Chapter 6 - veronica reed's confession
The address belonged to a roadside motel outside the city.
Mark insisted Emily stay behind.
Emily refused.
They left Robert at his house in case Diane returned.
Daniel drove separately.
Nobody spoke during the thirty-minute trip.
Room 18 was at the far end of the second-floor walkway.
Daniel knocked twice.
No answer.
He knocked again.
"Veronica?"
A bolt slid.
The door opened three inches.
A woman in her late fifties looked out.
She recognized Daniel.
Her eyes filled with fear.
"You brought them."
"They deserve answers."
Veronica looked at Mark.
Then Emily.
Her gaze lingered on Emily's face.
"I'm sorry."
Emily's stomach turned.
"For what?"
Veronica opened the door.
The motel room smelled of coffee and cigarette smoke.
A suitcase sat open on the bed.
Veronica clearly planned to leave soon.
She remained standing.
"Diane paid me."
Emily said nothing.
"At first it was little things."
"What things?"
"Access logs. Records. Names."
"Why?"
"She said she was protecting her family."
Mark laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
Veronica continued.
"She wanted to know about every baby born during a specific six-hour period."
Emily's fingers tightened around the strap of her handbag.
"April 18?"
Veronica nodded.
"Why?"
"She never told me."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What did you change?"
Veronica looked at him.
"Not what you think."
"Then tell us."
"I altered an access record."
"We know."
"I changed timestamps."
"Which timestamps?"
"Diane's."
Mark stepped closer.
"She was there from 3:47 to 5:16."
Veronica looked surprised.
"You have the original?"
"A copy."
"Then you know she lied."
"What did she do inside?"
Veronica looked at Emily.
"She went to the maternity wing."
"I know that."
"Then she went downstairs."
"Where?"
"Pathology."
Daniel's head snapped up.
"Why?"
Veronica shook her head.
"That's the part I don't know."
Mark's frustration exploded.
"You took her money for years."
Veronica flinched.
"I took her money because she threatened me."
"With what?"
"My son."
The room quieted.
Veronica sat.
"He had an addiction problem. He'd stolen medication from my house. Diane found out. She said she'd make sure he went to prison unless I helped her."
Emily's anger softened slightly, but not much.
"Did you ever touch my daughter's medical records?"
Veronica closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Emily felt the floor disappear beneath her.
"What did you change?"
"Nothing medical."
"What did you change?"
"Her identification chain."
Mark whispered, "What does that mean?"
"The internal tracking entries from labor and delivery."
Emily stared.
"Why?"
"Diane wanted a gap."
"A gap for what?"
Veronica looked at them.
"For seventeen minutes."
The exactness of the number chilled Emily.
"Seventeen minutes when Lily's location couldn't be proven?"
Veronica nodded.
Mark walked toward the door, then back.
"No."
Emily couldn't look away from Veronica.
"Where was my daughter?"
"I don't know."
"You were there."
"I was in administration."
"Who does know?"
Veronica looked at Daniel.
"Diane."
"Anyone else?"
Veronica swallowed.
"One physician."
"Name."
"Dr. Samuel Keller."
Daniel immediately took out his phone.
Veronica shook her head.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"He's dead."
"When?"
"Seven years ago."
The same year again.
Emily asked, "How?"
"Car accident."
Daniel and Mark exchanged a look.
Veronica continued.
"Before he died, he came to me."
"What did he say?"
"He said he'd made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"He wouldn't explain."
Veronica rubbed her hands together.
"He just kept saying, 'The child isn't the problem. The name is.'"
Mark went still.
"Family name?"
"I don't know."
Emily remembered Diane's voice.
You don't deserve this damn family name.
She whispered, "What else?"
Veronica looked at her.
"Keller gave me something."
"What?"
"A key."
Emily slowly opened her handbag.
She placed the brass key marked 317 on the motel table.
Veronica stared at it.
"Oh, my God."
Daniel leaned forward.
"This key?"
Veronica touched it with trembling fingers.
"Keller said it opened a private deposit box."
"Where?"
"He never told me."
"What was inside?"
"He said proof."
"Proof of what?"
Veronica looked toward the window.
"I asked him."
"And?"
"He said if Diane ever discovered what was in that box, she would destroy everyone connected to it."
Emily picked up the key.
"Then why did the key end up in an envelope addressed to me?"
Veronica stared.
"I don't know."
Daniel stood.
"Who gave you Emily's number?"
Veronica looked confused.
"I didn't call her."
"You called me."
"No."
Daniel froze.
"My phone rang forty minutes ago."
Veronica shook her head.
"I never called you."
Nobody moved.
Then Emily noticed something near the motel door.
A tiny red light.
Daniel followed her gaze.
A small camera had been hidden inside the smoke detector.
Someone had been watching them.
Veronica jumped to her feet.
"No."
Daniel tore the device down.
It was wireless.
Mark ran outside.
A dark vehicle was pulling away from the parking lot.
Daniel shouted the license plate, but it disappeared around the corner.
Veronica began stuffing belongings into her suitcase.
"I have to go."
Mark blocked the door.
"No. You're coming with us."
"I can't."
"Diane knows you're here."
"That's why I have to leave."
Emily looked at the key in her palm.
"Before you go, tell me one thing."
Veronica stopped.
Emily held up the Polaroid of Lily from the Christmas market.
"You met her."
Veronica stared at the photograph.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
"What did Diane want you to confirm?"
Veronica's lips parted.
She looked at Mark.
Then Emily.
Then at the little girl frozen forever in the photograph.
Finally she whispered, "I told Diane she was wrong."
Emily's heart pounded.
"Wrong about what?"
Veronica grabbed her suitcase.
"About Lily."
"Tell me."
Veronica reached the door.
"I can't."
Emily caught her arm.
"Why?"
Veronica looked terrified.
"Because the moment I told Diane she was wrong, she said there was only one person left who could prove she was right."
"Who?"
May you like
Veronica pulled free.
"Daniel."
