.
Vanessa sat in the living room.
She had refused to leave.
Two officers waited outside.
Hale placed an old file on the table.
“Daniel Cross died seven years ago.”
Vanessa stared straight ahead.
“I know when my husband died.”
“According to the original report, he fell from a dock after drinking.”
“He was drunk.”
Hale opened the file.
“His blood alcohol level wasn’t high enough to explain why he was unconscious.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“He hit his head.”
“No serious head injury was documented.”
Ethan watched her.
Hale continued.
“But traces of a sedative were.”
Vanessa’s eyes shifted.
“Prescription medication.”
“Not Daniel’s prescription.”
Silence.
Ethan removed the amber bottle from an evidence bag.
Hale had already photographed and sealed it.
“You recognize this?”
Vanessa looked at Ethan.
“You searched my things?”
“Sophie told me about it.”
Hale leaned forward.
“What is in that bottle, Mrs. Bennett?”
“My sleeping medication.”
“Why remove the label?”
“I reuse bottles.”
Hale almost smiled.
“No, you don’t.”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“You’re accusing me of murder based on an old bottle?”
“No.”
Hale closed the file.
“I’m asking why the same class of drug found in your first husband’s bloodstream is sitting in your bathroom seven years later.”
Vanessa stood.
“I want a lawyer.”
“That would be smart.”
She walked toward the stairs.
Ethan blocked her.
“You’re not staying here.”
“This is my home.”
“Not tonight.”
“You can’t do this.”
Hale spoke calmly.
“Actually, Mr. Bennett has every right to keep his daughter away from a person suspected of abusing her.”
Vanessa turned.
“Suspected?”
Hale nodded.
“Child Protective Services is already involved.”
That finally broke her calm.
“You called CPS?”
Ethan stepped toward her.
“I called everyone I should have called the first time I saw a bruise.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
They looked convincing.
“You’re destroying our family.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You did that.”
Vanessa wiped her cheek.
“Daniel was depressed.”
Hale stopped.
It was the first unsolicited thing she had said about him.
“He drank.”
Hale said nothing.
“He threatened to leave me.”
Still nothing.
“He went outside that night.”
Hale’s gaze sharpened.
“You told police you were asleep.”
“I was.”
“You just said he went outside.”
Vanessa froze.
Ethan felt the room change.
Hale leaned closer.
“How did you know that?”
“I assumed.”
“No.”
Hale’s voice hardened.
“You remembered.”
Vanessa looked toward the door.
One of the officers stepped inside.
Hale continued.
“You knew Daniel walked onto that dock.”
Vanessa’s breathing quickened.
“You knew because you were awake.”
“I want my lawyer.”
Hale stood.
“Then stop talking.”
Vanessa grabbed her purse.
As she walked past Ethan, she leaned close.
“You think Sophie loves you now?”
Ethan stiffened.
“She’ll hate you eventually.”
“Get out.”
“You left her with me.”
The words landed exactly where Vanessa wanted them.
“You chose your business over your child.”
Ethan said nothing.
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“That truth won’t disappear just because you make me the villain.”
Then she walked out.
Ethan stood frozen.
Hale waited until the door closed.
“She’s manipulating you.”
“I know.”
“Doesn’t mean what she said doesn’t hurt.”
Ethan looked away.
Hale packed the file.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Did your wife know you were investigating Daniel?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“I never told her.”
Hale looked toward the driveway.
“Then we have a problem.”
“Why?”
“Because somebody broke into Daniel’s old storage unit last night.”
Ethan frowned.
“What was taken?”
Hale’s expression darkened.
“Everything connected to Vanessa.”
Ethan’s phone rang.
Rachel.
He answered immediately.
“Rachel?”
Her voice came fast.
“Ethan, someone is outside my house.”
His blood went cold.
“What?”
“A black SUV.”
“Lock the doors.”
“I already did.”
“Where’s Sophie?”
“Asleep upstairs.”
Then Rachel gasped.
A crash came through the phone.
“Rachel?”
Another crash.
“Rachel!”
May you like
She whispered, “Someone just broke the back window.”
And the call went dead.
