Chapter 7 - Daddy’s Treasure
I did not open the second envelope immediately.
Detective Cole asked Caroline why Andrew would write something as specific as “after Vanessa confesses.”
Caroline folded her hands.
“Because Andrew tried to give Vanessa a way out.”
“A way out of what?”
“The fraud.”
According to Caroline, Andrew had confronted Vanessa three weeks before his death.
He knew she had helped create fraudulent claims.
He knew my father had used her name on shell companies.
He also knew she was frightened.
Andrew offered to help her cooperate with investigators.
Vanessa initially agreed.
Then she disappeared from a scheduled meeting.
Two days later, Andrew received a message.
Leave my family alone.
It came from my mother’s phone.
I stared at Caroline.
“My mother threatened him?”
“Andrew considered it a warning.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because you were recovering from Emma’s hospitalization.”
I frowned.
“Emma wasn’t hospitalized.”
Caroline went quiet.
“What do you mean?”
“Emma had never been hospitalized before today.”
Caroline looked at Cole.
Then back at me.
“Andrew told me Emma had been taken to urgent care after ingesting medication.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“About nineteen months ago.”
That was one month before Andrew died.
I remembered the weekend immediately.
Emma had stayed with my parents while Andrew and I attended a wedding.
Mom called Sunday morning saying Emma had an upset stomach.
When we picked her up, she was sleepy.
They said she had been awake all night.
Andrew seemed furious on the drive home.
He and my father argued later that week.
Andrew told me it was about money.
Now I wondered whether Emma had accidentally swallowed anything at all.
Cole asked Caroline whether Andrew documented the incident.
“Yes.”
She opened another folder.
There was a copy of a medical bill from an urgent care clinic in another town.
Patient: Emma Harper.
Reason: suspected ingestion of sedative medication.
My hands went cold.
“Why another town?”
Caroline shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Cole took the document.
“Who brought her?”
Caroline pointed to the emergency contact.
Margaret Bennett.
My mother.
I stood.
“I need to see Emma.”
A nurse let me enter quietly.
Emma was sleeping.
Her tiny fingers curled around the edge of the blanket.
I kissed her hand.
All those months I had trusted my parents.
I had let Emma stay overnight.
I had thanked them for helping me.
When I returned to the consultation room, I opened Andrew’s second envelope.
There were only three paragraphs.
Vanessa knows what your father did at Northlake.
She also knows what happened the night Emma was taken to urgent care.
If Vanessa ever admits involvement in either event, do not accept a private apology.
Record everything and take it directly to Caroline.
Below that, Andrew had written one final line.
Rachel, if Vanessa confesses, ask her why Mom needed Emma asleep.
I read the sentence twice.
Then my phone rang.
Vanessa.
Cole activated the recording equipment before I answered.
“Rachel.”
Her voice was quieter now.
“I want to make a deal.”
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
“I know what Dad did.”
“Then tell the police.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad isn’t the person you should be afraid of.”
I looked at Cole.
“Who is?”
Vanessa whispered the answer.
“Mom.”
Then a sound came through the phone.
A car door.
A man’s voice.
Vanessa gasped.
The call ended.
Cole tried calling back.
Nothing.
May you like
Thirty seconds later, Vanessa sent one final message.
She found me.
