Chapter 9 - Vanessa Runs
Rain had started outside.
Detective Ruiz reached the doorway first.
“Lock down the property.”
Two officers ran toward the driveway.
Nathan stared into the darkness.
“How did she get out of handcuffs?”
Ruiz looked toward the chair where Vanessa had been sitting.
A broken hairpin lay beneath it.
“She planned ahead.”
Elena suddenly remembered something.
“She still has access to the old greenhouse.”
Nathan looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I followed her there two weeks ago.”
Ruiz immediately headed toward the rear of the mansion.
They crossed the garden beneath heavy rain.
The greenhouse stood at the edge of the property.
Its glass walls flashed with reflections from security lights.
The door was open.
Inside, plants had been pushed aside.
A trapdoor in the floor had been exposed.
Nathan stared.
“I didn’t know this existed.”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“I did.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“It’s an old service tunnel.”
“It connects the greenhouse to the former carriage house.”
Ruiz looked furious.
“And you forgot to mention that?”
“I haven’t thought about it in thirty years.”
They entered the tunnel.
Wet footprints marked the concrete.
Elena stayed behind Nathan while officers moved ahead.
Halfway through, Ruiz’s flashlight found something on the ground.
Vanessa’s phone.
The screen was shattered.
But an unsent message remained visible.
HE KNOWS.
Ruiz frowned.
“Who knows?”
Nathan looked toward the end of the tunnel.
A door stood open.
They emerged beside the abandoned carriage house.
Tire tracks cut through the mud.
Vanessa was gone.
Ruiz called in the vehicle description.
Elena stared at the tracks.
“She didn’t escape alone.”
Ruiz nodded.
A second set of footprints stopped where the vehicle had been parked.
Nathan’s phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at him.
Ruiz raised one hand.
“Speaker.”
Nathan answered.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice came through.
“Nathan.”
Margaret’s face went white.
“Charles.”
Nathan’s jaw clenched.
“Where is Vanessa?”
Charles Howard laughed softly.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What should I be asking?”
Charles paused.
“Ask where Rebecca is.”
Vanessa’s breathing could be heard faintly in the background.
Nathan stepped forward.
“What have you done?”
“Nothing she didn’t volunteer for.”
Ruiz gestured for the technician to trace the call.
Charles continued.
“You were always the spoiled one, Nathan.”
“You inherited the company.”
“The house.”
“The trust.”
“Even Rebecca.”
Nathan’s voice lowered.
“This was about the company?”
“It was always about the company.”
Elena felt the answer land like ice.
Charles laughed again.
“Tell Elena congratulations.”
Nathan’s expression changed.
“For what?”
“For surviving the staircase.”
Elena’s blood went cold.
“How did you know?”
Charles replied calmly.
“Because I told Vanessa exactly where to push her.”
The call ended.
Ruiz stared at the dead line.
Then the technician looked up.
“We got a partial location.”
“Where?”
“Vermont.”
May you like
Elena already knew the answer.
The abandoned clinic.
