Chapter 8 - Vanessa Finally Chose Herself
Vanessa Brooks had spent most of her adult life choosing the person with the most power in the room.
At twenty-one, that had been Richard.
At twenty-four, it was Olivia.
At thirty, she realized the most powerful person might be the one with evidence.
She walked into Claire Dawson’s law office carrying two phones, a laptop and a leather envelope.
Maya refused to meet her at first.
Then Vanessa said she had photographs from Evelyn Bennett’s apartment.
Maya entered the conference room six minutes later.
Vanessa stood when she saw her.
Her usual confidence disappeared.
Maya did not sit.
“Talk.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“I was twenty-two when Richard asked me to help him.”
“Help him do what?”
“Follow your mother.”
Maya’s expression did not change.
Vanessa looked toward Claire.
Claire said, “You’re here voluntarily. Continue.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Richard said Evelyn was stealing from one of his mother’s business partners.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Vanessa looked at Maya.
“No.”
“What changed?”
“I saw Evelyn crying.”
Maya’s jaw tightened.
“That convinced you?”
“No. What she was crying over did.”
Vanessa opened the leather envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Evelyn’s apartment.
Drawers pulled open.
Papers scattered.
A broken lamp.
Maya recognized the blue couch.
The yellow kitchen tiles.
Her childhood home.
“You went inside.”
“Yes.”
“Richard was with you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two days before she disappeared.”
Maya’s breathing changed.
“What were you looking for?”
“A silver object.”
“The ring.”
“I didn’t know it was a ring.”
“And you didn’t find it.”
“No.”
“Because she’d already given it to me.”
Vanessa nodded.
Maya looked at the photographs.
“Why did you take these?”
“Insurance.”
“Against Richard?”
“Against everyone.”
Maya almost laughed.
Of course.
Vanessa had never been loyal.
That might be the one quality that saved her now.
“What happened after the apartment?”
“We followed Evelyn to a warehouse.”
“Where?”
“Outside Springfield.”
“Blackridge?”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“Yes.”
Julian leaned forward.
“You know that name.”
“Richard called the warehouse Blackridge.”
Maya’s heart pounded.
“What happened there?”
“I don’t know.”
“You followed her.”
“We lost her.”
“How?”
“Someone picked her up.”
“Who?”
“A man.”
“Daniel Mercer?”
Vanessa looked at the photograph Maya placed on the table.
“Yes.”
Maya sat.
For the first time.
“What happened next?”
“Richard got a call from Olivia. He said Evelyn had changed the plan.”
“What plan?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“Because that night I understood I was involved in something much bigger than following a woman.”
Maya stared at her.
Vanessa continued.
“Richard drove me home. At 2 a.m., he came back.”
“Why?”
“He needed my car.”
“Why?”
“He said his had been seen.”
Maya felt cold.
“Seen where?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You gave him the car.”
“Yes.”
“When did he return it?”
“Six the next morning.”
“Was there anything unusual?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Maya leaned forward.
“What?”
“There was blood on the passenger-side floor mat.”
Silence.
Maya stared.
“How much?”
“Not much. A smear.”
“What did Richard say?”
“He said he’d hit a deer.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
Vanessa looked ashamed.
“I cleaned it.”
Maya stood.
Claire said softly, “Maya.”
Maya walked away from the table.
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was scared.”
Maya turned.
“My mother disappeared.”
“I know.”
“You knew there was blood in your car the morning she vanished.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“Yes.”
“Then you spent seven years laughing in my house.”
Vanessa looked down.
Maya’s voice became quiet.
“You came to my daughter’s birthday party.”
“Yes.”
“You watched Richard put his hands on me.”
Vanessa wiped her cheek.
“Yes.”
“And you laughed.”
Vanessa did not defend herself.
That made Maya angrier.
“Why?”
“Because if I admitted what he was, I had to admit what I was.”
Maya stared at her.
Vanessa’s voice shook.
“I am not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you to use what I have.”
She opened her laptop.
There were folders.
Years of messages.
Payments.
Audio.
Richard had underestimated Vanessa because he believed vanity made her stupid.
It had not.
Vanessa had saved almost everything.
Then she opened a photograph Maya had never seen.
It showed Olivia Vance standing beside Evelyn outside the Blackridge warehouse.
Maya stared.
“They knew each other.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Very well, apparently.”
May you like
On the back of the photograph, written in Evelyn’s hand, were four words.
Olivia knows who survived.
