Chapter 12 - The Brake LineThe original accident report was retrieved that afternoon.
Detective Ruiz read it twice.
Then she called Daniel.
“The vehicle was destroyed after the insurance investigation.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“So there's nothing.”
“I didn't say that.”
“What is there?”
“A mechanic's note.”
Daniel sat up.
“What note?”
“Your wife took the SUV to a repair shop four days before the crash.”
Daniel felt shame spread through him.
Megan had probably told him.
He had probably ignored it.
“What was wrong?”
“Brake pressure fluctuation.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“Was it repaired?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“The mechanic couldn't reproduce the problem.”
Daniel stood.
“What does that mean?”
“It means there wasn't enough evidence at the time to identify a mechanical failure.”
“At the time.”
“Yes.”
Ruiz paused.
“But now we know someone had already damaged one of Megan's tires. We know Vanessa asked about her brakes. We know she was stalking her.”
Daniel's chest tightened.
“And we know Megan was afraid.”
“Yes.”
“Is that enough?”
“Not yet.”
Always those two words.
Not yet.
Daniel hung up and went upstairs.
Sophie's hair looked different after the salon cut.
Short.
Fragile.
She sat on her bed building a Lego house.
Daniel watched her for several seconds.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“You're staring.”
“Sorry.”
She held up a tiny plastic figure.
“This is Mom.”
Daniel smiled painfully.
“Good choice.”
Sophie placed the figure inside the house.
“Vanessa hated when I made Mom.”
His smile vanished.
“What do you mean?”
“She threw one away.”
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
Daniel sat beside her.
“Why?”
“She said dead people don't live in houses.”
His hands curled.
Sophie noticed.
“Are you mad?”
“Not at you.”
She continued building.
Daniel wanted to ask a hundred questions.
He forced himself to go slowly.
“Did Vanessa ever talk about Mom's car?”
Sophie looked confused.
“Car?”
“The car Mom had before she died.”
“The black one?”
“Yes.”
Sophie thought.
Then nodded.
“She had the keys.”
Daniel felt his heartbeat change.
“When?”
“Vanessa?”
Sophie nodded again.
“She showed me.”
“When?”
“Before you married her.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“What did she say?”
Sophie picked up another Lego piece.
“She said they were Mom's.”
“Why did she have them?”
“She said you gave them to her.”
Daniel had never given Vanessa Megan's keys.
“What did they look like?”
“Black button. Blue thing.”
Megan's keychain had carried a small blue enamel whale.
Daniel stood.
“Where are they now?”
“I don't know.”
He called Ruiz.
She told him not to search Vanessa's property himself.
Ruiz obtained a warrant forty-eight hours later.
Police searched the apartment where Vanessa was staying.
They found clothing.
Documents.
Two phones.
No car keys.
But they found something else.
A notebook.
Ruiz showed Daniel photographs of several pages.
Dates.
Locations.
Observations.
D 7:15 coffee.
M school 8:10.
D office 8:47.
M mechanic 11:32.
Daniel stared at the handwriting.
Vanessa had documented their movements like a scientist studying animals.
Then one entry made his hands go numb.
June 14.
M says brakes still soft.
June 15.
M appointment canceled.
June 16.
Need access before Friday.
Megan crashed on June 17.
Daniel looked at Ruiz.
“What does ‘need access’ mean?”
“We're determining that.”
“You know what it means.”
“I know what it could mean.”
Daniel stood.
Ruiz stopped him.
“There is another page.”
She turned the photograph.
June 17.
8:43 — Message sent.
8:54 — M leaves.
9:22 — Done.
Daniel stared.
“Done.”
Ruiz nodded.
“She wrote ‘done’ five minutes after the estimated time of the crash.”
Daniel felt nausea rise.
“How could she know?”
Ruiz didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Daniel looked at the next line.
9:41 — D still doesn't know.
9:58 — Police arrive.
Then:
10:16 — He'll need me now.
Daniel backed away from the table.
Everything Vanessa had done after Megan's death suddenly looked different.
The casseroles.
The sympathy.
The phone calls.
The nights she sat beside him while he cried.
She hadn't arrived to rescue him.
She had been waiting for the destruction she created.
Ruiz closed the folder.
“We're working with the district attorney.”
Daniel looked up.
“For murder?”
“We need more.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“What else could you possibly need?”
“A direct link between Vanessa and the mechanical failure.”
Daniel looked again at the notebook.
Then his phone vibrated.
A text from an unknown number.
One photograph.
Sophie.
Leaving school that afternoon with Kate.
Taken from across the street.
Daniel's blood turned cold.
Below it was a message.
STOP DIGGING.
May you like
A second message arrived.
OR YOU'LL LOSE ANOTHER GIRL YOU LOVE.
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