Chapter 14 - THE LAST TIME HE SAW ROSIE
Crane’s lawyer negotiated for hours. In the end, Crane turned over photographs, messages, and an old phone he had kept hidden.
Victoria did not need to see all of it. Bell showed her what mattered.
There was a photograph of Rosie at a playground when she was six. She sat on a swing, looking toward the camera. Across the park stood Charles.
He had seen their daughter alive two years ago.
A message sent that same afternoon from Crane’s phone read:
SHE’S HEALTHY. LENA DOESN’T KNOW WE’RE WATCHING.
Charles had replied:
KEEP IT THAT WAY.
Victoria put the phone down.
For years, she had lit a candle on Rosalind’s birthday. Charles had stood beside her and watched it burn.
“Why?” she asked.
Bell had put the same question to Charles. He claimed that, by the time Crane found Lena and Rosie, he was afraid Rosie would be taken into protective care during the investigation. He said he planned to tell Victoria once he could bring Rosie home safely.
Victoria thought of the photograph. Rosie was six. He had had two years.
Crane’s statement supplied another reason. By then, Charles had used accounts connected to the Hale foundation to hide a growing financial loss. He feared that if Victoria learned what he had done to Rosie, she would examine everything else. Crane’s records showed Charles paying to watch Lena and Rosie while keeping them out of Victoria’s reach.
Crane had followed Lena eleven days before the gala because she had found the nursery video. He admitted taking her phone and leaving the threatening note with the scarf. He denied harming her after she escaped his car.
Bell told Victoria that prosecutors would sort through the evidence and decide the charges. Victoria cared most about one thing: Charles could no longer say he thought Rosie was dead.
That evening, Charles called from the station. Bell asked if Victoria wanted to speak to him. She said yes, with Bell beside her.
“I saw the photograph,” Victoria said.
Charles was quiet for a long time. “I wanted to bring her back.”
“You knew where she was.”
“I made a terrible choice.”
“You made it every day for two years.”
“I thought if I could fix the other problems first—”
“You let me mourn her.”
His breathing filled the line.
Finally, he said, “I know you won’t forgive me.”
“I’m not calling to discuss forgiveness. I need you to hear this: Rosie gets to decide what kind of contact she wants with you. You will not go near her without the people protecting her agreeing it’s safe.”
Charles said her name.
Victoria ended the call.
Across the room, Rosie and Lena were building a tower from wooden blocks. Claire sat beside them. Rosie waved Victoria over.
For a few minutes, they stacked blocks and watched them fall.
Then Bruno appeared at the apartment door. He had a sealed envelope from the family office, delivered by a court messenger. Victoria opened it.
May you like
Charles had filed an emergency request for Rosie to be placed in his care.
The hearing was the next morning.
