Chapter 18 - Vanessa’s Last Lie
Vanessa had escaped hospital custody twenty-seven minutes earlier.
A nurse had found an empty bed, a cut restraint, and a stolen uniform.
Now she was back inside the Mercer house.
Ortiz ordered tactical officers to the property.
Daniel insisted on going.
Sarah stayed with Emily and the twins this time.
She hated it, but she understood.
For nearly an hour, they heard nothing.
Then Daniel called.
“We have Marcus. He’s alive.”
Sarah exhaled.
“And Vanessa?”
“Missing.”
The house had too many hidden routes.
Fire damage made them worse.
Marcus had been struck with a fireplace tool but managed to keep the flash drive hidden in his jacket.
The video from the night of Emily’s crash was clear.
It showed Vanessa meeting Victor Lane at a gas station forty minutes before the collision. She handed him an envelope and a photograph of Emily’s car.
“That’s enough,” Ortiz said. “Conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted murder, fraud. She’s finished if we catch her.”
At the secure residence, Emily sat on the floor playing blocks with the twins.
Mia suddenly looked toward the window.
Her smile faded.
“Funny lady.”
Sarah turned.
A woman stood outside the glass door.
Vanessa.
She held a gun.
Sarah moved before Vanessa could raise it.
She knocked the lamp from the side table and killed the room lights.
“Emily, take them!”
Glass shattered.
Emily grabbed both children and ran toward the hallway.
Vanessa climbed through the broken door.
“You ruined everything!” she screamed.
Sarah ducked behind the sofa.
“No, Vanessa. You did.”
Vanessa fired into the wall.
The twins screamed from the back room.
Sarah’s fear became rage.
Vanessa had manipulated a grieving husband, imprisoned a mother, terrorized children, and still blamed everyone else.
Sarah grabbed a heavy ceramic vase.
Vanessa rounded the sofa.
Sarah threw it.
The vase hit Vanessa’s wrist. The gun skidded across the floor.
They both lunged.
Vanessa reached it first.
Then a small voice said behind her:
“Bad lady.”
Vanessa froze.
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Noah stood in the hallway.
And behind him was Emily holding a kitchen knife.
