Chapter 10 - what vanessa finally admitted)
Harbor patrol intercepted Grant's boat thirteen miles from the marina.
Grant did not surrender immediately.
For nineteen minutes, officers negotiated while Vanessa remained below deck.
Rachel was not there.
Ellis refused.
She stayed at the hospital with Noah and Margaret.
They watched nothing.
They heard nothing.
They waited.
At 11:46 p.m., Ellis called.
"Vanessa is alive."
Margaret sat down hard.
Rachel closed her eyes.
"And Grant?"
"In custody."
No celebration came.
Only exhaustion.
"Is she hurt?"
"Bruised. Dehydrated. No major injuries."
"Did she have the recorder?"
A pause.
"Yes."
Rachel opened her eyes.
"Where?"
"Inside her coat."
"Why didn't Grant find it?"
"She stitched it into the lining."
Rachel nearly laughed.
Vanessa had spent six months hiding one object from the man she loved enough to betray her husband for.
That object had become the only thing keeping her alive.
Grant was booked on kidnapping, obstruction, conspiracy, and multiple other charges.
More would come.
Vanessa was arrested immediately after medical clearance.
Before she was taken away, she asked for Rachel.
Rachel almost refused.
Then she thought of Noah.
One day he might ask what his mother said.
Rachel wanted to know.
They met in a secured hospital room.
Vanessa wore a pale gown.
A bruise darkened one side of her face.
Her hair was tangled.
She looked nothing like the woman Rachel remembered from Daniel's wedding.
Back then Vanessa had been bright.
Funny.
Too loud after two glasses of wine.
Daniel had adored her.
Rachel sat across the room.
"You have five minutes."
Vanessa looked at her hands.
"How's Noah?"
"Alive."
Vanessa flinched.
"I didn't mean to kill him."
Rachel's face became still.
"Be very careful with your next sentence."
Vanessa started crying.
"The bin wasn't sealed."
"Stop."
"I wasn't trying to suffocate him."
"Stop."
"I just wanted him quiet."
Rachel stood.
Vanessa panicked.
"Please."
Rachel stopped.
Vanessa wiped her face.
"I haven't slept properly since he was born."
"That does not explain the medication."
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"I gave him some."
Rachel's stomach turned.
"Why?"
"Because he cried."
"You gave a newborn your prescription because he cried?"
"I didn't think."
"You hid the bottle."
"I knew you'd judge me."
Rachel stepped closer.
"You nearly killed him."
Vanessa shook her head violently.
"No."
"Doctors found it in his blood."
"I gave him very little."
Rachel's eyes hardened.
"Do not defend it."
Vanessa folded inward.
"I know."
"No. You know now because you're in handcuffs."
Vanessa looked up.
"I love him."
Rachel stared.
"Love does not make what you did disappear."
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
Rachel sat again.
"Then tell me everything."
Vanessa cried silently.
Finally she began.
The affair with Grant started fourteen months before Daniel died.
Grant told her Daniel had become obsessed with work.
Vanessa felt ignored.
Grant listened.
Then Grant began giving her money.
At first gifts.
Then cash.
Then instructions.
Sign this.
Deliver that.
Tell Daniel this meeting moved.
Do not ask questions.
By the time Vanessa realized Grant was stealing from the company, her name was attached to several transactions.
"He told me Daniel would divorce me and send me to prison too," Vanessa whispered.
"So you kept helping."
"Yes."
"Then you got pregnant."
Vanessa nodded.
"Grant thought it was his."
"Daniel suspected."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you leave?"
"Because Grant didn't want me."
Rachel absorbed that.
"He wanted an affair."
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"He wanted control."
"And Daniel?"
Vanessa cried harder.
"Daniel still loved me."
That sentence made Rachel furious.
"You don't get to use that."
"I know."
"He loved you while you helped steal from him."
"I know."
"He loved you while you lied about his child."
"I know."
"He called you after the crash."
Vanessa covered her face.
Rachel's voice shook.
"He was alive."
"I know."
"You could have called 911."
"I know."
"You didn't."
"Grant said we'd both go to prison."
"So you let Daniel die."
Vanessa whispered.
"Yes."
Rachel turned away.
For several seconds, only Vanessa's crying filled the room.
Then Rachel asked, "Michael Reeves?"
Vanessa froze.
Rachel looked back.
"Tell me."
"I met him."
"We know."
"He told me to go to police."
"You didn't."
"No."
"What happened the night he died?"
Vanessa stared at the floor.
"Grant found out."
"How?"
"He tracked my car."
"And?"
"He made me pick Michael up."
Rachel's blood went cold.
"Why?"
"He said we were going to scare him."
"Did you believe that?"
"No."
"What happened?"
Vanessa whispered, "Grant hit him."
"Where?"
"In my car."
"Then?"
"He stopped breathing."
Rachel stared.
"Grant drove Michael's body away?"
Vanessa nodded.
"He told me to clean the trunk."
Rachel closed her eyes.
More evidence.
More horror.
"Why keep Daniel's recorder?"
"Because I knew Grant would eventually kill me too."
"Then why hide it in Noah's bag?"
Vanessa looked up.
"Daniel hid it there first."
"I know."
"I found it two months after the funeral. I was packing hospital things before Noah was born. It fell out of the strap."
"So you kept it."
"Yes."
"Why not give it to police?"
"Because I was on it."
Rachel nodded.
Cowardice.
Again.
Vanessa continued.
"After Noah was born, Grant started asking about DNA."
"What did he want?"
"He wanted me to refuse testing."
"Why?"
"Because once people knew Noah was his, they would look at everything."
Rachel thought about the estate.
"And the shares?"
"Grant thought I could keep control of Daniel's company if Noah remained legally Daniel's son."
"So Noah became financially useful."
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
"Don't lie."
"I swear. I never wanted to hurt him for money."
"You drugged him."
"I know."
"You put him in a plastic bin."
"It was temporary."
"You pressed the lid down."
Vanessa started sobbing.
"I was trying to stop Margaret from taking him."
Rachel stared.
"That's your explanation?"
"I panicked."
"Why?"
Vanessa looked at her.
"Because the recorder was still in the bag."
Rachel's breath caught.
"I thought Margaret had found it."
"So while your baby cried, you were worried about evidence."
Vanessa's face collapsed.
"Yes."
The honesty was ugly.
But finally honest.
Rachel stood.
"One more question."
Vanessa looked up.
"Did Grant cause Daniel's crash?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"I don't know exactly what he did."
"Did he tell you?"
"He told me he made sure Daniel wouldn't get far."
Rachel's jaw tightened.
"That's enough."
She walked to the door.
Vanessa spoke.
"Rachel."
Rachel stopped.
"If Noah ever asks about me..."
Rachel turned slowly.
Vanessa could barely speak.
"Don't lie to him."
Rachel stared.
Vanessa continued.
"Don't tell him I was sick and make it sound like that excuses everything. Don't tell him I loved him like that changes what I did."
Rachel said nothing.
"Tell him the truth."
"What truth?"
Vanessa looked at the floor.
"That I kept choosing fear over him."
Rachel opened the door.
Vanessa whispered.
"And tell him Daniel was his father in every way that mattered before Noah was even born."
Rachel paused.
May you like
That was the first thing Vanessa had said that Rachel believed completely.
Then Rachel left.
