Chapter 3 - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
Daniel called Thomas seventeen times.
No answer.
Detective Ruiz ordered officers to locate him.
Elena remained in the hospital bed, watching Daniel pace.
Each step stripped another layer from the family he thought he knew.
“My mother wouldn’t do this.”
He said it quietly.
Elena didn’t answer.
Daniel stopped.
“She wouldn’t.”
“You heard the recording.”
“I heard part of a conversation.”
“You saw the photograph.”
“I saw Thomas carrying a case.”
“With your mother.”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
Elena understood.
Truth was easy when it belonged to strangers.
It became unbearable when it wore your mother’s face.
Ruiz stepped outside to make another call.
Daniel approached Elena.
“What else haven’t you told me?”
“A lot.”
His eyes hardened.
“That isn’t fair.”
Elena stared at him.
“Fair?”
“You want to discuss fair?”
“Elena—”
“I came to you after someone followed me home.”
“You told me it might be paparazzi.”
“Because when I said I thought Vanessa was behind it, you called me paranoid.”
Daniel flinched.
“I never used that word.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Silence.
Elena looked away.
“I stopped telling you because every time I brought Vanessa’s name into the conversation, you defended her.”
“I’ve known her since I was twelve.”
“And you’ve known me since you were twenty-nine.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m your wife.”
Elena’s voice broke.
“I’m carrying your child.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
Elena looked back at him.
“You’re finally starting to.”
Ruiz returned.
“We found Thomas’s car.”
“Where?”
“Parking garage near East River.”
Daniel moved toward the door.
“I’m coming.”
Ruiz blocked him.
“No.”
“He’s my friend.”
“He may also be destroying evidence in an attempted homicide investigation.”
Daniel stopped.
“Attempted homicide?”
Ruiz looked at Elena.
“We reviewed the camera covering the staircase.”
Elena held her breath.
“The local backup survived.”
“And?”
Ruiz’s expression darkened.
“Vanessa didn’t push you away.”
Daniel stared at him.
“She walked behind you.”
“She looked downstairs.”
“She checked whether anyone was watching.”
“And then she shoved you with both hands.”
Daniel’s face went white.
Ruiz continued.
“That wasn’t panic.”
“That was deliberate.”
Daniel turned toward the wall.
For a moment, Elena thought he might be sick.
Then he looked back.
“Arrest her.”
“We intended to.”
“Intended?”
Ruiz’s jaw tightened.
“Vanessa is gone.”
Elena sat upright despite the pain.
“What?”
“She disappeared from the mansion.”
“You said nobody could leave.”
“She didn’t use a door.”
Ruiz showed them a photograph.
Behind a bookcase in the wine cellar was a narrow passage.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
“My grandfather built that during Prohibition.”
Ruiz nodded.
“It exits behind the old greenhouse.”
Daniel whispered.
“My mother knows about it.”
Elena felt cold.
“Of course she does.”
Ruiz’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then turned toward Daniel.
“They found Thomas.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Ruiz hesitated.
“Inside an abandoned warehouse your company owns.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“And the server?”
“Missing.”
Thirty minutes later, Ruiz received a photograph from officers at the warehouse.
Thomas sat on the floor.
His wrists were tied.
Blood covered one side of his face.
On the wall behind him, someone had painted a message.
Daniel read it aloud.
“STOP DIGGING OR SHE LOSES THE BABY.”
Elena’s hand immediately covered her stomach.
Daniel went silent.
Then Ruiz received another message.
This one came from an unknown number.
A video.
He played it.
Vanessa appeared on screen.
No tears.
No fear.
No performance.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Elena.”
Vanessa smiled.
“You wanted a war.”
“So now you have one.”
The video ended.
But before the screen went black, Elena saw something behind Vanessa.
A framed painting.
A lake.
A white boathouse.
Daniel saw it too.
His expression changed.
“I know where she is.”
Ruiz looked at him.
“Where?”
May you like
Daniel whispered:
“My mother’s private estate in Connecticut.”
