The same detached look she’d worn when she pushed that garbage bag onto my porch.
“Try me.”
Then she left.
My hands shook so badly I could barely dial Rachel.
Rachel listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she said, “Write down everything you remember. Exact words if possible. Don’t contact Vanessa about it.”
That evening, a text appeared.
You have until Friday. 51% and this all goes away. Otherwise I’m taking my sons and starting over somewhere else.
I stared at the screen.
Another arrived.
If you really care about them, you’ll make the right choice.
I forwarded both to Rachel.
She called within a minute.
“Do not respond.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Save everything.”
I did.
What I didn’t know was that Jeffrey had been standing in the hallway during part of my conversation with Vanessa.
And George had heard almost all of it from the stairs.
