Chapter 11 - THE FIRST CHILD
The other child’s name was Ava Morales.
Six years earlier, Vanessa had dated Ava’s widowed father in Arizona.
Ava had been five.
The records were sealed, but Tessa’s investigator found a civil restraining order filed by Ava’s maternal aunt after the father died unexpectedly.
Forced use of parental titles.
Scripted recordings.
Vanessa had never been charged with a crime.
“Why didn’t a background check show this?” Daniel asked.
“Because you didn’t run one,” Hannah said.
He looked like he had no defense left.
On a video call, Rosa did not sound surprised when Hannah described the reward chart.
“She used stars with Ava too.”
Daniel’s eyes closed.
Rosa continued. “Vanessa needs to be the center of the family. Not part of it. The center. If a child loves someone she cannot control, she treats that love like competition.”
“Did she hurt Ava?” Hannah asked.
Rosa paused. “Not in ways that leave easy evidence.”
After the call, Daniel drove to the police station and gave a statement.
He surrendered his phone for forensic extraction.
He also gave investigators access to every account Vanessa had used in their home.
“We recovered deleted drafts from Mrs. Pierce’s cloud storage.”
“What kind of drafts?”
“Custody narratives. Videos labeled by topic. ‘Hannah Angry.’ ‘Sophie Rejects Hannah.’ ‘Daniel Concerned.’”
Hannah sat down.
“There’s also a folder titled ‘Move.’”
“Move where?”
“Colorado.”
Hannah’s blood went cold.
Inside were preschool applications, a lease agreement, and a proposed custody order giving Daniel primary residence.
The lease began in twelve days.
A plane reservation.
Three tickets.
Daniel.
Vanessa.
May you like
Sophie.
The departure date was tomorrow morning.
