Chapter 6
Police treated the calendar as a threat.
I treated it as proof that I had underestimated Vanessa completely.
Next Friday was four days away.
Detective Moreno searched Vanessa’s computer.
Investigators found hotel reservations.
Two airline tickets.
One in my name.
One in Rachel’s.
Neither of us had booked them.
Destination:
Denver.
Mia was not included.
Grace stared at the itinerary.
“She planned to make it appear you and Rachel traveled together.”
“Why?”
Moreno opened another document.
A draft emergency guardianship petition.
It claimed Rachel and I had abandoned Mia unexpectedly.
Vanessa requested temporary custody.
The petition also asked for emergency access to funds for the child’s care.
Mia’s trust.
“She was going to fake our disappearance.”
I felt physically ill.
Moreno nodded.
“And use it to gain control.”
“But how would she make us unavailable?”
That question remained unanswered.
Then investigators examined the hotel.
Vanessa had booked a room under my name for seven nights.
Prepaid.
The airline tickets had been purchased using one of her hidden business accounts.
Rachel arrived home the following afternoon under police protection.
I expected anger.
Maybe awkwardness.
Instead, Mia saw her mother through the front window and screamed.
“Mommy!”
She ran outside.
Rachel dropped her bag and fell to her knees.
Mia threw herself into her arms.
They both cried.
I stood on the porch.
For one moment, the last year disappeared.
Then Rachel looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
We weren’t suddenly married again.
Too much had happened.
But we finally understood that many of the wounds between us had been deliberately deepened by someone else.
That night, after Mia slept beside Rachel, Grace called.
“We found the forged police reports Vanessa used.”
“Where did they come from?”
“A real officer.”
My stomach dropped.
“Who?”
“Officer Paul Hendricks.”
I knew the name.
He had responded to our house once during an argument Rachel and I had months before the separation.
Nothing physical happened.
Nobody was arrested.
But Vanessa apparently paid Hendricks to alter the report later.
The edited version portrayed me as violent.
Hendricks was questioned.
He denied taking money.
Then investigators showed him bank transfers.
He changed his story.
Vanessa paid him $8,000.
In exchange, he created documents she later showed Rachel.
Moreno called me personally.
“Hendricks is cooperating.”
“What does he know about next Friday?”
“He says Vanessa asked about something unusual.”
“What?”
“How long adults remain unconscious after taking certain prescription sleep medications.”
My blood ran cold.
Police searched the medicine cabinet in Vanessa’s apartment.
They found pills.
Then they searched my house again.
Inside a jar of coffee I rarely used, forensic technicians found powdered sedatives.
Rachel stared at the evidence.
“She planned to drug us.”
Moreno nodded.
“Potentially.”
Then another discovery came.
Vanessa had ordered a rideshare for next Friday morning.
Pickup:
My house.
Drop-off:
Airport.
Two passengers.
It was beginning to make sense.
Drug Rachel and me.
Place us in a car.
Create travel records.
Then take Mia.
But one detail didn’t fit.
Rachel asked it first.
“How was Vanessa planning to get into Daniel’s house?”
Nobody answered.
May you like
Then Mia walked into the kitchen.
“Aunt Vanessa has a key.”
