Chapter 9 - The Secret Vanessa Took To Prison
A week after the trial, I got a call from the warden at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, where Vanessa was being held. “Agent Bennett? We have an inmate here named Vanessa Brooks. She’s been on a hunger strike for three days, says she won’t eat until she talks to you. Says she has information about a murder that happened in Franklin County 12 years ago. Says she’ll only tell you.”
My blood ran cold. 12 years ago. That was right around the time mom died. She’d had a sudden heart attack in her sleep, the doctors said. No warning signs. No history of heart disease. It had always felt a little off, but dad had been so grief-stricken we’d never pushed for an autopsy.
I drove to the prison the next morning. Vanessa was brought into the visiting room in an orange jumpsuit, her hair cut short, no makeup, her hands cuffed to the table. She looked smaller than I remembered. Harder.
“Thanks for coming,” she said, her voice flat. “I figured you’d want to know the truth about your mother.”
I leaned forward, my hands curled into fists under the table. “What about my mother?”
She smiled, a cold, sharp smile. “She didn’t die of a heart attack, Clara. Your dad didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re thinking. But I know who did. And I can prove it. In exchange, I want a sentence reduction. 10 years off. Immediate parole eligibility. And a transfer to a minimum-security prison in Florida, near my parents. Deal?”
I stared at her. “You expect me to make a deal with you? After everything you did?”
“Your mom was 58 years old,” she said, leaning in. “Healthy as a horse. Ran 5Ks every weekend. Ate nothing but organic vegetables. And then one night she just… dies in her sleep? No autopsy? No investigation? The cops wrote it off as natural causes because your dad was a respected local guy, no enemies. But I know what really happened. I was there. Well, not there there. But I was dating the guy who did it. Back when I was 24, before I met Ethan. He told me everything. Bragged about it. Said it was the easiest $50,000 he ever made.”
“Who paid him?” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
“Someone in your family,” she said, smiling wider. “Someone who wanted your mom out of the way so they could get their hands on your dad’s money a lot sooner than they thought. Someone who’s been sitting at your dinner table this whole time, acting like they’re so sorry for what they did. Someone you’d never suspect in a million years.”
Before I could ask who, the guard banged on the window. “Time’s up, Brooks.”
She stood up, the cuffs clinking. “You’ve got one week to make the deal, Clara. If I don’t hear from you by next Friday, I take the secret to the grave with me. And you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering if the person you trust most in the world killed your mom.”
I drove back to dad’s house in a daze. 12 years ago. $50,000. Someone in the family. Who? Dad? No, he’d loved mom more than anything. Ethan? He was 26 back then, still in college, too sweet and scared to hurt a fly. Marge? No, she didn’t even know dad back then. Jake? No, he was in Quantico 12 years ago, we’d never even met. Who else was there?
I walked in the front door. Dad, Ethan, and Marge were in the living room, watching a baseball game. They looked up, smiling.
“Hey, kiddo,” dad said. “How’d it go at the prison? What did she want?”
May you like
I looked at each of them, one by one, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t know who I could trust. “Nothing important,” I said, forcing a smile. “Just more lies. She’s desperate. Don’t worry about it.”
But I was worried. I was more worried than I’d ever been. Because for the first time since this whole nightmare started, I realized Vanessa hadn’t been the real villain all along. She’d just been a pawn. And the person who’d really pulled all the strings was still in my house, drinking my dad’s coffee, laughing at his jokes, waiting for their next chance to strike.
