Chapter 13 - What She Said When He Was Gone —
They arrested Vanessa before she reached the airport.
Daniel was taken into custody outside his house.
Our house.
On the security video, he stood on the porch in the shirt I had bought him for his birthday.
He looked annoyed until he saw the warrant.
Then he asked for his union representative.
Then an attorney.
Not once did he ask whether I was alive.
Ortiz turned off the screen.
“You don’t have to watch that part.”
This time, I let her.
Vanessa spoke first after consulting with her lawyer.
She tried to separate herself from Daniel.
He had handled the door.
He had handled the insurance.
He had promised the fire would stay contained long enough for everyone important to leave.
Ortiz asked her what “important” meant.
Vanessa cried.
For a while, that was all she did.
Then they played her own voice.
You were supposed to make sure the door stayed shut.
Her attorney requested a break.
When the interview resumed, Vanessa admitted she knew I was the target.
She had told herself Daniel would change his mind.
She had told herself he would get me out after the room cleared.
She had told herself plenty.
But when she saw me through the window, she had grabbed his face.
She had made him look at her.
I heard that part from Ortiz, not the recording.
I didn’t need Vanessa’s voice inside my head any more than it already was.
Pike confirmed the false inspections and the alterations to the door. Fire investigators found evidence that the blaze had been intentionally set. Financial records tied the payments together.
The case no longer depended on my memory alone.
Still, Daniel denied everything.
He blamed Pike for the fire.
Vanessa for the money.
Me for following him.
That last part came through his attorney in a formal statement.
I read the sentence three times.
My wife entered an unsafe area despite clear evacuation instructions.
I set the page down.
Then I picked up the pen Ortiz had left on my tray.
My hand shook, but I signed my witness statement.
Every page.
Every detail.
When I finished, I asked for my wedding ring.
The nurse brought it in a small plastic bag.
I held it in my palm.
Inside, Daniel had engraved four words.
I will always come.
May you like
I handed it to Ortiz.
“Put it with the rest of his lies.”
