Chapter 6 - Rebecca
Detective Ramirez showed me the file in a private hospital conference room.
Rebecca Anne Hart.
Born in Eugene, Oregon.
Parents alive at the time of the investigation.
One younger brother.
Former bookkeeper for Vale Logistics.
Reported missing eleven years ago.
Federal investigators believed she had entered a protection program before disappearing from it.
The photograph attached to the file showed Rachel at twenty-one.
Shorter hair.
No wedding ring.
Same eyes.
I sat there unable to speak.
“She was a witness?”
Ramirez nodded.
“Vale Logistics was allegedly moving illegal money through legitimate freight companies.”
“Rebecca handled accounts.”
“She copied records.”
“Then what?”
“Her younger brother disappeared.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Three days before she was supposed to testify.”
“Was he found?”
“No.”
“Her parents?”
“Both died several years later.”
The room felt colder.
“So she ran.”
“Possibly.”
“And married me under another name.”
“Yes.”
I wanted to feel sympathy.
Part of me did.
Another part kept seeing Lily dragging Tommy across the floor.
Fear could explain secrets.
It could not excuse leaving two children helpless.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“That’s something only she can answer.”
My phone rang.
This time Rachel’s name appeared.
Ramirez motioned for me to answer on speaker.
“Rachel?”
Her breathing shook.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Our children are in the hospital.”
“I know.”
“You left them.”
“I know.”
The words came out broken.
“I thought I had time.”
“For what?”
“To make him believe they were still useful.”
Ramirez scribbled a note.
KEEP HER TALKING.
“Who?”
“You already know.”
“Vale?”
Rachel started crying.
“I never wanted you involved.”
“You married me.”
“I loved you.”
“Then why have you lied to me every day since we met?”
“Because Rachel Collins was the only woman he wasn’t looking for.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why were the kids alone?”
Silence.
“Rachel.”
“I gave them food.”
“Not enough.”
“I locked them in the den because I thought it was the safest room.”
“Why?”
“Vale told me he was coming for Tommy.”
My chest tightened.
“Why Tommy?”
“Because he needed leverage.”
“For what?”
“The files.”
“What files?”
“The copies I kept eleven years ago.”
I looked at Ramirez.
“Are they in the room?”
“Yes.”
“You were planning to flee to Argentina?”
“I was planning to make Vale think I was.”
“What does that mean?”
“Daniel, the passports were bait.”
“And leaving our children starving was part of the bait?”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“I was supposed to be gone two hours.”
“What happened?”
“Vale grabbed me outside the pharmacy.”
Ramirez leaned toward the phone.
“Rachel, are you being held now?”
Rachel ignored the unfamiliar voice.
“Daniel, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“You need to check Tommy’s blue stuffed elephant.”
I remembered it.
A small toy he slept with every night.
“Why?”
“I hid the original ledger inside it.”
I stared at Ramirez.
Rachel whispered.
“Vale knows.”
Then we heard a man’s voice in the background.
“Time’s up, Rebecca.”
Rachel gasped.
May you like
The call ended.
And suddenly my anger had somewhere else to go.
