Chapter 12
Eric asked to see Dad from jail.
Dad said no.
Then he said no again.
Then Eric sent a message through his lawyer.
Tell Daniel I know what happened the night Laura died.
My mother’s name was Laura.
The house changed when Dad read that sentence.
I felt it.
Clara felt it.
Even Marcus, who never showed feelings, looked toward Dad like he might break.
Mom died when I was five.
A car accident on a rainy bridge.
That was all I knew.
Dad never talked about the details.
Only that she loved me.
Only that she sang badly when she cooked.
Only that she wanted me to have the moon painted on my bedroom ceiling.
Now Eric had reached into the deepest hurt and twisted.
Dad agreed to meet him.
I begged to go.
“No,” Dad said.
“He said Mom’s name.”
“I know.”
“Then I should know too.”
Dad knelt in front of me.
“You will. But not in a jail room with him.”
I hated that answer.
I also knew he meant it.
Detective Reyes went with Dad.
So did Dominic, our lawyer.
When Dad came home, he looked older.
He sat with me in the living room.
Clara stayed near the door.
“Eric claims Vanessa has files about your mother’s accident,” Dad said.
My heart pounded.
“What files?”
“He says she found old police photos and insurance papers. He says there was something wrong with the investigation.”
“Was Uncle Eric there?”
Dad looked away.
That was when I knew.
“He was supposed to pick your mother up that night,” he said. “He forgot. She drove herself.”
I felt cold.
“He forgot?”
“He was drinking. I forgave him because I thought blaming him would not bring her back.”
“But he used it.”
Dad nodded.
“Yes.”
I started shaking.
Vanessa had not only tried to take my future.
She had touched my mother’s memory too.
Detective Reyes called that night.
They had searched Vanessa’s apartment.
They found a locked box.
Inside were my mother’s accident files.
And one flash drive labeled Harlow leverage.
Dad looked at me after the call.
I whispered, “What does leverage mean?”
May you like
His face broke.
“It means they collected pain to use as a weapon.”
