Chapter 7: The Daughter Who Knew Too Much
Nancy stared at the emergency contact number.
She knew every digit.
She had dialed it hundreds of times.
It belonged to Emily.
Her daughter.
The little girl Walter used to carry on his shoulders at the county fair. The teenager who had once threatened to run away because her father wouldn't let her date a boy with a motorcycle. The woman who had held Nancy's hand at the funeral and promised they would get through everything together.
“No,” Nancy whispered.
Thomas placed the report on the desk.
“Mrs. Miller, I need you to understand that an emergency contact number doesn't prove involvement.””
Nancy looked at him.
“Then why is my daughter's number on a report from the night my husband died?””
Thomas didn't answer.
Mack picked up his helmet.
“Because someone wanted us to find it.””
Nancy turned toward him.
“What?””
“Think about it. The truck disappears. We find your husband's recording. Then suddenly, this document appears with Emily's number.””
Thomas nodded slowly.
“He's right. Someone may be trying to turn you against your daughter.””
Nancy took a shaky breath.
“Emily wouldn't hurt her father.””
“I didn't say she did,” Mack replied.
“She loved him.””
“I believe you.””
“She was the last person to see him alive.””
Both men turned toward her.
Nancy looked at them.
“What?””
Thomas pulled out a pen.
“You said Emily was the last person to see Walter alive?””
Nancy nodded.
“She came by our house that evening. They argued about something. I was in the kitchen, so I didn't hear everything.””
“What did they argue about?””
Nancy thought carefully.
“Money, I think. Walter was upset. Emily wanted him to sign something.””
“What?””
“I don't know. He told her he wouldn't.””
Mack exchanged a glance with Thomas.
“Did she leave before Walter?””
“Yes. Around ten.””
Thomas wrote something down.
“Did she seem angry?””
Nancy shook her head.
“Not angry. Upset. She hugged me before she left.””
Mack stepped closer.
“Nancy, when was the last time Emily visited you?””
“Last Sunday.””
“Did she ask about the truck?””
Nancy froze.
“Yes.””
“What did she say?””
“She asked whether I was still trying to get it back. She said it was only an old vehicle and I should stop wasting my money.””
Thomas looked at Mack.
Neither man said anything.
Nancy grabbed her purse.
“I'm calling her.””
Thomas started to object.
Mack raised a hand.
“Let her.””
Nancy dialed.
The phone rang four times.
Then Emily answered.
“Mom?””
Nancy closed her eyes.
“Sweetheart, where are you?””
“At home. Why?””
“I need to see you.””
“Is something wrong?””
Nancy looked at the report.
“Your name is on a document connected to your father's accident.””
Silence.
Then Emily spoke.
“What document?””
“The police report. Your number is listed as an emergency contact.””
Emily exhaled.
“Mom, we've talked about this.””
“No, we haven't.””
“Dad asked me to be his emergency contact. That's all.””
Nancy's grip tightened.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because it wasn't important.””
“Then why did you argue with him that night?””
A longer silence followed.
“Who told you about that?””
Nancy looked at Mack.
“Answer the question.””
Emily's voice became defensive.
“He was being stubborn. That's all.””
“What did he want you to sign?””
“Mom, I can't do this right now.””
“Emily—”
“I have to go.””
The call ended.
Nancy stared at her phone.
Mack quietly asked, “Did you hear that?””
Nancy nodded.
Her daughter hadn't asked whether Walter's death had been a mistake.
She hadn't asked what the document said.
She had asked who told her.
Thomas closed the briefcase.
“We need to find Emily before someone else does.””
Nancy looked at him.
“She's my daughter. I'm not going to treat her like a criminal.””
Mack put his helmet on.
“Then don't. But don't treat her like someone who can't hurt you, either.””
Emily lived in a two-story house on the north side of town.
When they arrived, her car wasn't in the driveway.
A neighbor watering his plants recognized Nancy.
“Looking for Emily?””
“Yes. Have you seen her?””
The neighbor glanced toward the street.
“Black SUV picked her up about twenty minutes ago.””
Mack immediately looked at Thomas.
“Which direction?””
“Toward the highway.””
Thomas pulled out his phone.
“That's the same vehicle from the river.””
Nancy's stomach tightened.
“Why would my daughter be with those people?””
Nobody answered.
Then Mack noticed something lying beside the front steps.
A white envelope.
Nancy recognized her daughter's handwriting.
She picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Walter standing outside their house on the night he died.
Emily stood beside him.
A third person was visible in the background.
A man wearing a dark jacket.
On the back of the photograph were six words.
Ask Emily what she signed.
Nancy felt tears rise.
She turned the photograph over again.
Then she noticed a second piece of paper folded behind it.
It contained a handwritten address.
And beneath the address was a sentence:
The original title is still there.
Thomas read it.
“That's an old records warehouse.””
Mack looked toward the highway.
“Then that's where we're going.””
Nancy folded the paper carefully.
But as she climbed into the pickup, her phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
The message contained a photograph of Emily sitting in the passenger seat of a black SUV.
May you like
Below it were eight words.
*Bring Walter's notebook. Come alone. Or she disappears.*
