Chapter 6
Detective Price refused at first.
So did Caleb.
So did Marisol.
Martin looked like he wanted to lock me in the safe house himself.
But Vanessa had gasoline in the store.
She sent a photo minutes later.
A red can beside the paint aisle.
Another can near the lumber section.
One spark, and Hale Hardware would become a funeral pyre.
Detective Price finally agreed to a controlled approach.
“No heroics,” he said.
“I don’t do heroics.”
Caleb snorted.
Even in terror, he managed that.
I glared at him.
He hugged me suddenly.
Hard.
“Don’t let her take you too.”
“I won’t.”
Lily grabbed my sleeve.
“Em.”
I crouched in front of her.
Her green eyes searched mine.
“Mean lady bad.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t go.”
The words almost broke me.
“I have to help stop her.”
“Police stop her.”
“They will.”
“Then you stay.”
I touched her cheek.
“If I could, I would.”
Her lip trembled.
I pulled the music box from my bag and placed it in her hands.
“For brave,” I whispered.
She nodded, crying silently.
The police wired me.
A tiny microphone under my blouse.
A tracker in my shoe.
Detective Price drilled instructions into me.
Stay in sight.
Keep her talking.
Do not get close.
Do not trade yourself for documents.
Do not promise what you cannot control.
The last one stayed with me.
Because Dad had done that.
Promised love from the shadows.
Promised safety too late.
I would not repeat it.
When we reached Hale Hardware, the street was blocked.
Police cars hid around corners.
Fire trucks waited two blocks away.
The store lights were on.
The front windows glowed against the gray morning.
For a second, it looked normal.
Then I saw Vanessa inside.
She stood near the main counter in her black funeral dress.
Same dress.
Wrinkled now.
Hair loose.
One hand holding a lighter.
The other holding Dad’s old framed photo of my mother.
My rage went quiet.
Detective Price spoke through the earpiece.
“Go slow.”
I opened the door.
The bell above it rang.
That sound nearly made me cry.
Dad used to say he could tell who entered by the way the bell moved.
Vanessa turned.
“You came.”
“I did.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“Liar.”
I stopped near the entrance.
The smell of gasoline burned my nose.
“You wanted to talk.”
“I wanted what is mine.”
“You got what Dad left you.”
“He owed me everything.”
“No. You wanted everything.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“You think you know marriage? Richard was weak. He needed me to clean up his messes.”
“By poisoning him?”
She flinched.
Just slightly.
“I did not poison him.”
“The bottles say otherwise.”
“The bottles say nothing.”
“The doctor’s report does.”
She laughed.
“Richard was dying anyway.”
My heart stopped.
Detective Price’s voice crackled in my ear.
“Keep her talking.”
I took a step closer.
“So you admit you knew.”
“I knew he was slipping away.” Her voice rose. “I knew he was going to humiliate me. Leave me scraps while that child got his name.”
“Lily is his child.”
“She is Sofia’s child.”
“She is my sister.”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“You say that now. Wait until she takes half your life.”
“She is seven.”
“Seven-year-olds grow.”
“So does greed.”
She slapped the counter with the framed photo.
“Do not talk to me about greed. I stood beside Richard after your mother died. I kept his business alive. I hosted his family. I smiled while he snuck off to see another woman’s child.”
“You married him after you knew.”
“Because he promised to fix it.”
“Fix Lily?”
“Fix the will.”
There it was.
Clear.
Recorded.
I saw her realize it too.
Her eyes dropped to my blouse.
“You’re wired.”
I froze.
Detective Price said, “Back out. Now.”
Vanessa flicked the lighter.
A small flame appeared.
“Take it off.”
“Vanessa.”
“Take it off or I drop this.”
My hands shook as I slowly removed the wire.
I placed it on the floor.
The flame danced.
“Step on it.”
I did.
The earpiece went silent.
Now it was only us.
Vanessa smiled.
“Much better.”
Outside, police could still see through the windows, but she moved behind a shelf, forcing me deeper into the store.
“Come here.”
“No.”
She tilted the lighter toward a gasoline trail.
I moved.
Every step felt like walking into my father’s grave.
She led me to the back office.
Dad’s office.
The place still smelled faintly of coffee and old paper.
On the desk was a stack of documents.
Copies of the will.
Lily’s birth certificate.
Photos.
Letters.
Vanessa had found Dad’s hidden file at the store.
“How did you get these?” I whispered.
She smiled.
“Richard was sentimental. Sentimental men hide things badly.”
She lifted a letter.
“To Emma,” she mocked. “To Caleb. To Lily. Pathetic.”
“Put them down.”
“Why? They are going to burn anyway.”
My breath caught.
The police could stop her from burning the store.
Maybe.
But not from burning Dad’s letters.
Not from erasing the words he left us.
Vanessa held my letter over the lighter.
“Beg.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Beg me, Emma. Beg me for your father’s last words.”
My throat tightened.
For a moment, I was a child again.
A motherless girl desperate for every scrap of Dad.
Then I saw Lily’s face.
Are you mad at me?
I lifted my chin.
“No.”
Vanessa blinked.
“No?”
“My father’s love does not live in paper you can burn.”
Her face darkened.
“He chose you.”
“He chose the truth too late. But I choose it now.”
I reached for the stack.
She lunged.
We hit the desk.
The lighter fell.
Flame caught the edge of a gasoline-soaked rag.
Fire flashed up.
Vanessa screamed.
I grabbed the documents.
Smoke filled the office.
Police shouted outside.
The back door burst open.
Detective Price rushed in.
Vanessa tried to run past him.
Caleb appeared behind the officers.
“Emma!”
A shelf collapsed in the smoke.
I coughed, clutching the papers to my chest.
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
“If I lose, you lose too.”
For one second, I saw her clearly.
Not elegant.
Not powerful.
Just empty.
I yanked free.
“No.”
Detective Price tackled her as firefighters rushed in.
Caleb pulled me out through the back door.
Cold air hit my face.
I collapsed on the pavement, coughing.
Caleb held me.
The store alarm screamed.
Firefighters moved fast.
May you like
And through the smoke, I saw Vanessa being dragged out in handcuffs again.
This time, there was no bail waiting.
