Chapter 7 - My Father’s Payment
My father stopped answering calls.
That told us more than any denial could have.
Police located him the next morning at a motel thirty miles outside town.
He had packed clothing.
Cash.
His passport.
Detective Greene called it attempted flight.
My father called it needing space.
Ryan called it exactly what it looked like.
At the station, my father finally agreed to speak.
Not to me.
To police.
But Detective Greene later shared what she legally could.
My father admitted meeting Marcus Vale.
He denied hiring him to hurt anyone.
According to my father, the fifty thousand dollars was meant to pay Vanessa’s debt.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
I sat at our kitchen table.
“If Vanessa owed ninety thousand, why fifty?”
Greene nodded.
“That’s one of our questions.”
Ryan leaned against the counter.
“What did Vale say?”
“We haven’t located him.”
That was worse.
Marcus had disappeared.
His office was empty.
His phone was disconnected.
And the investment company listed at his address had been dissolved three days earlier.
Someone had prepared to vanish.
Detective Greene slid copies of several recovered messages across the table.
One was from my father to Marcus.
Handle the pressure.
Another.
She must reconsider before September.
September.
My daughter was due in November.
“What happens in September?”
Ryan asked.
I didn’t know.
Detective Greene did.
“Your grandmother’s trust has a ninety-day contest deadline.”
My stomach tightened.
“If they wanted to challenge it legally, they had until September?”
“Correct.”
“But the baby wouldn’t be born yet.”
“Correct.”
Everything suddenly aligned.
They had a deadline.
My parents wanted me to cooperate before September.
Vanessa wanted money quickly.
Marcus wanted repayment.
The pressure campaign was escalating.
The kick may not have been intended to end my pregnancy.
But someone clearly wanted me terrified.
Weak.
Willing to sign.
I looked at Greene.
“Was Vanessa supposed to scare me?”
“We’re investigating that possibility.”
Ryan’s voice became cold.
“She kicked a pregnant woman.”
“Yes.”
“She knew exactly where she was kicking.”
“Yes.”
“She asked her mother whether it was enough.”
Greene did not argue.
The doorbell rang.
Ryan immediately checked the camera.
It was Ethan and his mother.
We let them inside.
Ethan looked exhausted.
“I found something.”
He handed Ryan his phone.
“What?”
“I started recording before the argument.”
“How long before?”
“About twelve minutes.”
My heart accelerated.
Police had received only the clip beginning shortly before the attack.
Ethan had another file automatically backed up to his cloud storage.
He opened it.
The video showed relatives moving around the backyard.
My mother and Vanessa stood near the patio door.
Their voices were faint.
Ryan increased the volume.
My mother said, “Just make her afraid enough to listen.”
Vanessa answered, “And if she still refuses?”
My mother looked toward me.
Then she whispered something nearly inaudible.
Ethan had already enhanced the audio.
He pressed play.
May you like
My mother’s voice came through.
“Then your father has another plan.”
