CHAPTER 9 — VANESSA’S PERFECT LIFE STARTED WITH A LIE
For twenty years, I believed my father was dead.
Now I was standing in my mother's apartment, staring at her while she admitted we had never buried him.
My mind refused to accept the words.
"Where is he?"
My mother's lips trembled.
"I don't know."
"You just said you never buried him."
"I said we never buried him."
"That's not an answer."
"I know."
"Then give me one."
Vincent stood behind me.
He didn't interrupt.
For once, he understood that this wasn't his story.
It was mine.
My mother walked toward the kitchen.
She opened an old cabinet.
Behind several plates was a small envelope.
She pulled out a photograph.
It showed an abandoned cemetery.
A single stone building stood behind a row of trees.
"What is this?"
"The place where your father was supposed to be taken."
"Supposed to be?"
She nodded.
"After the accident, Vincent found evidence that your father had survived."
My heart stopped.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"You suspected my father was alive for twenty years?"
"I suspected for the first six months."
"Then what happened?"
"We found his blood."
She lowered her eyes.
"Not his body."
I couldn't breathe.
"So he could have lived."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"We never found out."
Vincent finally spoke.
"We found traces."
My mother looked at him.
"You promised not to tell her."
"I promised to protect her."
He looked at me.
"That promise has changed."
My mother closed her eyes.
Then she whispered:
"Your father disappeared because he wanted them to believe he was dead."
"Why?"
"Because he knew they would keep searching for the evidence."
"The blue file."
She nodded.
"And the key."
I looked at the small metal key.
"Number seventeen."
My mother nodded.
"Locker seventeen."
"Where?"
"An old railway storage facility."
Vincent immediately reached for his phone.
But before he could make a call, mine rang.
Vanessa.
I stared at the screen.
Vincent's expression hardened.
"Don't answer."
"I need to."
"Why?"
"Because I want to know what she knows."
He studied me.
Then nodded.
I answered.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
Then Vanessa spoke.
"You've been asking questions."
I felt cold.
"Where are you?"
"Does it matter?"
"It does to me."
She laughed softly.
"You're finally becoming interesting, Emily."
"Why did you date Tyler?"
Silence.
"How did you know my name?"
"I knew your name long before Tyler did."
My heart pounded.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"Thinking Tyler could be controlled."
I glanced at Vincent.
He motioned for me to keep talking.
I asked:
"Are you working for Elias?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Vanessa's voice changed.
"Nobody works for Elias."
"What?"
"They work because they're afraid of him."
"Then why are you helping him?"
"I'm not."
"You're lying."
She sighed.
"I was sent to find something."
"The blue file."
"Yes."
"Who sent you?"
A long silence.
Then:
"Your father."
My blood went cold.
"What?"
"He hired me."
"That's impossible."
"He didn't trust the police."
"Then why did he trust you?"
"I wasn't supposed to trust him either."
"What does that mean?"
"I was twenty-one."
Her voice became distant.
"Your father found me in a shelter."
I froze.
"He knew my mother."
"What?"
"Your father helped my family."
I looked at Vincent.
His face had changed.
He understood something.
"Then why Tyler?"
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"Because Tyler was the easiest way to get close to you."
My stomach dropped.
"So you used him."
"Yes."
"And he used you."
"Eventually."
I heard something in the background.
A door.
Then Vanessa whispered:
"I have to go."
"Wait."
"Emily."
"Why did you stay with him?"
Her voice cracked.
"Because I needed protection."
"From whom?"
She whispered:
"Everyone."
The call ended.
I lowered the phone.
Vincent looked at me.
"She wasn't lying."
"How do you know?"
"Because she didn't say the one thing a liar would have said."
"What?"
"She didn't ask you for anything."
My phone buzzed again.
A message.
From Vanessa.
Don't trust the man who tells you Elias is your biggest enemy.
I showed it to Vincent.
He read it.
Then looked at me.
"She's afraid."
"Of Elias?"
"Maybe."
"Of you?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
Vincent didn't answer.
He turned toward the window.
I followed his gaze.
A black car was parked across the street.
It had been there since we arrived.
"Vincent."
"I see it."
His men moved immediately.
But the car was already gone.
Ten minutes later, we were driving toward the railway storage facility.
I sat beside Vincent.
Neither of us spoke.
Finally I asked:
"Did my father really hire Vanessa?"
"I don't know."
"You knew her before tonight."
"Yes."
"How?"
"She once worked for one of my family's charities."
I stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know whether she was helping you or hunting you."
I looked down.
"Everyone seems to have known something about me."
Vincent's voice softened.
"Not everyone."
"You did."
"Yes."
"And you still do."
He looked at me.
"Not anymore."
I frowned.
"What changed?"
He held my gaze.
"You."
The answer stayed between us.
Then the car stopped.
The railway facility stood ahead.
Abandoned.
Dark.
Locked.
Vincent stepped outside.
I followed.
He looked at the number on the key.
We entered the building.
Rows of old storage lockers stretched into darkness.
I found the number.
Seventeen.
My hands shook as I inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
I opened the door.
Inside was one object.
A small blue file.
Nothing else.
I reached for it.
Vincent stopped me.
"Wait."
"Why?"
He examined the locker.
Then the floor.
"Because your father knew someone would eventually find this."
"What did he do?"
Vincent pointed at the underside of the shelf.
A tiny red light blinked.
My heart stopped.
"Camera."
He looked at me.
"We've been expected."
The red light suddenly turned off.
Then somewhere in the building—
a door slammed.
Vincent pulled me behind him.
"Stay close."
Footsteps echoed through the darkness.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then stopped.
A man's voice came from somewhere ahead.
"Emily."
I froze.
I knew that voice.
Tyler.
He stepped into the light.
His face was bruised.
His suit was torn.
But he was smiling.
"Miss me?"
Vincent moved between us.
Tyler laughed.
"Relax, DeLuca."
He pointed at the blue file.
"I'm not here for her."
His smile disappeared.
"I'm here for what's inside."
May you like
Then he looked directly at me.
"Because you have no idea what your father left you."
