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?”

“He found me.”

The call disconnected.

Chapter 6

Police found Vanessa two hours later.

She was safe.

Barely.

She had been hiding in the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour grocery store when Ryan’s car appeared.

He never reached her.

An off-duty officer saw Vanessa running through the parking lot and intervened.

Ryan drove away.

That decision changed everything.

By morning, police were looking for him.

By noon, his photograph was on local news.

By evening, nobody knew where he was.

Emily pretended she wasn’t afraid.

I knew better.

Every time a car slowed near my house, she looked toward the window.

Every time Lily went upstairs, Emily checked on her.

Naomi arranged private security.

Detective Ross told us not to leave alone.

Then the forensic report from Emily’s car came back.

Ross called us to the station.

Vanessa was already there with an attorney.

She looked nothing like the woman from the wedding.

No perfect hair.

No white dress.

No diamonds.

Just jeans, a sweatshirt, and swollen eyes.

Emily stopped when she saw her.

Vanessa stood.

“I’m sorry.”

Emily’s face remained blank.

“You keep saying that.”

“I know.”

“Sorry doesn’t give me eight months.”

Vanessa looked down.

“No.”

“It doesn’t give Lily eight months.”

“No.”

“It doesn’t erase you standing beside my husband while I was locked away.”

Vanessa started crying.

“I was stupid.”

Emily’s voice sharpened.

“You were cruel.”

Vanessa flinched.

Good.

Some words were supposed to hurt.

Ross entered before the confrontation became worse.

He carried photographs.

“Sit down.”

We did.

He placed the first photograph on the table.

It showed the rear bumper of Emily’s car.

There was a deep damaged area on the left side.

“This was concealed by later damage,” Ross said. “But our vehicle examiner identified paint transfer.”

Emily stared at it.

“From another car?”

“Yes.”

“What color?”

“Black.”

Ryan drove a black SUV.

Ross placed another photograph down.

“We obtained repair records.”

My stomach tightened.

“Ryan’s SUV?”

Ross nodded.

“Two days after the crash, a body shop repaired front-right damage.”

Emily covered her mouth.