Chapter 12 - A Call from Vanessa
Vanessa called my hospital room from an unknown number. I almost ignored it. Then the caller said, "Clara, I know where Rosa is."
I put Mara on the line before answering another question.
"Tell us," I said.
"First, I need you to say you volunteered to carry the suitcase. That's all Vincent cares about. A simple misunderstanding."
"You ordered me down those stairs while I was having pain. You didn't even ask if the baby was okay."
"I panicked," Vanessa snapped. "You don't understand what my father does when he's angry."
"Then tell the police."
She laughed once, a miserable sound. "You think it's that easy? He's been doing this for years. He used my name on accounts I couldn't access. He told me Elena was trying to take Vincent's money. By the time I knew he was lying, I was in too deep."
"You still had a choice," I said.
"Yes," she whispered. "I know."
Mara asked for a location. Vanessa said the women had been taken to an old rehabilitation lodge outside Aurora. It was property belonging to one of her father's clients. Richard planned to move them again before the guardianship hearing.
"How do you know?" Mara asked.
"Because he just told me to bring him Elena's ring. He says he'll use it to prove she's dead."
I went cold. "A ring isn't proof somebody died."
"He has other documents. He never told me how he got them."
Mara spoke quietly. "Vanessa, you need an attorney of your own and you need to give that location to law enforcement directly."
"If I do, will Vincent forgive me?"
"That's not the question you should be asking," I said.
The call ended. Ten minutes later, the detective confirmed a property address near Aurora. Officers were approaching it.
May you like
Then Vanessa sent me one last message.
My father already knows I talked.
