Chapter 10 - INSIDE THE RABBIT
Ruiz drove back with me to the witness apartment. Emma sat on my lap while I explained that Nora might have hidden something inside Bunny’s heart patch.
“Can we look?” I asked.
Emma nodded, though she held his paw until the last possible second.
Ruiz carefully loosened three stitches. Beneath the patch was a small plastic sleeve. Inside it lay a second memory card.
Emma smiled. “Mommy was good at hiding things.”
“She was,” I said.
The card contained recordings Nora had made during the final weeks of her life. In one, she sat in her car outside a grocery store and spoke directly to the camera.
“Ethan, if you’re watching this, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Diane introduced Celia to Vale. He helped Celia build a custody case against Sam. I’m trying to show what Ava actually said, but Diane knows about the camera now.”
Nora rubbed her forehead. I recognized how tired she looked. I had mistaken it for long hours at school.
“I’m keeping a copy here,” she said, “because Diane comes into our house when she thinks we’re out. She says it’s to help with Emma. I can’t prove what she’s looking for.”
Another file showed Diane entering Emma’s room. She searched the dresser, lifted toys from the shelf, then noticed the camera lens. She reached for it. Emma called from the hallway, and Diane stepped away.
The last file was dated the night Nora died.
Nora recorded herself at a gas station. “Vale says Ava is at the old Miller house. I’m going to meet Sam there. I’ve sent him the address.”
Her eyes flicked toward the windshield.
“Diane’s car is here.”
The video ended as Nora opened her door.
Ruiz immediately contacted the team reviewing Nora’s crash. I called Sam and asked about the Miller house.
“I never got that message,” he said.
Ruiz checked Nora’s sent folder. The message was there, but Sam’s address had one letter wrong. Nora had typed it in a hurry.
“Where’s the house?” Ruiz asked.
Sam gave her an address across the state line. It had belonged to Celia’s uncle. Ruiz sent officers to check it.
At midnight, a dispatcher called back. The house was empty, but fresh tire tracks crossed the dirt driveway.
Inside, officers found food wrappers, two sleeping bags, and a child’s drawing of a blue sedan.
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Written along the bottom were four words:
WE ARE LEAVING TONIGHT.
