Chapter 15 - Laura’s Last Request
I thought Rebecca was lying.
It was the easiest explanation.
A desperate woman was facing charges and trying to rewrite history.
Then investigators found another recording.
Laura’s voice.
Rebecca’s voice.
Three days before the crash.
“If something happens to me, Michael won’t understand any of this.”
Laura said.
“Then tell him.”
Rebecca answered.
“I’m trying.”
“You’re protecting him.”
“I’m protecting Emily.”
Laura paused.
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“If I can’t finish this, make sure Michael knows Victor exists.”
Rebecca sounded frightened.
“How?”
“Find him.”
“And say what?”
“The truth.”
Rebecca began crying.
“I can’t promise that.”
“Then promise me you’ll protect Emily.”
There was a long silence.
“I promise.”
The recording ended.
I sat alone inside Andrew’s conference room.
Rebecca had promised my wife she would protect our daughter.
Five years later, she arranged to have that daughter taken away.
Few betrayals could have been more complete.
Andrew closed his laptop.
“She may have approached you originally because of Laura.”
“She still lied.”
“Yes.”
“She still helped Victor.”
“Yes.”
“She still drugged me.”
“Yes.”
“She still terrified Emily.”
Andrew did not excuse her.
Neither did I.
But the truth became more complicated.
Rebecca told investigators what happened after Laura’s crash.
Victor blamed her for hesitating during the chase.
He told her the crash made both of them guilty.
He threatened to tell police she had deliberately killed Laura.
He controlled the evidence.
He controlled Rebecca’s money.
He controlled the story.
For years, Rebecca stayed away from me.
Then she learned Victor was watching Emily.
She decided to approach me.
At first, according to her, she intended to warn me.
Then she fell in love with the life she saw.
Dinner at our kitchen table.
Emily laughing.
Normal mornings.
Sunday pancakes.
A family.
And she became afraid that telling the truth would destroy it.
So she said nothing.
The longer she lied, the harder truth became.
Then Victor discovered our relationship.
He saw an opportunity.
He threatened to expose Rebecca’s role in Laura’s death unless she helped him gain access to Emily’s trust.
Rebecca agreed.
That was when the false evaluations began.
The drugs.
The signatures.
The plan for Hawthorne.
I visited Rebecca once in jail.
Not because I forgave her.
Because I needed to hear it from her.
She sat behind thick glass.
No makeup.
No perfect smile.
“You loved Emily.”
I said.
Tears appeared immediately.
“Yes.”
“Then how could you do it?”
She covered her mouth.
“I kept telling myself Hawthorne wasn’t dangerous.”
“You told a little girl her father wanted her gone.”
“I know.”
“You wrote that note.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Victor said if she resisted the transport, everything could fall apart.”
“And you chose him.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“You chose yourself.”
That landed harder.
She lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Michael.”
I stopped.
“Laura was braver than I was.”
I looked at her through the glass.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
As I walked away, she called my name one last time.
“I have one more thing.”
I turned.
Rebecca pressed her hand against the glass.
“There’s a safe in Victor’s house.”
“What’s inside?”
May you like
Her voice dropped.
“The original file on Laura.”
