Chapter 5
Detective Daniel Ross arrived at my house before sunset.
By then, the custody case had become something much larger.
Naomi had called the district attorney’s office.
The district attorney had called Dallas County investigators.
And suddenly everyone wanted to know what happened on County Road 14 the night Emily’s car went through a guardrail.
Detective Ross was calm.
Too calm.
He sat at my dining table with a recorder between us.
Emily sat across from him.
Lily was upstairs watching a movie with a CPS caseworker.
I stayed nearby.
Ross began simply.
“Tell me what you remember.”
Emily rubbed her palms together.
“Not much.”
“Anything matters.”
She closed her eyes.
“Ryan and I argued.”
“About what?”
“Money.”
I looked at her.
She had never mentioned this.
Ross noticed.
“What money?”
“My inheritance.”
“Seven hundred forty-two thousand dollars?”
Emily’s eyes opened.
“You already know.”
“We’re learning.”
She nodded.
“My father left me investments. Ryan wanted us to use some of the money for a business project.”
“What kind?”
“He said real estate.”
“Did you agree?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Emily hesitated.
“Because I discovered he had already lost money.”
“How much?”
“Almost two hundred thousand.”
I stared at her.
“Emily.”
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because I was embarrassed.”
Ross didn’t react.
“What happened after you refused?”
“Ryan became angry.”
“Violent?”
“No.”
She thought.
“Not physically.”
Ross leaned back.
“Continue.”
“We went to dinner.”
“You and Ryan?”
“That’s what I thought.”
Ross caught it.
“What do you mean?”
Emily frowned.
“I drove separately because I came from Lily’s school.”
“Where was Ryan?”
“He said he was coming from work.”
“Did he meet you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened at dinner?”
“We argued again.”
“About the inheritance?”
“And Vanessa.”
Silence.
I slowly looked at her.
“You knew?”
Emily nodded.
“Not everything.”
Her eyes filled.
“I found messages.”
Ross said, “Romantic messages?”
“Yes.”
“How long before the crash?”
“Two days.”
My stomach twisted.
Emily had been carrying all of that alone.
Ross asked, “Did you confront him?”
“At dinner.”
“What did he say?”
“That I was paranoid.”
“Then?”
“I left.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Was Ryan still at the restaurant?”
“I thought so.”
Ross nodded.
“What do you remember after leaving?”
Emily closed her eyes again.
“The road was wet.”
“It had been raining.”
“I remember headlights behind me.”
“How close?”
“Too close.”
Her breathing changed.
I reached toward her.
She shook her head.
“I’m okay.”
Ross waited.
Emily continued.
“I thought whoever it was wanted to pass.”
“Did they?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“The headlights kept getting closer.”
Her voice trembled.
“I sped up.”
Ross remained still.
“Then?”
“I remember a horn.”
“Anything else?”
Emily’s face tightened.
“A hit.”
I stopped breathing.
Ross leaned forward.
“A hit?”
“My car moved.”
“From impact?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
“The back.”
She pressed her fingers to her temple.
“I remember my steering wheel jerking.”
Ross exchanged a glance with Naomi.
“Your original accident report lists no collision with another vehicle.”
Emily looked confused.
“What?”
“It says you lost control due to weather.”
“I felt something hit me.”
Ross wrote a note.
“Then what?”
“Guardrail.”
She started crying.
“Trees.”
I moved closer.
Ross lowered his voice.
“That’s enough for now.”
But Emily shook her head.
“No.”
She needed to finish.
“I woke up somewhere bright.”
“The hospital?”
“I think so.”
“Was Ryan there?”
Her face went still.
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Emily looked directly at Ross.
“He said Lily was safe.”
“And then?”
“He told me the accident was my fault.”
Ross waited.
“He said I almost killed someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What else?”
“He told me police wanted to arrest me.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
Emily nodded.
“He said I had driven drunk.”
Ross’s pen stopped.
“Had you?”
“No.”
“Did you drink at dinner?”
“One glass of wine.”
“Your hospital blood test?”
“I don’t know.”
Ross wrote again.
Naomi interrupted.
“We need those records.”
“We’re already obtaining them.”
Emily continued.
“Ryan said he could protect me.”
Ross asked, “How?”
“He said I needed treatment.”
There it was.
The bridge between the crash and the facility.
“He told me if I signed temporary medical authority, he could handle everything until I recovered.”
“Did you sign?”
“I don’t remember.”
Naomi said, “Many signatures were forged.”
Ross nodded.
Then his phone buzzed.
He checked it.
Something changed in his expression.
“Excuse me.”
He stepped into the hallway.
Five minutes later he returned.
He looked at Emily.
“We found your car.”
I frowned.
“Wasn’t it destroyed?”
“That’s what the insurance paperwork says.”
Emily stared.
“Where is it?”
“A private salvage yard seventy miles east of Dallas.”
“Why wasn’t it crushed?”
Ross gave a humorless smile.
“Apparently someone paid to have it stored.”
Naomi asked, “Who?”
“We’re finding out.”
Emily whispered, “Can you inspect it?”
“We already have a warrant being prepared.”
I looked at him.
“If another car hit her, can you prove it after eight months?”
“Possibly.”
That was enough.
Ross stood.
“I’ll contact you.”
He stopped near the door.
“One more thing.”
Emily looked up.
“Ryan has hired a criminal defense attorney.”
“Why would he need one if this was just an accident?”
Ross held her gaze.
“Exactly.”
After he left, Emily sat in silence.
Then Lily came downstairs.
She was wearing one of my old college T-shirts as pajamas.
“Mommy?”
Emily immediately smiled.
“Yes?”
“Can you sleep with me?”
Emily almost cried again.
“Every night you want me to.”
Lily climbed into her lap.
For the next hour, we did something almost normal.
We ate pizza.
Lily told Emily about school.
She described her teacher.
Her best friend.
Her favorite book.
Then she mentioned something that made all of us stop.
“Miss Vanessa used to come over before you went to heaven.”
Emily’s fork froze.
“When?”
Lily shrugged.
“Sometimes.”
“How many times?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily kept her voice gentle.
“Did Daddy know?”
“Yes.”
Lily took another bite of pizza.
“One time you were sleeping.”
Emily looked at me.
“When?”
“Before your car broke.”
The room became silent.
Lily noticed.
“Did I say something bad?”
“No,” Emily said quickly.
“You didn’t.”
She smiled.
“Can you remember what Vanessa was doing?”
Lily thought.
“She and Daddy were talking in the kitchen.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know.”
Then she frowned.
“Daddy got mad because I came downstairs.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“What happened?”
“He told me to go back to bed.”
“Did Vanessa leave?”
“No.”
Lily hesitated.
“She gave Daddy something.”
Naomi, who was still sitting at the table, leaned forward.
“What did she give him?”
Emily shot her a warning look.
Naomi backed off.
Emily asked softly, “Do you remember, baby?”
“A little bottle.”
My skin prickled.
“What kind of bottle?”
Lily held her fingers two inches apart.
“Tiny.”
Emily looked at Naomi.
“What was in it?”
Lily shrugged.
“Daddy put it in your tea.”
Nobody moved.
Emily’s face emptied.
I felt every muscle in my body tighten.
“Lily,” I said carefully, “are you sure?”
She nodded.
“I asked if Mommy was sick.”
Emily pushed her chair back.
“What did he say?”
Lily’s eyes lowered.
“He said it would help you sleep.”
Naomi stood.
“We need Detective Ross back here.”
Emily’s hands shook.
Then Lily added one final detail.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“The next morning, you said your head hurt.”
Emily looked at her daughter.
“I remember.”
“So Daddy gave you more.”
Emily’s face changed.
“More what?”
“The tea.”
Naomi was already dialing.
I looked at Emily.
“Was that the day of the crash?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Then she whispered, “Yes.”
Detective Ross returned within thirty minutes.
This time he brought another investigator.
They recorded Lily’s statement with a child specialist.
Nobody pressured her.
Nobody suggested answers.
She told the same story.
Vanessa visited.
Ryan made tea.
Vanessa gave him a small bottle.
Emily drank it.
Later that night, Emily crashed.
When they finished, Ross stood in my kitchen.
“We need to find Vanessa.”
Naomi frowned.
“She’s at a hotel.”
“Not anymore.”
“What?”
“Her room is empty.”
Emily stood.
“Ryan?”
“We don’t know.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Nobody spoke.
Then I heard breathing.
“Who is this?”
A woman whispered.
“James?”
I recognized the voice.
Vanessa.
“Where are you?”
“Don’t tell Ryan I called.”
Emily was already beside me.
I put the phone on speaker.
Vanessa started crying.
“He knows I kept the messages.”
Naomi grabbed a pen.
“Vanessa, where are you?”
“I can’t say.”
“You need to go to the police.”
“No.”
Her breathing became faster.
“You don’t understand.”
Emily spoke.
“Then explain it.”
Silence.
Vanessa realized Emily was listening.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily’s face hardened.
“Were you there when Ryan drugged me?”
Vanessa sobbed.
“I didn’t know what he was planning.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Another silence.
Then Vanessa whispered, “Yes.”
Emily gripped the counter.
I closed my eyes.
“Why?”
“He said he just wanted you tired.”
Emily laughed once.
It was a broken sound.
“For what?”
Vanessa’s voice became almost inaudible.
“So you wouldn’t remember the argument.”
Naomi leaned closer to the phone.
“What argument?”
Vanessa began to speak.
Then we heard a noise on her end.
A car door.
Vanessa stopped breathing.
“Vanessa?”
“No.”
Her voice changed.
Terrified.
“No, no, no.”
“What?”
May you like
“He found me.”
The call disconnected.
