Chapter 3 - The Messages from Elena
The phone was old, but its messages had survived. Luca connected it to a secure laptop while Vincent stood beside him, one hand resting on the open suitcase.
The first messages were ordinary. Elena had asked whether Vincent would be home for dinner. She had sent a picture of a cracked blue mug and joked that it looked like his face before coffee.
Then the tone changed.
I know about the meetings with Victor Shaw. I know he wants you to sign the harbor properties over to his company. Please don't trust him.
A second message followed two hours later.
Vanessa was in our bedroom. She had my passport. She said if I told you what I heard, she would make sure I never saw you again.
Vincent read the lines twice.
"Vanessa," he said quietly. "What did Elena hear?"
"I don't know."
"You were in my house. You were in my bedroom. You told me Elena had stolen money and disappeared."
"She was unstable. You know that."
Luca opened a saved audio file. A woman's voice filled the foyer, thin with fear but unmistakably Elena's.
"Vincent, if you hear this, don't come looking alone. Victor has people watching the house. I have the baby. I have to get her somewhere safe."
Vincent gripped the table.
"The baby?" he whispered.
Vanessa's face lost its color.
Clara looked up from the bench. "What baby?"
No one answered her.
Then Luca found a message dated three days after Elena's last known sighting.
It contained an address and one name: Daniel Bell.
Clara stood so quickly that the room tilted around her.
May you like
The timestamps showed that Elena had sent the messages from three different phones. Someone had blocked her number, but the old device had kept the unsent drafts. One draft ended with a sentence that made Vincent's throat tighten: I am still waiting for you to ask me what happened.
"My husband?"
