Chapter 3 - Unit 214
Daniel didn't break into the storage unit.
He wanted evidence, not another mistake.
The next morning, he called attorney Rebecca Sloan.
She had handled Rachel’s estate.
Daniel explained everything.
Rebecca listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked:
“Where is Vanessa now?”
“At her sister’s, supposedly.”
“And the children?”
“With Claire.”
“Good.”
“What do I do?”
“Preserve the shard. Do not clean it. Do not handle it unnecessarily. Photograph Noah’s injury. Write down exactly what both children said before memories get contaminated by adult questioning.”
Daniel swallowed.
“And the storage unit?”
“Don't touch it.”
“But—”
“If Vanessa stored evidence, entering illegally could create problems. Let investigators handle it.”
Daniel hated that.
But he followed her advice.
Then Rebecca said:
“One more thing. Do you still have Rachel’s phone?”
“No.”
“What happened to it?”
Daniel froze.
Vanessa had handled Rachel’s belongings after the hospital.
“She told me Rachel’s phone was broken in the fall.”
“Did you ever see it?”
“No.”
Another piece.
Daniel called Detective Mercer again.
This time Mercer offered to connect him with an active investigator.
By afternoon, Daniel was sitting across from Detective Elena Brooks.
She examined photographs.
The old death report.
The storage receipt.
She never promised anything.
That reassured Daniel more than false certainty would have.
“We need facts,” she said.
“My children remember something.”
“They may. But toddlers are vulnerable witnesses. We don't interrogate them.”
“I haven't.”
“Good.”
“What about the glass?”
“We can compare composition to evidence photographs and any surviving property records.”
“Could Vanessa have killed Rachel?”
Brooks looked directly at him.
“I don't know.”
Daniel appreciated the answer.
Then she asked about Vanessa and Rachel.
“They were friends?”
“Best friends.”
“For how long?”
“Since college.”
“Any conflict?”
“Not that I knew.”
“Romantic history?”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
He said it automatically.
Then stopped.
There had been one night.
Years before Rachel and Daniel married.
A party.
Too much alcohol.
Vanessa had kissed him.
Daniel pushed her away.
Rachel never knew.
At least Daniel thought she didn't.
He told Brooks.
The detective wrote it down.
“How did Vanessa react?”
“She laughed it off.”
“Did she ever bring it up again?”
“No.”
But Daniel remembered something else.
At his wedding to Rachel, Vanessa had disappeared during the reception.
Rachel later said Vanessa was “having one of her moods.”
At the time it meant nothing.
Now everything meant something.
That evening Claire called.
“Noah keeps asking if Vanessa can see us.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“What are you telling him?”
“That he's safe.”
“Good.”
“And Maisie keeps holding that stuffed rabbit.”
The rabbit.
Daniel pictured the toy box.
“Claire, was that rabbit Rachel’s?”
“No. Why?”
“I don't know.”
He drove over.
Maisie was asleep.
The rabbit rested beside her.
Daniel recognized it.
Rachel had bought it at a hospital gift shop the day Maisie was born.
He turned it over carefully.
Something crinkled inside.
Claire stopped him.
“Don't tear it.”
They called Brooks.
The detective came.
Inside a small zippered compartment hidden beneath the rabbit’s fabric lining was a microSD card.
Daniel stared.
“Rachel put that there?”
Nobody knew.
The card was taken for forensic review.
Vanessa texted Daniel while Brooks was still there.
COME HOME. WE NEED TO FIX THIS BEFORE YOU DESTROY OUR FAMILY.
Daniel typed:
What needs fixing?
Three dots appeared.
Vanished.
Appeared again.
Then:
Rachel was not who you think she was.
Daniel stared at the message.
Classic Vanessa.
Redirect.
Poison the dead woman.
Make him doubt.
He replied:
Then tell the police.
Vanessa never answered.
The next morning, Brooks called.
The microSD card contained several corrupted files.
Most were unreadable.
But one video had been recovered.
Recorded on Rachel’s phone.
Two days before her death.
Daniel sat in the interview room as the image appeared.
Rachel was alive.
Sitting in her car.
Terrified.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If something happens to me, Daniel needs to know Vanessa has been coming to the house when he's gone.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Rachel continued.
“She says it's about the children.”
Then she looked over her shoulder.
“But I don't believe her anymore.”
The video ended.
Daniel covered his mouth.
Rachel had known.
Rachel had been afraid.
And she had hidden the recording inside Maisie’s rabbit.
May you like
Then Brooks said quietly:
“There are more files.”
