Chapter 3: The Backpack on the Porch
June didn't remember leaving the diner.
One moment, she was holding Eli's hand beneath the fluorescent lights. The next, she was sitting in the back of a police cruiser, watching the familiar streets pass through a blur of tears.
Hank followed in his motorcycle.
Boone and Marcus rode behind him.
The officer had insisted that June and Eli remain together, but nobody wanted them walking into a potentially dangerous situation alone.
When they reached June's neighborhood, two patrol cars were parked outside her modest white house.
The front door stood open.
A uniformed officer waited on the sidewalk.
“Mrs. Mitchell?””
June hurried toward him.
“Where's the backpack?””
“Ma'am, I need you to stay behind the tape.””
“Is someone hurt?””
“We're still determining what happened.””
Hank stepped between June and the entrance.
“Let the officers work.””
June pointed toward the porch.
A blue backpack lay beside the welcome mat.
One strap had been torn.
There was a dark stain on the concrete.
Eli saw it and immediately began crying.
“That's Mom's!””
June crouched and pulled him close.
“Don't look, sweetheart.””
But Eli kept staring.
“Mom said it was important.””
Hank approached the officer.
“Have you checked the house?””
“Not fully. We found signs of a struggle in the living room.””
“Anyone inside?””
“Negative.””
The officer looked down at his notes.
“We found a broken picture frame, an overturned chair, and a phone that appears to have been smashed.””
June's knees weakened.
“That phone belonged to me.””
Hank turned.
“What?””
“I left it here when I went to the diner. Rachel's old phone was on the kitchen counter. I kept it because I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.””
The officer looked at her.
“Was there anything important on it?””
June nodded.
“Photographs. Messages. Voicemails from my daughter.””
The officer exchanged a glance with his partner.
“Do you know whether anyone had access to the house?””
June looked toward the street.
Then she whispered, “Derek.””
Eli suddenly spoke.
“Dad knew about the backpack.””
Hank crouched.
“Why do you say that?””
“Because he told me Grandma had something that belonged to Mom. He said if he didn't get it back, somebody would put him in prison.””
Hank's jaw tightened.
“Did he tell you what was inside?””
“No. But he said Mom was trying to ruin him.””
June stared at the backpack.
A memory surfaced.
Three days before Rachel died, her daughter had called her late at night.
June remembered the sound of rain against her kitchen windows.
She remembered Rachel whispering.
Mom, if something happens to me, don't believe everything Derek tells you.
At the time, June had assumed the medication was making her daughter anxious.
She had told Rachel to rest.
Now she wished she could take those words back.
The officer approached with a pair of gloves.
“We're going to examine the bag. If there's evidence inside, we'll preserve it.””
June nodded.
“Please.””
The officer carefully lifted the backpack.
Something heavy shifted inside.
He opened the main compartment.
A small spiral notebook fell out, followed by a plastic folder, several photographs, and a sealed envelope.
The officer examined the envelope.
On the front were four words.
For Mom. Open Alone.
June's breath caught.
The handwriting was Rachel's.
Her hands began shaking.
“That's my daughter's writing.””
The officer looked at her.
“Do you want to open it?””
June nodded.
He carefully handed it over.
Inside was a folded letter.
June unfolded it.
Her eyes moved across the first few lines.
Then she stopped.
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Hank stepped closer.
“What does it say?””
June looked at him.
“Rachel knew.””
“Knew what?””
June's voice broke.
“She knew Derek was going to hurt her.””
The officer gently took the letter and asked whether he could photograph it before allowing her to continue reading.
June nodded.
The letter was dated eleven days before Rachel died.
Mom,
If you're reading this, then I couldn't protect Eli the way I promised.
Derek has been stealing money from customers for years. He uses the repair shop to hide transactions and has people helping him move money through fake businesses.
I found the records. I copied everything.
But that's not why I'm afraid.
June's fingers tightened around the paper.
Derek has been giving me pills that aren't prescribed by my doctor. I don't know exactly what they are. I have kept samples.
I told him I was going to the police.
He said nobody would believe a dying woman.
June stopped reading.
A sob escaped her throat.
Hank's expression became stone.
“There's more,” June whispered.
She continued.
If I die before you receive this, please don't let Derek take Eli.
The blue backpack contains copies of everything. But the most important evidence isn't in the folder.
Find Vanessa Cole. She knows where I hid the original recordings.
And Mom, please remember this.
I wasn't dying as quickly as Derek told everyone.
June lowered the letter.
The street seemed to disappear around her.
Rachel had been told she had months.
Then weeks.
Then days.
Derek had explained every sudden decline as another complication.
But according to the letter, Rachel had suspected that someone was deliberately making her condition worse.
Hank looked toward the officer.
“This needs to go to detectives immediately.””
“It will.””
A second officer approached carrying a small evidence bag.
“Sir, we found something else.””
Inside the bag was a tiny silver key.
June recognized it immediately.
“Rachel's.””
“Do you know what it opens?””
June shook her head.
“No.””
Eli stepped forward.
“I know.””
Everyone turned.
The boy pointed at the key.
“Mom had a little box. She kept it under the bed.””
June looked confused.
“What box?””
“The wooden one. She told me never to tell Dad where it was.””
Hank glanced at the officer.
“Where is this box now?””
Eli's face changed.
“Dad took it.””
“When?””
“After Mom died.””
“Did he open it?””
Eli nodded.
“He got really mad. He threw everything around the bedroom.””
June looked down at the key.
“Then why did Rachel leave it?””
Eli swallowed.
“Because there was another box.””
Hank crouched again.
“Where?””
The boy looked at his grandmother.
“Grandma's house.””
June stared.
“What?””
Eli pointed toward the back of the property.
“Mom said she hid it in the basement. Behind the old washing machine.””
June felt a chill.
Her basement had been untouched for months.
Rachel had visited shortly before her death, supposedly to collect some old family photographs.
June had never questioned it.
The detective arrived fifteen minutes later.
He was a tall man in his fifties named Detective Harris, with tired eyes and a calm voice.
After reviewing the letter, he ordered the backpack and its contents preserved.
He also arranged for Eli to be interviewed by a child specialist rather than repeatedly questioned by different officers.
Then he turned to June.
“Mrs. Mitchell, I need to ask you something. Did your daughter ever mention a woman named Vanessa Cole?””
June shook her head.
“No.””
Detective Harris studied the photograph again.
“Interesting.””
“What?””
He pointed to the woman standing beside Rachel.
“Vanessa Cole used to work at Derek's repair shop.””
June frowned.
“Used to?””
“She left six months before Rachel died. According to our preliminary records, she filed a complaint against the business.””
“What kind of complaint?””
“Financial misconduct.””
Hank looked at him.
“So she knew what Derek was doing.””
“Possibly.””
Eli tugged on June's sleeve.
“Grandma?””
“Yes, sweetheart?””
“Mom said Vanessa was the only person Dad couldn't scare.””
Detective Harris looked down at him.
“Did Vanessa ever tell you why?””
Eli nodded.
“She said she had something Dad didn't know she had.””
“What was it?””
The boy looked toward the road.
“An audio recording.””
Hank straightened.
“Of what?””
Eli's answer was barely audible.
“Dad talking to the doctor.””
Detective Harris went completely still.
“What doctor?””
Eli shook his head.
“I don't know his name. But Dad said he paid him to change Mom's medicine.””
June covered her mouth.
The detective immediately called his office.
Within minutes, he had requested Rachel's complete medical records, the prescription history, and the names of every physician involved in her treatment.
But the most disturbing discovery came when an officer examined the envelope again.
There was a second piece of paper hidden inside.
A small note.
Three lines.
The original recording is not with Vanessa.
It's somewhere Derek would never think to look.
Ask Eli what happened on the night of the storm.
Hank looked at the boy.
“Eli, do you remember that night?””
The boy's face turned pale.
He began shaking his head.
June pulled him closer.
“You don't have to tell us anything right now.””
But Eli looked up at Hank.
“I remember.””
“What happened, son?””
Eli swallowed hard.
“Mom woke me up. It was raining really hard. She put me in the car and told me to hide under a blanket.””
June's eyes filled.
“Where did she take you?””
“To Grandma's house.””
Hank glanced at June.
“You never mentioned that.””
“Because he was never here,” she whispered.
Eli nodded.
“She came inside and went to the basement. She put something behind the washing machine.””
Detective Harris leaned forward.
“Did you see what it was?””
“A little black phone.””
“Did she tell you why she hid it?””
Eli nodded.
“She said it was going to tell everybody the truth.””
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Eli looked directly at his grandmother.
“Mom also said something else.””
June brushed his hair away from his forehead.
“What, baby?””
Eli began crying again.
“She said if Dad ever came looking for the phone, I had to remember one thing.””
“What was it?””
The boy looked at Hank.
Then at the detective.
And finally, he whispered:
“Mom said the man who gave her the medicine wasn't a doctor.””
A beat passed.
Then Eli added something that made Detective Harris immediately reach for his radio.
“He was Dad's brother.””
June stared at him.
Derek had always told the family that his older brother, Richard, had moved out of state years ago.
But according to the records June remembered, Richard was a licensed pharmacist.
And he had been the person who attended Rachel's funeral.
Outside, a black pickup truck suddenly turned onto the street.
Hank recognized the driver.
Derek.
But this time, Derek wasn't alone.
The passenger door opened.
A man in a white shirt stepped out, carrying a leather medical bag.
Eli saw him through the window.
His little hand clamped around June's wrist.
May you like
“That's him,” he whispered.
“That's the man who brought Mom the medicine.””
