Chapter 14 - THE CALL
Vanessa sent one message from a monitored phone.
THE MERCER FILE IS BURNED. I HAVE THE BLUE DRIVE.
Owen called in four minutes.
Ramirez recorded everything.
"Where are you?" he asked.
Vanessa kept her voice steady.
"Safe."
"Do you have the drive?"
"Yes."
"You opened it?"
"No."
"Good."
I watched her through the glass.
Her hands shook.
Owen continued.
"You need to leave Daniel."
"He already threw me out."
"Then this is salvageable."
I felt rage rise.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"Emma told him."
Silence.
"What did she tell him?"
"Enough."
Another pause.
Then Owen said, almost calmly, "Children always tell eventually. That's why adults have to decide what truth means."
Ramirez wrote something down.
Vanessa swallowed.
"What about the passport?"
"Dead."
"And Haven?"
Long silence.
Owen's voice changed.
"Who told you that word?"
Vanessa looked toward Ramirez.
"Mia was found."
The line went quiet.
Then Owen laughed softly.
"That poor girl was safer where she was."
"You stole her life."
"I preserved it."
"From what?"
"Men like her father."
Ramirez leaned closer to the speaker.
Owen kept talking.
"Widowers are predictable. Guilt makes them weak. Money makes them useful. Children make them controllable."
My hands curled into fists.
Vanessa asked, "Where are you?"
"Somewhere Daniel can't reach."
"He doesn't care about you."
"He will."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to prove he never knew his daughter."
The line disconnected.
Thirty seconds later, my phone received a link.
A private livestream.
The screen showed my living room.
Live.
"My house is empty."
Then a figure walked into frame.
Owen.
He was inside my home.
He looked directly into the hidden camera.
"Daniel," he said.
"If you want to understand what Emma was supposed to become, come home."
Ramirez grabbed my arm.
"You're not going alone."
On screen, Owen lifted Bunny's identical replacement rabbit.
May you like
Then he smiled.
"I've been in that house longer than your wife ever was."
