Chapter 9 - The Van
I was not allowed near the van.
I went anyway.
Claire met me behind the crime-scene tape and looked furious.
“If you cross this line, I will have you removed.”
“Is it hers?”
“We don’t know.”
A blanket lay inside the van.
So did a broken plastic bracelet from the basement room.
One of Elena’s hairs was caught in the fabric.
A technician found a receipt beneath the passenger seat.
Gas station. Highway 231. 6:18 p.m.
The cashier remembered the van.
He also remembered a second vehicle following it.
A black pickup with temporary plates.
Theo traced the plate number from traffic cameras.
It belonged to a rental company.
Rented by Marco Ruiz.
The guard who grabbed me at dinner.
Police found Marco at his sister’s apartment before noon.
He asked for a lawyer.
Then he saw the photograph of the blood in the van.
His face collapsed.
“She was alive when I left her.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Where?”
Marco looked at me.
“I didn’t know what they were doing at first.”
I almost went across the table.
Claire blocked me with one arm.
“Where is my wife?”
Marco swallowed.
“Old hunting lodge near Center Hill Lake.”
“Who has her?”
“Vanessa.”
Vanessa had slipped away during the chaos at my house.
We thought she was hiding.
She was moving Elena.
Marco gave directions.
Claire assembled a tactical team.
Before they left, Marco grabbed her sleeve.
“There’s a second road behind the lodge.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because Anthony told Vanessa if police came, she was supposed to take Elena to the reservoir.”
My hands went cold.
“What happens at the reservoir?”
May you like
Marco looked at me.
“He said this time they needed a body.”
