Chapter 7 - The Empty Room.
Police searched Vanessa's apartment before noon.
The lease was in the name of a shell company tied to the Howard Foundation.
The living room looked staged for photographs rather than lived in.
There were expensive flowers, untouched books, and framed pictures of Vanessa beside Adrian at private resorts.
Elena viewed the search through photographs Reese brought to the hospital.
One image stopped her.
A nursery had been built inside the second bedroom.
White crib.
Cream rug.
Tiny folded blankets.
A gold plaque over the wall read BABY HOWARD.
Elena stared at it for a long time.
"She really told people she was pregnant."
Reese nodded.
"The building manager says she has been telling neighbors for two months."
"But she's not."
"Her recent medical records show no pregnancy care."
Elena understood the cruelty of the plan more clearly now.
Adrian and Vanessa had not simply wanted Elena gone.
They wanted a replacement story ready before she disappeared.
The faithful heir.
The tragic marriage.
The brave new mother.
A narrative designed for society pages and family trustees.
Reese slid another photograph forward.
It showed a locked metal case under Vanessa's bed.
Inside were passports, cash, Thomas's bank card, and a burner phone.
"We recovered deleted messages from this."
Elena read the printed transcript.
UNKNOWN: Tonight has to look emotional.
VANESSA: She won't come near me unless I provoke her.
UNKNOWN: Mention the baby.
VANESSA: Hers or mine?
UNKNOWN: Yours.
Elena felt nauseated.
"Whose number?"
"The burner receiving the messages was destroyed."
"We're tracing tower records."
Elena looked at Reese.
"Adrian."
"Probably."
"But probably doesn't survive court."
A nurse entered and reminded Elena she needed rest.
Reese gathered the evidence.
Before he left, Elena asked one more question.
"Why would Vanessa take Thomas's bank card if she knew police could trace it?"
Reese stopped.
"Good question."
Elena's eyes narrowed.
"Because she wanted you to trace it."
Reese said nothing.
"The withdrawal is bait."
He looked toward the hallway.
"For us?"
"Maybe for Thomas."
That afternoon, police returned to the rest stop.
They searched dumpsters, maintenance rooms, and nearby woodland.
They found no Thomas.
They did find his wallet inside a trash can.
His driver's license was gone.
So was one photograph Elena remembered seeing on his office desk.
It showed Thomas with his younger sister, Claire.
At 6:17 p.m., Claire Vale received a message from her brother's number.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT ME ALIVE.
She did not call police.
She got into her car.
By the time Reese learned about the message, Claire's phone was already moving north on the interstate.
Straight toward an abandoned Howard family hunting lodge.
A second search of Vanessa's apartment uncovered something stranger inside the nursery wall.
Behind a removable panel were dozens of printed photographs of Elena.
Some were taken at restaurants.
Others showed her walking alone after medical appointments.
Dates and times were written beneath each image.
One photograph had a red circle around Elena's stomach.
May you like
On the back, someone had written, FOUR MONTHS LEFT.
Reese stopped calling the case a domestic dispute after that discovery.
