Chapter 7 - the blood in the trunk)
The blood was not Vanessa's.
That was the first surprise.
The second was worse.
It belonged to Michael Reeves.
Rachel learned that twelve hours later.
Detective Ellis called her into a conference room at the hospital.
"We got a partial DNA confirmation from evidence preserved in the Reeves hit-and-run investigation."
Rachel stared at him.
"How did his blood get in Vanessa's trunk?"
"We're working on that."
"Was he in her car?"
"Possibly."
"Before he died?"
"Most likely."
Rachel leaned back.
The room felt too small.
"She helped kill him."
Ellis did not answer.
"Say it."
"I'm not going to say something we haven't proven."
Rachel looked through the glass window toward Noah's room.
Margaret sat beside him.
A social worker was discussing temporary placement.
Rachel had already agreed Noah could come home with her if the court approved.
Her apartment was not ready.
She did not care.
She would sleep on the floor if necessary.
"What else did you find in the car?" Rachel asked.
Ellis opened a notebook.
"Receipt for a storage unit."
"Where?"
"Outside Columbia."
"Registered to?"
"A shell company tied to Grant Hale."
Rachel laughed once.
"Convenient."
"Very."
"Have you searched it?"
"Waiting on warrant."
Rachel rubbed her face.
"Vanessa knows we're close."
"Yes."
"Grant knows too."
"Yes."
"And they're missing."
"Yes."
Rachel looked at him.
"Then why are you standing here?"
Ellis closed the notebook.
"Because you need to hear something else."
Rachel waited.
"We pulled security footage from Daniel's office building the night he died."
Rachel's heart jumped.
"I thought the cameras were broken."
"Two were."
"Two?"
"One across the street wasn't."
He turned a tablet toward her.
Grainy footage.
Rain.
Daniel's building entrance.
Time stamp.
8:43 p.m.
Daniel appeared carrying his laptop bag.
He stopped beside his car.
Looked underneath it.
Then looked around.
Rachel leaned closer.
"What is he doing?"
"We don't know."
Daniel opened his phone.
Made a call.
Then Grant appeared.
Not from the building.
From the parking garage stairwell.
Rachel stopped breathing.
Grant approached Daniel.
They argued.
No audio.
Daniel pointed toward his own car.
Grant stepped closer.
Daniel shoved him.
Grant shoved back.
Then Vanessa entered the frame.
Rachel whispered, "She was there."
Ellis nodded.
Vanessa moved between them.
Daniel appeared shocked to see her.
The argument continued.
Then Daniel got into the car.
Rachel stared.
"Why would he drive after confronting them?"
"We don't know."
Grant entered his SUV.
Vanessa walked to her own car.
Three vehicles left within ninety seconds.
Daniel first.
Grant second.
Vanessa third.
Rachel covered her mouth.
"They followed him."
"Looks that way."
"Then how did police miss this?"
"Nobody knew to ask for footage from across the street. The original investigation focused on the crash site."
Rachel watched again.
Daniel touched something in his jacket before entering his car.
A small object.
Black.
Recorder.
She pointed.
"That's it."
Ellis paused.
"Could be."
"It is."
"Rachel."
"That's the recorder."
Ellis zoomed.
Too blurry.
But Rachel knew.
Daniel had been recording them.
The entire confrontation.
"What happened after the crash?" she asked.
"We're reconstructing traffic cameras."
"Did Grant stop?"
"Probably."
"Vanessa?"
Ellis's silence answered.
Rachel stood.
"You know."
"We have footage of her vehicle near the crash site nine minutes after impact."
Rachel felt sick.
"She went to him."
"Possibly."
"She took the recorder."
"Possibly."
"And later hid it in the baby bag because that's where Daniel originally hid it."
Ellis looked at her carefully.
"That theory fits."
Rachel walked to the window.
"What about the blood?"
"We believe Reeves found evidence that Vanessa had been at Daniel's crash scene. He may have confronted her."
"And they killed him too."
"We're investigating."
Rachel turned.
"Did you locate Vanessa's phone?"
"Turned off."
"Grant's?"
"Also off."
A nurse entered.
"Rachel, there's someone asking for you downstairs."
"Who?"
"Man says his name is Thomas Hale."
Grant's father.
Rachel stared at Ellis.
"Do you know him?"
"Unfortunately."
Thomas Hale had rarely appeared at company events.
Seventy-two.
Retired judge.
Respected.
Cold.
Rachel remembered him from Daniel's funeral.
He had shaken her hand and said, "Terrible things happen when men stop thinking clearly."
At the time it sounded philosophical.
Now it sounded like a warning.
Ellis went downstairs with her.
Thomas waited in the hospital lobby.
He wore a gray suit and carried a cane he did not seem to need.
When he saw Rachel, he nodded.
"Ms. Carter."
"Why are you here?"
"To save my grandson."
Rachel's entire body tightened.
Ellis stepped forward.
"Judge Hale."
"Detective."
Thomas looked at Rachel.
"I assume you know."
"Know what?"
"That Noah is Grant's child."
Rachel said nothing.
Thomas continued.
"My son called me last night."
Ellis took out his notebook.
"From where?"
"I don't know."
"What did he say?"
"That Vanessa had destroyed everything."
Rachel stared.
Thomas looked tired.
Older than she remembered.
"He asked for money."
"Did you give it to him?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because six months ago my son asked me to help bury a problem."
Ellis stopped writing.
Rachel's skin went cold.
"What problem?" she asked.
Thomas looked directly at her.
"Your brother's death."
The lobby seemed to disappear.
Ellis stepped closer.
"Judge Hale, you need to come with me."
Thomas raised one hand.
"I know."
He looked at Rachel again.
"Grant told me the crash was an accident caused during a confrontation. He said Daniel had become violent. He said Vanessa panicked."
Rachel whispered, "And you believed him?"
"I wanted to."
"What did you do?"
"I called someone in the state police I knew professionally. I asked whether the family needed to worry about an aggressive investigation."
Rachel's face twisted.
"You interfered."
"I influenced."
"You buried my brother."
Thomas did not defend himself.
"I told myself I was protecting my son from an accident."
"What about Michael Reeves?"
Thomas's face changed.
"I didn't know about him until yesterday."
Rachel stared.
"Then tell us where Grant is."
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
Thomas reached inside his jacket.
Ellis tensed.
Thomas slowly removed a folded piece of paper.
He handed it to Rachel.
A marina address.
"Grant owns a boat under another company's name."
Rachel read it.
"Why give me this?"
Thomas looked through the window toward the pediatric floor.
"Because my grandson is alive."
Rachel's jaw tightened.
"He's not your grandson."
Thomas's eyes flickered.
"Biology suggests otherwise."
"Biology doesn't give you a right to him."
Thomas absorbed that.
Then nodded.
"You're correct."
Ellis took the paper.
Rachel looked at Thomas.
"What did Grant mean when he said Vanessa destroyed everything?"
Thomas hesitated.
"He said she kept a recording."
Rachel's heart pounded.
"He knows she still has it."
"Yes."
"And he wants it."
"More than he wants her."
Rachel understood.
Vanessa was not hiding only from police.
She was hiding from Grant.
Because she had the one thing that could send him to prison.
And if Grant found her before police did, Vanessa might never get the chance to explain anything.
Rachel looked at Ellis.
"We need that storage unit."
May you like
He nodded.
"We're going now."
