Chapter 13 - THE HOUSE TURNED AGAINST HER
The investigation moved fast after Mark's statement.
Police recovered old insurance photographs of Vanessa's car. Forensic analysts compared paint records from both vehicles. The results would take time, but the shape of the truth was already forming.
Dad removed Vanessa from every account he legally could. He changed the locks. He filed for a protective order.
For the first time since she moved in, the house felt like ours again.
Except May was not there.
That absence lived in every room.
I still glanced at the window seat expecting amber eyes. I still stepped around the spot where her water bowl used to be.
One night, Caleb found me sitting on the floor beside my bed.
"I should've done more," he said.
"You were scared."
"So was she."
I knew he meant May.
He handed me a small red toy mouse.
"She used to leave this outside my door."
I smiled through tears. "She liked you."
"Even after I ignored her."
"Cats don't hold grudges the way people do."
He sat beside me.
"Do you hate me?"
I looked at him. "No. But I hate what happened. Those are different things."
His shoulders dropped like he had been holding them up for weeks.
Then Dad called us downstairs.
Detective Harris was waiting.
"We found Vanessa," he said.
"Where?"
"A motel near the state line."
Caleb stood. "You arrested her?"
Harris hesitated.
"We tried. She got away through a rear stairwell. But she left something behind."
He placed a motel key envelope on the table.
Inside was a photograph of me asleep in my bedroom.
The picture had been taken from inside the room.
On the back, Vanessa had written:
Rachel thought locking a door would save her too.
I stared at the handwriting.
Then I looked toward the upstairs hallway.
May you like
My bedroom window was open.
I knew I had closed it.
