Chapter 8 - Welcome Home
David saw me last.
First the agents.
Then the empty room.
Then the papers.
His smile vanished.
“Maya?”
Agent Price stepped forward. “David Vance?”
“What is this?”
“Put your bags down, sir.”
David’s suitcase hit the floor.
He looked at me.
“What did you do?”
There it was.
Not what happened.
Not what did I do.
What did you do?
Price informed him that he was under arrest on federal charges related to alleged bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
David’s face turned white.
“No. She handles the accounts.”
He pointed at me.
“She has access to everything.”
Agent Patel stepped out from the hallway.
“You can discuss that with counsel.”
David demanded a lawyer.
Then he noticed the documents.
“What is that?”
He leaned enough to read the first page.
Divorce.
His jaw tightened.
Then his eyes moved to the death certificate.
Name of decedent: Lily Anne Vance.
Age: 7.
Time of death: 2:17 a.m.
He stopped breathing.
“No.”
I said nothing.
He looked at me.
“No.”
“She died the second night you were gone.”
“You never told me.”
“I called fifty times.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I texted you.”
His eyes moved wildly.
“I didn’t see it.”
I pulled Lily’s tablet from my bag.
“You heard her.”
Then I played the message.
“Daddy, I don’t feel good. Mommy is crying when she thinks I’m asleep.”
Lily’s little voice filled the empty house.
“I love you. Please come home.”
David folded at the waist.
“I thought she was just sick.”
“You thought she was dramatic.”
His eyes snapped up.
Julianne had told me.
His knees buckled.
An agent steadied him.
“I didn’t know she was dying.”
“No. You only knew she needed you.”
He covered his face.
Then, unbelievably, he looked at the warrant.
“Maya, the financial stuff isn’t what it looks like.”
I laughed once.
“Our daughter’s death certificate is on the table and you’re explaining money.”
The handcuffs clicked.
David twisted toward me.
“I need to see Lily.”
I looked at him.
“You missed that too.”
The agents took him away.
Ten minutes later, Patel returned holding David’s phone.
“There’s a problem.”
A message had arrived during his flight.
Frank kept copies. If I go down, everyone goes down.
Attached was a photo of a storage unit packed with boxes.
May you like
David’s arrest was not the end.
It was the door into everything he had hidden.
