Chapter 2 - The Woman Richard Buried Without a Body
Richard stood outside the locked SUV for nearly a minute.
He did not shout.
He did not threaten.
That made Clara more afraid.
He simply stared through the glass.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Eventually, he stepped back and lifted his hands as though calming someone unstable.
"Clara, whatever Chloe told you, she misunderstood."
Clara lowered the window less than an inch.
"Your sister is alive."
Richard’s face became completely still.
He recovered quickly.
"What?"
"Elena."
A tiny muscle moved in his jaw.
"Why would you say that?"
"Chloe gave her the suitcase."
Richard looked at their daughter.
This time he did not hide the fury.
"You did what?"
Chloe flinched.
Clara immediately raised the window.
Richard struck the glass with his palm.
"Open the door!"
Several travelers nearby turned.
That was what Clara needed.
Witnesses.
Richard noticed them too.
His expression changed instantly.
He smiled and waved apologetically.
"My wife is having a panic attack."
Clara heard him through the glass.
The transformation was terrifying.
Within seconds, two airport staff members approached.
"Everything all right?"
Richard nodded sympathetically.
"My wife has been under tremendous stress. She’s confused."
Clara opened her door before he could continue.
"I need airport police."
Richard laughed softly.
"Clara."
She stepped out holding Chloe.
"I said airport police."
The employees looked between them.
Richard lowered his voice.
"My wife stopped taking medication."
Clara stared at him.
There it was.
Medication schedule must appear voluntary.
The note.
He had prepared this.
Not only an escape.
A story.
One in which Clara was mentally unstable.
One in which Richard became the concerned husband.
"I don’t take psychiatric medication," Clara said clearly.
Richard sighed.
"You see?"
One staff member reached for a radio.
Clara handed him the folded note.
"Please call law enforcement before anyone separates me from my daughter."
That sentence changed everything.
The employee radioed security.
Richard’s smile disappeared.
"You’re making a serious mistake."
"No," Clara said. "I made serious mistakes for eleven years."
Airport police arrived within four minutes.
Richard immediately identified himself.
He mentioned his company.
His attorney.
His family name.
He explained that his wife was overwhelmed by travel stress and had recently exhibited paranoia.
Clara did not argue.
She simply gave the officer the six notes and asked him to listen to the last sixty seconds of her recorded call.
Richard’s face changed when he saw the recording indicator.
"You recorded me?"
"No."
Clara met his eyes.
"You recorded yourself."
The officer listened.
His expression sharpened.
He requested another unit.
Richard stepped backward.
"That recording is being misinterpreted."
"Then explain it," Clara said.
"I don’t have to explain private business conversations."
"What client?"
Richard said nothing.
"What plan remains unchanged?"
Still nothing.
"And what were you going to handle about Chloe?"
Richard glanced around.
The officer asked him to remain nearby.
Richard reached into his pocket.
The officer immediately ordered him to keep his hands visible.
For the first time Clara had ever witnessed, Richard Vance was not in control of the room.
But Clara also knew he was not finished.
Men like Richard did not build secret plans without contingencies.
While airport police separated them for questioning, Clara asked Chloe the same question again.
"Where is Aunt Elena?"
Chloe looked confused.
"I don’t know."
"But you said you gave her the suitcase."
"I did."
"When?"
"This morning."
"Where?"
"Our house."
Clara stared.
"Elena came to our house?"
Chloe shook her head.
"No."
"Then how did you give it to her?"
"I gave it to the flower lady."
Clara blinked.
"What flower lady?"
"The one who comes every Friday."
Clara knew immediately.
For almost two years, fresh arrangements had arrived at their home every Friday from a boutique florist called Maribel House.
Richard claimed it was part of a standing service established by his late mother.
Clara had never questioned it.
"The flower lady is Elena?"
"No."
Chloe shook her head.
"She said she worked for the dead lady."
Clara felt dizzy for real this time.
"What exactly happened?"
Chloe looked toward Richard, who was speaking to another officer fifty feet away.
"This morning Daddy put the suitcase near the garage and told Mr. Dean to put it in the car."
Dean was their driver.
Clara glanced toward the SUV.
The same driver who had disappeared after supposedly receiving a call.
"I heard Daddy say it had to disappear after the plane."
"Disappear where?"
"He said incinerator."
Clara swallowed.
"So you took it?"
Chloe nodded.
"I dragged it to the flower van."
"Why?"
"Because the flower lady told me before that if Daddy ever got scary, I should give her something important."
Clara stared at her child.
"When did she tell you that?"
"On my birthday."
That had been four months earlier.
"What else did she say?"
"She gave me this."
Chloe removed something from her purse.
A tiny silver key.
Clara had seen the shape before.
It matched the antique silver key Elena wore in every old family photograph.
Richard had told Clara it disappeared after Elena’s death.
"What does it open?"
"I don’t know."
Clara held it.
A small number was engraved into the metal.
417.
The airport officer returned.
"Mrs. Vance, we need to ask both you and your husband additional questions."
"Is he being arrested?"
"Not at this time."
Richard looked toward Clara.
He smiled faintly.
It was not reassuring.
The officer continued.
"However, based on what you provided, we recommend you and your daughter remain separate from him while we review the circumstances."
Richard spoke from behind him.
"That won’t be necessary."
The officer turned.
Richard lifted his phone.
"My attorneys are here."
Two men in suits were approaching from the terminal.
Clara recognized one.
Simon Vale.
General counsel for Vance Meridian.
The other she had never seen.
Simon gave Clara a sympathetic look.
"Clara, this has gotten out of hand."
She held Chloe closer.
Simon lowered his voice.
"Come with us. We can resolve this privately."
"No."
"Richard is willing to forget what happened."
Clara almost laughed.
"How generous."
Simon leaned closer.
"You don’t understand what you’ve found."
"Then explain it."
His face tightened.
"I can’t do that here."
"Why?"
"Because there are people more dangerous than your husband involved."
Clara stared.
For the first time, Richard looked irritated with Simon.
Simon noticed.
He immediately stopped speaking.
Clara looked between them.
"So Richard isn’t the top of this."
Nobody answered.
Then Clara’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
DO NOT GO HOME.
Another arrived.
THE KEY OPENS 417.
A third.
RICHARD THINKS I DIED IN 2009.
HE WAS WRONG.
Clara looked at Richard.
Then at the screen.
A final message appeared.
IF HE LEARNS CHLOE GAVE ME THE CASE, HE WILL STOP PRETENDING.
May you like
Clara slowly lifted her eyes.
Richard was already staring at Chloe.
