Chapter 13 - Elowen Had Been Planning to Leave ChicagoDashiell hated the postcard.
Not because it proved anything.
Because it made room for doubt.
Just us, if we need it.
Elowen and Maisy.
Not him.
He read the sentence until Naomi finally took the card away.
“You’re doing exactly what Roxanne wants.”
Dashiell looked up.
“What?”
“Turning one ambiguous sentence into a verdict.”
“It says just us.”
“It could mean mother and daughter.”
“It could mean she was leaving me.”
“Yes.”
Naomi leaned forward.
“But you don’t know.”
Dashiell exhaled.
That was the lesson Elowen tried to leave him.
Don’t let uncertainty become someone else’s weapon.
They searched for context.
The Vermont postcard came from a place called Stowe.
Dashiell remembered Elowen’s college roommate, Maren, lived in Vermont.
He had not spoken to her since the funeral.
He called.
Maren answered cautiously.
When Dashiell explained, she went silent.
“Elowen did call me.”
“When?”
“A month before she died.”
His chest tightened.
“What did she say?”
“She asked if she and Maisy could stay with me.”
Dashiell closed his eyes.
“For how long?”
“She didn’t know.”
“Was she leaving me?”
Maren hesitated.
“No.”
Relief came.
Then:
“She was afraid you wouldn’t believe her.”
Dashiell felt worse.
“Believe what?”
“She wouldn’t tell me over the phone.”
“Did she say who she was afraid of?”
“Roxanne.”
Dashiell gripped the table.
“And Calder?”
“She said he was involved in something but wasn’t the main problem.”
“What did she think Roxanne would do?”
“Destroy your family financially. Maybe challenge Maisy.”
“So she wanted to leave Chicago?”
“Temporarily.”
“Why without me?”
Maren’s voice softened.
“Because you worked constantly.”
Dashiell looked away.
“Elowen loved you.”
“I know.”
“But she was frustrated.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Maren’s voice sharpened.
“I don’t think you do.”
Dashiell went silent.
“Elowen said every time she tried to tell you something complicated, you wanted the shortest version.”
He closed his eyes.
True.
He hated conflict.
Hated family drama.
If Elowen complained about Roxanne, he said:
“She means well.”
If she questioned Calder:
“He’s my brother.”
If she worried about paperwork:
“Let Arthur handle it.”
He had outsourced discomfort.
And Elowen had become alone inside problems that technically belonged to both of them.
Maren continued:
“She wanted you to come to Vermont too.”
Dashiell looked up.
“She did?”
“Yes.”
“But she said she needed to get Maisy somewhere safe first, then explain everything.”
Dashiell’s throat tightened.
The postcard suddenly changed.
Just us, if we need it.
Not abandonment.
Escape.
Temporary safety.
“What stopped her?”
“She wanted proof.”
“Of what?”
“Roxanne’s financial threats. Medical records. Something about your father’s company.”
Dashiell nodded.
Everything connected.
Maren added:
“And something about Roxanne knowing where she went at night.”
Dashiell froze.
“What?”
“Elowen said Roxanne seemed to know her schedule.”
“Following her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she think Roxanne was watching her?”
“Yes.”
Dashiell felt cold.
Kiara’s videos.
Roxanne watching Maisy.
Fake messages.
Monitoring.
Pattern.
“Did Elowen ever say she thought Roxanne would hurt her physically?”
“No.”
That mattered.
Dashiell held onto it.
“No?”
“She thought Roxanne would ruin reputations, finances, relationships. She never said she feared being attacked.”
So the accident might still be exactly that.
An accident.
But Roxanne’s manipulation surrounded it.
Maybe that was enough horror.
Dashiell didn’t need murder to justify everything else.
Maren then said something important.
“Elowen mailed me a package.”
Dashiell sat straighter.
“When?”
“Three days before she died.”
“What was inside?”
“I never opened it.”
“Why?”
“She wrote on the outside: ‘Hold unless I ask.’”
“Do you still have it?”
Maren paused.
“Yes.”
Dashiell nearly shouted.
Naomi raised a finger.
Stay calm.
“What does it look like?”
“Small padded envelope.”
“Can you send it?”
“Yes.”
Then Maren said:
“There’s something weird.”
“What?”
“Someone asked me for it two years ago.”
Dashiell went cold.
“Who?”
“Roxanne.”
Of course.
“What did she say?”
“That Elowen wanted her to have it.”
“Why didn’t you give it?”
“I didn’t trust her.”
Dashiell closed his eyes.
At least one person had.
“What did you tell Roxanne?”
“That I threw it away.”
Dashiell almost laughed.
“Maren.”
“What?”
“I think I love you.”
“Get in line.”
For the first time in days, he laughed.
Then she became serious.
“Dashiell?”
“Yes?”
“Elowen was scared. But she wasn’t helpless.”
He listened.
“She was collecting proof because she intended to end it.”
“End what?”
“Roxanne’s control.”
The package arrived the next morning.
Inside was a flash drive.
One handwritten note.
If this becomes necessary, Dashiell needs to see the folder marked HOUSE.
Dashiell plugged it into Naomi’s secure laptop.
Folders appeared.
FERTILITY.
ESTATE.
CALDER.
ROXANNE.
HOUSE.
Dashiell clicked.
Photographs loaded.
Roxanne entering Dashiell and Elowen’s home while they were both away.
Dates.
Times.
Security screenshots Elowen had saved.
Another image.
Roxanne inside Maisy’s nursery.
Opening drawers.
Another.
Roxanne photographing documents.
Then a video.
Elowen had secretly recorded Roxanne in the living room.
Roxanne’s voice:
“You think marrying into this family made you powerful?”
Elowen:
“No. I think being Maisy’s mother gives me the right to protect her.”
Roxanne laughed.
“From me?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Roxanne said:
“If you take Maisy away, Dashiell will blame you forever.”
Elowen answered:
“Maybe.”
Roxanne:
“And Calder will tell him about the clinic.”
Elowen:
“Then I’ll tell him first.”
Roxanne’s expression changed.
Elowen continued:
“And I’ll tell him what you did to the records.”
Roxanne stepped closer.
“You’ll destroy everything.”
Elowen looked directly at her.
“No.”
Her voice was calm.
“You did that when you decided my daughter was a bargaining chip.”
The video ended.
Dashiell sat motionless.
Then Naomi noticed the timestamp.
The recording had been made the afternoon before Elowen died.
Less than twelve hours before the crash.
Roxanne had known Elowen planned to tell Dashiell everything.
May you like
That night, Roxanne asked Elowen to meet.
And hours later, Elowen was dead.
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