Chapter 2 - She Never Left
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Emily, where are you?”
“Don’t ask me that on this line.”
“Why?”
There was a pause.
Then:
“Because she may be listening.”
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
Vanessa shook her head.
“This is insane.”
Emily heard her.
Her voice sharpened.
“She’s there?”
Daniel instinctively moved Noah behind him.
“Yes.”
Emily started breathing faster.
“Get Noah away from her.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Oh, please.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Vanessa. Leave.”
“This is my sister.”
“Leave my house.”
Her face hardened.
“You’re really going to trust a voice on a phone?”
Noah suddenly began crying again.
Daniel picked him up.
Emily whispered:
“Daniel, look in the blue cabinet above the refrigerator.”
Daniel frowned.
“How do you know—”
“Just look.”
He opened it.
Behind an old serving tray was a small white envelope.
He pulled it out.
Vanessa lunged forward.
“Don’t!”
That one word gave her away.
Daniel stepped back.
“What is this?”
Vanessa went silent.
Inside the envelope was a flash drive.
And a handwritten note.
Daniel recognized Emily’s handwriting instantly.
IF I DISAPPEAR, DO NOT BELIEVE MY SISTER.
His hands began to shake.
Vanessa’s face drained.
Daniel looked at the note.
Then at her.
“You knew this was here.”
“No.”
“You just tried to stop me from opening it.”
“I didn’t know what it was.”
Emily’s voice came through the speaker.
“She knew.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Emily, what happened?”
“I can’t explain everything yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know who helped her.”
Silence.
Even Vanessa stopped moving.
Daniel looked at her.
“Helped her do what?”
Emily answered.
“Make me disappear.”
Vanessa suddenly grabbed her purse from the counter.
Daniel stepped in front of the door.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You can’t hold me here.”
“No.”
Daniel lifted his phone.
“But I can call the detective who spent six months looking for my wife.”
Vanessa’s confidence flickered.
Emily spoke again.
“Daniel…”
“What?”
“Whatever she told you about the night I left…”
Emily’s voice cracked.
“It was staged.”
Daniel felt Noah’s tiny fingers curl into his collar.
Six months of grief.
Six months of believing his wife chose to abandon their son.
May you like
Six months of Vanessa telling him to “accept the truth.”
And now the truth was standing in his kitchen looking afraid.
