Chapter 5 - THE ROAD HOME
I read Nora’s draft until the words blurred.
Diane had told me she and Nora were close again before the crash. She’d brought meals, watched Emma, sat beside me at the funeral. Every time I’d mentioned how suddenly Nora died, Diane had squeezed my shoulder and said accidents made no sense.
Now I called Ruiz.
She came to the house before dawn and read the email at my kitchen table. “Don’t contact Diane,” she said. “Give me time to confirm where Nora was headed.”
“Do you think Diane caused the crash?”
“I don’t know.”
It was the only honest answer, and I hated it.
By lunchtime, Ruiz had found the gray SUV. It belonged to an investigator named Martin Vale, a former police officer who now handled private custody cases. He’d worked for Ava’s mother.
“He was parked near Nora’s office twice in the month before her death,” Ruiz said.
“Did he follow her that night?”
“We’re looking for records.”
At two, Vanessa’s attorney called. Vanessa wanted to speak with me. Ruiz arranged for us to meet at the station with her present.
Vanessa looked exhausted. I felt nothing soft toward her.
“I was wrong to shut Emma in that room,” she said. “She was crying, and I lost my temper. I thought if I walked away, I’d calm down.”
“For almost an hour?”
“I know.”
“Who is the other little girl you mentioned?”
Vanessa looked at Ruiz, then back at me. “Ava.”
My chair scraped the floor.
“Diane talked about her,” Vanessa said. “She said Nora had made trouble for a family and never knew when to stop. I used it to frighten Emma. I didn’t know Ava was real.”
“When did Diane tell you?”
“Before the wedding.”
“You told me you’d never met her until afterward.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled. “I lied about that too.”
Ruiz leaned forward. “How did you meet Ethan?”
Vanessa stared at the tabletop. “Diane introduced us. She asked me to go to his coffee shop and strike up a conversation.”
I remembered Vanessa laughing when I spilled sugar beside the register. I had told that story at our wedding.
“Why?” I asked.
“She said you were lonely. She said Emma needed someone.”
Vanessa swallowed. “Last night, Diane told me to say the camera was mine.”
I gripped the edge of the table. “Why would you do that?”
“Because she said if I didn’t, she’d tell you what I did to Emma.”
Ruiz said, “You’ve told him yourself.”
Vanessa nodded, crying now. “Diane didn’t care about protecting Emma. She wanted the camera back.”
May you like
As we left the interview room, Ruiz received a call. She listened, then looked at me.
“Someone entered Nora’s old storage unit an hour ago,” she said. “The lock was cut.”
