Chapter 2 - The Phone That Should Have Been Dead
Vincent lifted the veil with two fingers. The fabric was yellowed at the edges, but he knew the tiny pearl stitching. Elena had worn it on the night they married, then folded it herself and placed it in the suitcase before she vanished.
The platinum ring lay beside it. He had searched for that ring after Elena disappeared. Vanessa had told him Elena took it when she ran.
"Why is it here?" he asked.
Vanessa's eyes darted toward the stairs. "Someone planted it."
"Who?"
She did not answer.
A small black phone vibrated again from a pocket sewn into the suitcase lining. Its screen was cracked. The battery icon flashed once, then died.
Vincent looked at his head of security, Luca. "Get a power bank. Now."
Vanessa stepped forward. "There is no reason to drag everyone into something private."
"You dragged Clara down twenty-three steps with it. It stopped being private."
Clara lowered herself onto a bench. A housekeeper brought water. Vincent crouched in front of her, his voice changing.
"Did she hurt you?"
"She didn't hit me. She just said the baby would be safer if I learned to follow instructions."
Vincent's face hardened. "That is not an answer I can accept."
Luca returned with a portable charger. The phone's screen flickered. A password prompt appeared, then vanished. The device opened to a message thread marked ELENA.
There were dozens of unread messages, all dated four years earlier.
The first one began: Vincent, if you ever see this, I did not leave you.
Vincent stared at the words until they blurred.
Vanessa took a step toward the phone.
May you like
Clara tried to stand again, but the pain in her lower back made her stop. The guard brought a chair and asked whether he should call an ambulance. She shook her head, then looked at Vincent as if she expected him to blame her for the trouble. He did not.
Luca moved between Vanessa and the phone.
