Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Disappeared
Marissa Gray's disappearance turned a private family investigation into a countywide search.
Police found her car parked normally beside a fuel pump with the driver's door unlocked and her purse beneath the passenger seat.
Her phone was missing.
There was no sign of a struggle.
The station camera showed Marissa entering the convenience store at nine-twelve that morning.
It also showed her leaving two minutes later with a bottle of water.
After that, a delivery truck blocked the camera's view of her vehicle for forty-seven seconds.
When the truck moved, Marissa was gone.
Thomas watched the footage in a small hospital conference room with Ortiz and another detective named Samuel Price.
"Someone knew where she was going," Thomas said.
Price folded his arms.
"Or she chose to disappear."
"Why would she abandon her purse?"
"People do strange things when they're afraid."
Thomas looked at Ortiz.
"You don't believe that."
Ortiz did not answer.
Price continued.
"Mr. Reed, your concern is understandable, but Marissa was also withholding evidence."
"She may have panicked when she realized that could create legal problems."
Thomas stood.
"She has two children."
"They're safe with her sister."
"She wouldn't vanish without telling them."
Price's expression hardened.
"You seem very certain about your neighbor."
Thomas understood the implication.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Turn every person connected to this into a reason to look at me."
Ortiz stepped between them verbally before the conversation escalated.
"We are looking at everyone."
Thomas left.
He spent the afternoon with Eli because Megan was undergoing additional tests.
The boy had become quiet again after learning Marissa was missing.
Thomas had not told him details, but children heard more than adults realized.
"Is Miss Marissa in trouble?" Eli asked.
"Police are trying to find her."
"Because of the green man?"
Thomas sat beside him.
"What green man?"
Eli pointed to the drawing.
"The man by the door."
"You colored him green because of his truck?"
The boy shook his head.
"Because his shirt was green."
Thomas leaned closer.
"Do you remember his face?"
Eli squeezed the crayon.
"A little."
"Was it Nathan?"
Eli looked confused by the name.
Thomas pulled up a public photo of Nathan Cole on his phone.
He did not show it to Eli.
He stopped himself.
Ortiz had repeatedly warned him not to lead the boy.
Instead he put the phone away.
"Never mind."
That night, Thomas received a call from Marcus, his foreman.
"Somebody broke into the office."
Thomas stood in the hospital hallway.
"What did they take?"
"That's the weird part."
"Nothing obvious."
"Computers are here."
"Cash box is here."
"But your old filing cabinet was open."
Thomas's heart sank.
The cabinet held archived financing documents from the year Nathan had restructured the company.
"Call the police."
"Already did."
Thomas contacted Ortiz.
By midnight, investigators had confirmed someone forced a rear window at Reed Residential Projects and searched only the financial archives.
Three folders were missing.
All three involved Nathan Cole.
The pattern was no longer subtle.
Someone was removing pieces of the same history Megan had been trying to reconstruct.
The next morning, Thomas walked into Megan's room and found Detective Price standing beside her bed.
Megan looked exhausted.
"What's going on?"
Price closed his notebook.
"Routine follow-up."
Thomas looked at Megan.
She would not meet his eyes.
"What did he ask you?"
"Thomas, not now."
Price stepped toward the door.
"We need to speak downstairs."
Thomas felt dread before he knew why.
In a consultation room, Price placed a printed bank document on the table.
It showed a transfer of eighty-four thousand dollars from the Lane Family Trust into a Reed Residential account eighteen months earlier.
The authorization line carried Thomas's electronic signature.
"That's not mine."
"It's your verified signing certificate."
"Nathan had access to old documents."
"The certificate was renewed six months before this transfer."
Thomas stared at the page.
"I didn't renew it."
Price slid another document forward.
It was an email from Thomas's business address approving the transfer.
The wording sounded nothing like him.
"Our server was compromised."
"Maybe."
Price's tone made clear what he thought.
"Or maybe your wife discovered money was being moved through your company and confronted you."
Thomas pushed the paper away.
"You're ignoring Nathan."
"We're investigating Nathan."
"You're also ignoring Judith."
"We're investigating her too."
Price paused.
"But neither of them had the signing certificate attached to your business account."
Thomas stood.
"Am I under arrest?"
"Not at this time."
"Then I'm done."
As he reached the door, Price spoke again.
"Your wife changed part of her statement this morning."
Thomas turned.
"What part?"
Price watched him closely.
"She says she no longer remembers seeing her mother touch the pitcher."
Thomas felt something inside him drop.
"That's because she's recovering."
"Maybe."
"Or maybe she was pressured."
Price said nothing.
Thomas ran upstairs.
Megan was alone.
He closed the door.
"Why did you change your statement?"
She stared at the blanket.
"My memory isn't clear."
"Yesterday it was clear."
"Yesterday I was barely awake."
"Megan."
She finally looked at him.
There was terror in her eyes.
Not doubt.
Not confusion.
Terror.
Thomas lowered his voice.
"What happened?"
Megan's lips trembled.
"Nothing."
Then she moved her right hand beneath the blanket.
Her finger traced four letters against Thomas's palm.
E.
L.
I.
May you like
Thomas understood.
Someone had threatened their son.
