Chapter 10 - The Girl Daniel ForgotDaniel didn't speak.
Vanessa laughed softly.
“You really don't remember.”
“I remember enough.”
“No, you don't.”
“What do you want?”
“To explain.”
“You can explain to Detective Ruiz.”
“She thinks this is simple.”
“You cut a child's hair because she reminded you of her dead mother.”
Silence.
Then Vanessa's voice hardened.
“That wasn't why.”
“You've already lied enough.”
“I lost control because Sophie said Megan warned her about me.”
Daniel froze.
“When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“Megan is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
Vanessa exhaled.
“Sophie said her mother left her a secret.”
Daniel's pulse jumped.
“What secret?”
“She wouldn't tell me.”
“So you terrorized her?”
“I tried to get her to talk.”
“You cut her hair.”
“She said I could never replace Megan.”
“She's right.”
The line went silent.
When Vanessa spoke again, the calm was gone.
“You always did that.”
“Did what?”
“Made people feel invisible.”
Daniel stared at the yearbook photograph on his computer.
“College.”
“Yes.”
“I don't remember you.”
“I know.”
“Were we friends?”
“No.”
“Did we date?”
Vanessa laughed.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I loved you.”
Daniel felt disgust crawl up his spine.
“You didn't know me.”
“I knew everything about you.”
“That isn't love.”
“You used to sit outside Franklin Hall every Wednesday with coffee before your economics class.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You hated mushrooms. You ran five miles on Sundays. Your father called every Thursday.”
“Stop.”
“You wanted three kids.”
“Stop.”
“You told Megan that on the lawn behind the library.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
She had been there.
Watching.
“You were obsessed with me.”
“I was nineteen.”
“You stayed obsessed for fifteen years.”
“Megan knew.”
Daniel's eyes opened.
“What?”
“She knew before you proposed.”
“How?”
“She found my journal.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she thought it was a crush.”
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
“Then she became your friend.”
Vanessa's laugh was bitter.
“She felt sorry for me.”
“Or she was kind.”
“That was Megan's favorite weapon.”
Daniel almost hung up.
Then Vanessa said:
“She kept something from you.”
“What?”
“The reason I was at her birthday.”
“You were friends.”
“No. Not then.”
Daniel frowned.
“We hadn't spoken in years.”
“Then why were you there?”
“She invited me.”
“Why?”
“Because she'd received the first message.”
Daniel went still.
“What first message?”
“The one about you.”
“What about me?”
“She thought someone was following you.”
Daniel's heartbeat slowed.
Vanessa continued.
“She recognized the writing style.”
“As yours?”
“Yes.”
“So she invited you to confirm it.”
“She wanted to confront me.”
“And?”
“I lied.”
Daniel looked at the cedar box.
“What secret did Sophie say Megan left?”
“I don't know.”
“Where did Sophie hear about it?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“From a video.”
Daniel stood.
“What video?”
“Megan recorded something.”
“Where is it?”
“If I knew, we wouldn't be having this conversation.”
The answer hit him.
Megan had expected something might happen to her.
She had left something behind.
Maybe for Sophie.
Maybe for Daniel.
“Why do you think Sophie knows where it is?”
“Because Megan told her.”
“She was six.”
“She remembered enough.”
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
Sophie was at Kate's house.
He suddenly remembered something Sophie used to say after Megan died.
Mommy said the stars know where secrets sleep.
Daniel had assumed it was grief-stricken nonsense.
A phrase from a bedtime story.
“Vanessa.”
“Yes?”
“Stay away from my daughter.”
“She has something that belongs to me.”
“No.”
“She does.”
“What?”
Vanessa's breathing changed.
When she answered, she sounded desperate.
“The proof Megan stole.”
“Proof of the money?”
“Of everything.”
Daniel's hand tightened around the phone.
“What does ‘everything’ mean?”
Vanessa didn't answer.
“Vanessa?”
A car horn sounded in the background.
Then:
“Ask Sophie about the stars.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the phone.
Five minutes later, he was driving to Kate's house.
Sophie was coloring at the kitchen table.
Daniel sat beside her.
“Sweetheart?”
She looked up.
“Do you remember something Mom used to say about stars?”
Sophie's crayon stopped.
Daniel saw it immediately.
Recognition.
“Mommy's star game.”
“What game?”
Sophie looked toward Kate.
Then back at Daniel.
“She said if anything ever happened, I should show you where the stars sleep.”
Daniel's skin prickled.
“Where do they sleep?”
Sophie climbed down from the chair.
“In our old house.”
Daniel's heart stopped.
They had sold that house two years earlier.
Another family lived there now.
May you like
Sophie took his hand.
“Mom hid something in my ceiling.”
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