Chapter 7
Detective Brooks called me at six in the morning.
"Mrs. Carter, we located Curtis Morgan."
I sat upright.
My heart began pounding.
"Where?"
"At a residence outside Augusta."
I gripped the phone.
"Did he talk?"
"He's being interviewed."
I closed my eyes.
For weeks, I'd imagined this moment.
The moment someone finally told me what happened to Daniel.
Now that it was approaching, I was terrified.
I looked toward Lily.
She was sleeping beside me after another nightmare.
Her small hand rested on my arm.
I lowered my voice.
"Please tell me when you know more."
"I will."
The detective paused.
"And Nia?"
"Yes?"
"Don't contact your family about this."
I swallowed.
"Okay."
After the call, I sat on the edge of the bed.
I looked at Daniel's photograph.
I remembered the last morning I saw him.
He was standing in our kitchen wearing a navy-blue shirt.
He kissed Lily on the forehead.
Then he kissed me.
"I'll be home before dinner," he said.
I smiled.
"You better be. Lily wants your spaghetti."
He laughed.
"Then I'll make the world's greatest spaghetti."
Those were some of the last words he ever spoke to me.
I never imagined they would become a memory I'd replay for the rest of my life.
I pressed my hands over my face.
Then I heard Lily's voice.
"Mommy?"
I turned.
She was awake.
"Are you crying?"
I wiped my cheeks.
"A little."
She crawled into my lap.
"Do you miss Daddy?"
I nodded.
"Very much."
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Me too."
I held her tightly.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered.
"Can we still make his spaghetti?"
My heart cracked.
I kissed her cheek.
"Yes, baby."
She smiled.
"Even if we don't make it as good?"
I laughed through tears.
"Even then."
That evening, we made Daniel's spaghetti together.
Lily stirred the sauce.
I chopped vegetables.
Simone helped us set the table.
For the first time in weeks, my daughter laughed.
The sound filled the kitchen.
And I realized how much she'd missed being happy.
Later, after Lily went to bed, Detective Brooks called again.
Her voice was serious.
"Curtis has admitted that Vanessa contacted him before Daniel's death."
My stomach twisted.
"What did she ask him to do?"
"He says she wanted him to interfere with Daniel's vehicle."
I stopped breathing.
I gripped the edge of the table.
"What?"
"He claims she asked him to make the car unreliable."
Tears filled my eyes.
"Did he do it?"
"He's admitted working on the vehicle outside normal service procedures."
I covered my mouth.
The room seemed to spin.
Detective Brooks continued.
"He claims Vanessa told him the goal was to frighten Daniel into withdrawing his allegations."
I couldn't speak.
Frighten him.
They wanted to frighten my husband.
Instead, he died.
I pressed a hand against my chest.
"Did Dad know?"
"Curtis says he dealt directly with Vanessa."
I closed my eyes.
That didn't mean Dad was innocent.
But it mattered.
"What happens now?"
"The investigation is continuing. Prosecutors are reviewing the evidence."
I swallowed.
"Will Vanessa be arrested?"
"Charges are being considered."
I looked toward Daniel's photograph.
For eleven months, I'd believed his death was a tragic accident.
Now someone had admitted interfering with his car.
My entire body began shaking.
Simone sat beside me.
She took my hand.
I put the phone on speaker.
Detective Brooks continued.
"We also found financial records connecting Curtis to Vanessa's company."
My heart pounded.
"How much?"
"Twenty-five thousand dollars was transferred shortly before the crash."
I closed my eyes.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
That was what someone had received for work that may have killed my husband.
I began sobbing.
Simone held me.
Detective Brooks waited quietly.
Then she said something I'll never forget.
"Nia, none of this is your fault."
I covered my face.
I knew she was right.
But knowing didn't erase the guilt.
I'd introduced Daniel to my family.
I'd encouraged him to join Dad's business.
I'd told him my father would never betray him.
I felt as though I'd led him into danger.
After the call, Simone stayed with me.
She didn't try to make everything better.
She just sat beside me while I cried.
The following morning, Detective Brooks visited my house.
She explained that investigators had located additional evidence.
Curtis's work records.
Communications with Vanessa.
Payments.
And technical findings from the vehicle inspection.
The evidence was being reviewed by specialists.
Then she asked whether I would be willing to provide a formal statement about Daniel's final weeks.
I nodded.
"Yes."
I told her everything I remembered.
His sleepless nights.
His anxiety.
The locked laptop.
The conversations he'd ended when I entered the room.
And the way he'd hugged Lily the night before he died.
Detective Brooks listened carefully.
Then she asked about Arthur.
"Did your father ever threaten Daniel in front of you?"
I hesitated.
I remembered an argument at Thanksgiving.
Dad accused Daniel of being ungrateful.
Daniel said he wouldn't sign documents he hadn't reviewed.
Vanessa laughed and called him paranoid.
I had assumed it was a business disagreement.
Now the memory felt different.
I told the detective.
She wrote it down.
Then she asked about Evelyn.
I looked toward the window.
My mother had been almost completely silent since the police visit.
She'd sent messages.
She'd left voicemails.
She'd begged to see Lily.
I hadn't responded.
"Do you believe your mother knew about the vehicle interference?"
I swallowed.
"I don't know."
It was the truth.
I hated not knowing.
But I refused to accuse her of something without evidence.
Detective Brooks nodded.
"That's fair."
Before leaving, she handed me a card for a victim support advocate.
She encouraged me to continue getting help for Lily.
And for myself.
I thanked her.
Then I asked one question.
"Do you think Daniel knew he was going to die?"
The detective looked at me carefully.
"I can't know what he believed."
My eyes filled.
"But his recording shows he was trying to protect you."
I nodded.
That was something I could hold onto.
Later that afternoon, Arthur arrived outside my house.
I saw him through the security camera.
He stood on the porch holding an envelope.
His shoulders were slumped.
He looked older than I'd ever seen him.
I didn't open the door.
I spoke through the intercom.
"What do you want?"
His voice trembled.
"Nia, please. I need to give you something."
I stared at the screen.
"What?"
He held up the envelope.
"Daniel wrote me a letter before he died."
My heart stopped.
I stepped closer to the monitor.
"A letter?"
Arthur nodded.
"I kept it because I was ashamed."
I closed my eyes.
Then he whispered.
"He knew more about Vanessa than I told you."
May you like
I gripped the counter.
And suddenly, I realized my father might be holding the last piece of the truth.
