Chapter 6 - The Call Melissa Never Finished
Brooke Hart stopped defending Vanessa before lunch.
Not completely.
Not yet.
But enough for Rachel to notice.
The sisters had been moved to separate interview rooms after hospital security learned about the chart alterations.
Brooke asked twice whether Vanessa could hear her.
When told no, she began crying.
Naomi did not question her.
Police investigators would handle that.
Instead, Naomi focused on Melissa's memory card.
The card contained thirty-seven files.
Most were photographs of documents.
Some were screenshots of messages.
Three were audio recordings.
One was a video.
And one was an unfinished voice memo recorded the night Melissa went into labor.
Rachel listened beside Grant.
Melissa's breathing sounded unsteady.
If this recording exists, then I didn't get the chance to explain everything.
Grant lowered his head.
Melissa continued.
Grant, I know you think Vanessa is helping. I know you think I dislike her because she married you. That is not true.
I dislike her because she asked me what would happen to Lily's inheritance if Lily did not survive the first year.
Rachel's stomach turned.
Grant froze.
Melissa's voice trembled.
I told myself she was asking a legal question. I told myself not to become paranoid.
Then Brooke contacted me.
The recording paused.
Melissa inhaled.
She said Vanessa had been talking to somebody at St. Matthew's about getting temporary medical authority. Brooke wouldn't tell me why. She said Vanessa told her it was only in case Grant became overwhelmed.
Rachel looked toward the hospital room door.
Brooke had known.
Not everything.
But enough.
Melissa continued.
I confronted Vanessa yesterday.
She told me Rachel would never remain trustee because Rachel had no family connection to Lily.
She said she could make Rachel look unstable.
Rachel's throat tightened.
Grant looked at her.
She stared at the recorder.
Melissa's next words were even quieter.
She said people believe frightened mothers and injured children.
I don't know what that means.
I hope it means nothing.
The memo continued for another minute.
Melissa described the carved cavity inside the family photograph.
The frame had belonged to her mother.
She chose it because Grant would recognize it and because Vanessa hated the photograph.
It showed Grant, Melissa, Rachel, and Melissa's parents at a charity event years earlier.
A life before Vanessa.
Melissa had given the frame to a trusted maternity nurse with instructions to place it in Lily's room only if Melissa became too ill to speak.
The nurse had followed those instructions after Melissa's death.
Rachel finally understood why Vanessa had stared at the frame during earlier visits.
She knew it mattered.
But she had not known how it opened.
Until that morning.
The final seconds of Melissa's voice memo were different.
There was a sound in the background.
A knock.
Then Melissa said, "One second."
The recording continued.
A door opened.
A woman's voice spoke from farther away.
Rachel could not make out the words.
Melissa replied.
"What are you doing here?"
Grant looked at Naomi.
Naomi replayed the section.
The woman's voice became clearer.
You need to sign this before the contractions get worse.
Rachel recognized the voice.
Vanessa.
Grant did too.
Melissa said, "Get out."
Vanessa responded.
Grant already signed his part.
Melissa answered.
"No, he didn't."
Then another voice.
Brooke.
"Vanessa, we should go."
The recording ended.
Grant sat motionless.
Rachel looked at the timestamp.
It had been recorded at 11:42 p.m.
Melissa arrived at the hospital at 12:18 a.m.
Lily was born seven hours later.
Melissa died three days after that from a massive postpartum complication that doctors said could not reasonably have been predicted.
There was no evidence Vanessa caused Melissa's death.
Naomi said that clearly.
"We do not invent what we cannot prove."
Grant nodded.
But there was already enough.
Vanessa had entered Melissa's apartment while she was in labor.
She had tried to make her sign something.
"What?" Grant asked.
Naomi opened the scanned files on the memory card.
One photograph showed a three-page document.
Temporary Custodial Consent.
It would have granted Grant and Vanessa joint temporary authority over Lily in the event Melissa was medically incapacitated.
At the bottom was a place for Melissa's signature.
Blank.
At the top of page three was Grant's signature.
Forged.
Rachel stared at it.
"She wanted Melissa to sign while she was in labor."
Naomi nodded.
Grant whispered, "And Melissa refused."
The next photograph showed the same document torn in half.
Melissa had written across it in black marker.
NOT AUTHORIZED.
The next file was a screenshot of a text Brooke had sent Melissa at 2:03 a.m.
I'm sorry. I didn't know she was going to push this tonight.
Rachel's eyes narrowed.
"Brooke warned her."
"Too late," Grant said.
Another message followed.
Please don't tell Grant I was there.
Then a third.
Vanessa says you are trying to keep Lily from him. I don't know what to believe anymore.
Grant leaned back.
For the first time, Rachel saw the anger leave his face.
What remained was grief.
Not for Vanessa.
For the months he had misunderstood Melissa.
"I thought she was making everything difficult."
Rachel said nothing.
"I complained about her."
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
Rachel looked at him.
"Then make sure Lily grows up knowing her mother wasn't imagining it."
Grant closed his eyes.
A knock came at the door.
A detective entered.
Her name was Mara Ellis.
She carried a tablet.
"We've spoken to Brooke Hart."
Grant stood.
"What did she say?"
Detective Ellis looked at Rachel first, then Naomi.
"She says Vanessa didn't go into that nursery to hurt Lily."
Grant's jaw tightened.
The detective continued.
"She says Vanessa went in to destroy the frame."
Rachel looked toward Lily.
"With Lily underneath it?"
"According to Brooke, Vanessa believed something was hidden inside."
Grant stared at the detective.
"How did she know?"
May you like
Ellis answered.
"Paul Danner told her."
