Chapter 6 - The Woman Before Me
I sat up too fast and the room tilted.
Dr. Patel caught my shoulder.
“Easy.”
I kept my eyes on Charles.
“Nathan controlled her medication?”
“That’s what she said.”
“And you did nothing?”
His jaw tightened.
“I told myself she was angry because the engagement was ending.”
“You told yourself what was convenient.”
He took that without arguing.
Good.
My phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
No message this time.
Just a call.
I let it ring until it stopped.
Charles said, “Rebecca came to my office once. She was shaking. She said Nathan had taken over her bank accounts and was making her take medication she didn’t want.”
“What medication?”
“She didn’t say.”
“Did Victoria know?”
His eyes shifted.
I saw enough.
“She knew.”
“She knew they were having problems.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Charles stood and walked to the window.
“She defended Nathan.”
Of course she did.
I thought of Thanksgiving.
Victoria standing over me.
Get up. You’re embarrassing everyone.
A sharp pressure pushed against my ribs.
I held my stomach until it passed.
Dr. Patel watched the monitor.
“Baby’s fine.”
I nodded.
Then I looked at Charles.
“Where did Rebecca go?”
“No one knows.”
“You said she stole money.”
“That was the story.”
“The story Nathan told.”
“Yes.”
“Was there a police report?”
Charles frowned.
“I don’t remember.”
“That means no.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“If someone stole two hundred thousand dollars from your son and disappeared, you would remember the police.”
He looked at me.
“You’re right.”
I reached for my laptop on the chair.
Dr. Patel said, “You need to rest.”
“I’ll rest when people stop forging my signature and putting drugs in my vitamins.”
She didn’t argue.
I searched Rebecca Sloan.
Thousands of results.
Wrong ages.
Wrong states.
Then an old engagement announcement.
Nathan Hale and Rebecca Sloan.
Six years ago.
There he was in the photograph.
Same smile he used at our wedding.
Rebecca had dark hair, sharp cheekbones, and one hand resting over Nathan’s chest.
I zoomed in.
Her wrist showed a faint bruise beneath a bracelet.
My mouth went dry.
Charles saw it too.
“Could be anything.”
I gave him a look.
He stopped talking.
I searched her name with missing.
Nothing official.
With Nathan.
Old society pages.
Charity photos.
Then a result buried on page four.
A six-year-old discussion thread on a missing-person forum.
Title:
REBECCA SLOAN DID NOT RUN AWAY.
My fingers froze on the trackpad.
The post was short.
Rebecca was frightened. She was being controlled. People close to her know more than they admit.
No names.
No evidence.
Just one username.
VHALE1971.
I read it twice.
Then looked at Charles.
“What year was Victoria born?”
His face changed.
“1971.”
I turned the laptop toward him.
He leaned closer.
His breath stopped.
“No.”
“You recognize the username?”
“She used VHALE on old email accounts.”
I felt something colder than anger settle into place.
Victoria had defended Nathan publicly.
But six years ago, someone using her old handle had said Rebecca did not run away.
Charles called her again.
This time she answered.
“What?” Victoria snapped.
Charles put the phone on speaker.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Is Nathan there?”
A pause.
“No.”
I said, “Victoria.”
Silence.
Then, “Emily?”
“I found your post about Rebecca.”
The line went dead.
Charles stared at the phone.
I called back.
Straight to voicemail.
I tried once more.
Nothing.
Then my phone lit with another incoming text.
Not unknown this time.
Victoria.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY REBECCA VANISHED.
A second message arrived.
DON’T TELL CHARLES.
I looked up.
He was already reading my face.
“What did she send you?”
I locked the screen.
Before I could answer, the hospital room phone rang.
Dr. Patel picked it up.
Her expression changed.
She covered the receiver.
“Security says a woman matching Victoria’s description just entered the parking garage.”
I looked at Charles.
Then toward the locked door.
The handle moved.
Once.
May you like
Twice.
Someone outside whispered my name.
