Chapter 4 - Sixty-Three Deleted Videos
The police obtained a warrant for Vanessa's residence records and electronic accounts before midnight.
Vanessa herself remained missing.
Her abandoned car had yielded almost nothing.
No purse.
No second phone.
No tablet.
No clothes.
Only a half-empty bottle of water and a commuter ticket purchased with cash.
Ortiz believed she had planned the escape.
Claire believed the entire day had been planned.
The next morning, Lily woke in Claire's bed with one hand wrapped around her mother's sleeve.
Claire had barely slept.
At seven, Lily opened her eyes.
"Is Vanessa coming here?"
"No."
"Promise?"
Claire kissed her forehead.
"I promise."
Lily studied her face.
"Is Daddy mad at me?"
Claire felt pain move through her chest.
"Why would Daddy be mad at you?"
"Because Vanessa said he would be."
"Vanessa lied."
"She said Daddy wanted me to behave like Chloe."
Claire brushed a jagged lock from Lily's forehead.
"Your father loves you."
It was the safest truth Claire could give.
She did not know whether Grant deserved it.
But Lily did not need adult anger poured into her heart.
At breakfast, Lily asked for pancakes.
Then she asked if Chloe had eaten.
Claire paused.
"You miss her?"
Lily nodded.
"She cried when Vanessa cut my hair."
Claire put down the spatula.
"Did Chloe try to help?"
Lily nodded again.
"She said no."
Claire remembered the recording.
Chloe telling Vanessa, "I don't want her hair."
The five-year-old had not been jealous.
Vanessa had created the jealousy.
"Can I see Chloe?"
"Not today."
"Why?"
"Adults are fixing some things."
Lily frowned.
"Adults break lots of things."
Claire did not know how to answer that.
At ten, Maya called.
The emergency order had been granted.
Lily would remain with Claire until a formal hearing.
Grant would have supervised visitation.
Vanessa was prohibited from any contact with Lily.
"Grant agreed," Maya added.
Claire was surprised.
"He didn't fight it?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Possibly because his attorney explained what sixty-three videos look like to a judge."
Claire sat down.
"How many have you watched?"
"Enough."
"How bad?"
Maya hesitated.
"Maya."
"None show serious physical violence before the haircut."
Claire closed her eyes in relief.
"But?"
"They show sustained psychological manipulation."
Claire said nothing.
"Vanessa repeatedly provokes arguments between the girls. She tells Lily that Chloe gets more love because Chloe behaves better. Then she tells Chloe that Lily gets more attention because Lily is prettier."
Claire felt disgust.
"She was turning them against each other."
"Trying to."
"Why?"
"We think she needed Lily to look unstable."
"For the trust."
"That's our current theory."
Claire looked toward the living room where Lily was drawing.
"Current?"
"There's something we don't understand."
"What?"
"Some videos are older than Vanessa's relationship with Grant."
Claire froze.
"How much older?"
"One is dated eleven months before Grant says he met her."
"That's impossible."
"I thought so too."
Claire stood.
"What is it?"
"It's filmed at a playground."
"Which playground?"
"The one beside your old apartment."
Claire's heart began pounding.
She and Grant had lived there for six months while renovating their previous house.
Lily had been three.
Vanessa had supposedly entered their lives when Lily was four.
"Who filmed it?"
"We don't know. Vanessa isn't visible."
"What happens?"
"Nothing dramatic. Lily is playing. You are sitting on a bench."
Claire's skin prickled.
"Someone was watching us."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
There was a knock at Claire's door.
She stiffened.
Maya said, "Are you expecting someone?"
"No."
Claire approached quietly.
Through the peephole she saw Grant.
She opened the door but left the chain engaged.
"What are you doing here?"
He held up a cardboard box.
"I found something."
"What?"
"Please."
Claire stared at him.
Grant looked exhausted.
No expensive jacket.
No polished shoes.
Just jeans and an old gray sweater Claire remembered from their marriage.
She opened the door.
Lily ran into the hallway.
"Daddy."
Grant dropped the box.
He knelt.
Lily stopped several feet away.
Grant did not move closer.
"Hi, Bug."
That had always been his nickname for her.
Lily touched her hair.
Grant's eyes filled with tears.
Claire looked away.
Lily whispered, "Are you mad?"
Grant's face broke.
"No."
"You said I was bad."
"I was wrong."
"Vanessa said you believed her."
Grant swallowed.
"I believed things I shouldn't have."
"Why?"
Grant struggled for an answer.
Claire almost stepped in.
Then decided he needed to answer.
"Because grown-ups can make mistakes when they don't ask enough questions."
Lily stared at him.
Grant continued.
"And I made a very big mistake."
"Are you going to marry Vanessa forever?"
Claire closed her eyes.
Grant looked at Lily.
"No."
That surprised Claire.
Lily seemed to think about it.
Then she walked forward and hugged him.
Grant held her carefully.
He cried without making a sound.
Claire allowed the moment.
For Lily.
Not for him.
After Natalie arrived to take Lily to the park, Grant picked up the box.
"I went through Vanessa's office."
"You had an office for her?"
"She used the guest room."
"What's in the box?"
"Printed emails. Notes. Receipts."
"Why didn't the police take them?"
"They searched quickly last night. I found these behind a removable panel in a desk."
Claire called Ortiz before touching anything.
He told them to photograph the box exactly where it was and wait for an officer.
While they waited, Grant stood awkwardly near Claire's kitchen.
"I filed for annulment."
Claire looked at him.
"That's fast."
"My lawyer says fraud may be grounds. I don't care what it's called. I'm done."
Claire poured coffee.
"Did you love her?"
Grant looked at the floor.
"I thought I did."
Claire nodded.
There had been a time when hearing that would have hurt.
Now she felt only exhaustion.
Grant said, "I'm sorry about the divorce."
"Don't use this to rewrite our marriage."
"I'm not."
"We had problems before Vanessa."
"I know."
"You were controlling."
"I know."
"You treated work like it mattered more than us."
"I know."
"And I stopped telling you when I was unhappy because you turned every conversation into an argument you needed to win."
Grant's eyes lowered.
"I know."
Claire stared at him.
"Do you?"
"Now I do."
Before she could answer, Ortiz arrived with an evidence technician.
The box was opened wearing gloves.
Inside were three folders.
One contained articles about Bennett Urban Holdings.
Another contained copies of custody laws.
The third was labeled C.
Claire assumed C meant Claire.
It did not.
Inside were photographs of Chloe.
Medical records.
A birth certificate.
And a DNA test.
Grant picked it up.
Ortiz stopped him.
"Let me."
He read it.
Then looked at Grant.
"What?"
Grant asked.
Ortiz's expression changed.
"Mr. Bennett, did you legally adopt Chloe?"
"No."
"Were you planning to?"
"Yes."
"Did Vanessa ever tell you who Chloe's biological father was?"
"She said he abandoned them."
Ortiz glanced at Claire.
Then back at Grant.
"The DNA report identifies a probable paternal relationship."
Grant frowned.
"To who?"
Ortiz placed the document on the table.
Claire read the name.
She did not recognize it.
Grant did.
His face drained of color.
"That's impossible."
Claire looked at him.
"Who is he?"
Grant stared at the paper.
"Thomas Vale."
Claire recognized the surname.
Richard Vale.
The family attorney.
Grant whispered, "Thomas is Richard's son."
Ortiz leaned back.
"And where is Thomas now?"
Grant did not answer.
Claire asked, "Grant?"
May you like
He finally looked at her.
"Thomas Vale died six years ago."
