Chapter 4 - THE RED NOTEBOOK
Police arrested Vanessa before sunrise.
Not for Claire’s disappearance.
Not yet.
For suspected child endangerment, fraudulent custody documents and obstruction connected to the attempted flight.
Martin Kells vanished before officers reached his apartment.
That frightened Ethan more than Vanessa’s arrest.
People ran when they knew the evidence was real.
Rosa called him the following afternoon.
“There’s something I should have given you years ago.”
They met at Ethan’s house.
Rosa went into Ava’s old nursery.
She removed a floorboard beneath the window seat.
Inside was a red notebook.
Ethan stared at her.
“What is that?”
“Claire gave it to me three days before she disappeared.”
His anger came immediately.
“You had this for five years?”
“She told me not to give it to you unless something happened.”
“Something happened!”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Rosa started crying.
“Because Vanessa found out.”
Ethan stopped.
“She told me you believed I had helped Claire hide money. She said if I showed you anything, I would be arrested and Ava would lose the only person she still trusted.”
Rosa looked toward the staircase.
“I was a coward.”
Ethan wanted to shout.
Instead he opened the notebook.
The first twenty pages contained numbers.
Dates.
Companies.
Payments.
Then names.
Martin Kells.
Vanessa Deane.
Haven House.
Blue Harbor Consulting.
Ethan turned another page.
One sentence had been underlined twice.
V knows about Ava’s trust.
Beneath it:
She asked what happens if I die.
Ethan sat down.
Claire had known.
Not everything.
Enough.
A photograph fell from the back pocket.
Claire and Vanessa stood together at a college graduation.
Young.
Smiling.
Friends.
May you like
On the back Claire had written:
The worst betrayal is rarely committed by a stranger.
