Page 57 of The Vanishing Wife

“Not just mine,” Elyse said. “Ava’s and Wesley’s too. Just in case. I keep it stored at a local blood bank in case there’s an emergency. You can never be too careful.”

“For what, Elyse?” Pain pulsed at the back of her head. Something dry and crusty itched. Blood. Leigh struggled to keep herself focused, but it was getting harder. Her head was getting heavier. “Why make everyone believe you were dead? Why put your daughter through all of this?”

“My daughter is stronger than you think.” Elyse bounced off the bed. Then pulled a suitcase out from the closet. “And someday when she learns the truth, as I imagine she will, she’ll understand how much I love her. How far I will go to protect her.”

“You were the one who got Saige Fuentes back to her family,” Leigh said. “You were the one who took her to a hotel to recover after you got her out of Samuel Thornton’s house.”

“I told you.” Elyse hefted the suitcase onto the end of the bed. Then paused. “I wasn’t going to let Samuel Thornton hurt anyone else. I take it she gave you the necklace. The one that used to belong to Poppy Slater?”

“Let me guess, you took it from the beach house,” Leigh said.

“He killed her. Just like he killed Ruby Davis. Like he was going to kill Ava and Saige. I thought her parents deserved to have it back when this was all over.” Her friend smiled again. “I’ve always believed people come into your life for a reason, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago I realized why you’d come into mine. Why your cancer returned, why we became so close. But when Wesley suggested we take our annual fall vacation to Gulf Shores, I realized you could help me do what I’ve always done best. Take care of my family.”

“You stole Poppy Slater’s phone from her parents’ house. Then you proceeded to bait Samuel Thornton to initiate a relationship with you over social media with a fake profile and photos.” Leigh wanted to know. Everything. How had her friend become this… killer? “You could’ve just handed everything over to the police. The photos of Ruby, the hair you found, the messages between Ava and Samuel Thornton. None of this had to happen.”

“The police?” Elyse’s laugh triggered a chain reaction in Leigh that started with the tightening of her scalp and ended with the burn of acid in her chest. Elyse started pulling clothes from the closet. Just hers. Leaving Wesley’s hanging. “I went to the police, Leigh. That detective you’re so concerned about wouldn’t believe anything I said. I told her Samuel Thornton assaulted me. I told her she needed to keep a better eye on him, but she wrote me off. I was nothing but a concussed, traumatized liar to her. So I did what I had to do, and you know what she tried to do when she found me in this house? Arrest me. Can you believe that? After everything that man has done to those girls, she wanted to arrest me. But, to be fair, I knew you would come looking once you got word I’d disappeared. I knew I could trust you to find the truth. That you would be the one to find the photos of Ruby Davis and the evidence of what kind of man Samuel Thornton was. Because that’s who you are, Leigh. You’re a good friend.”

“What about Ava?” Leigh regained enough logical thought to twist her wrists within the rope binds. There was a bit of give. Maybe enough to wiggle free. Elyse hadn’t bothered tying her ankles to the chair. Most likely relying on the head injury to keep Leigh complacent. But she’d never taken anything lying down. “You’ll never be able to stop running, Elyse. You assaulted a police officer. You killed a man. You’ll never see your daughter again. She’ll end up in foster care, moved from house to house for the next four years. Is that the kind of life you really want her to live?”

“It’s not your job to worry about Ava.” Elyse shoved another round of clothes into the suitcase and started folding as if this were a typical laundry day. “She’ll be perfectly fine. She’s got her whole life ahead of her. We’ll have the chance to start over. Just the two of us.”

Realization struck. “Staying on the run isn’t the answer. Changing your name, changing Ava’s—it’s not as easy as you think. There’s DNA and photo recognition. US Marshals will catch up with you, and then what?” She didn’t get an answer to that. Only more folding. “This isn’t you, Elyse. The woman I know became a physician’s assistant to help expecting mothers stay healthy and alive during their pregnancies. She was there for me when I woke up from surgery because she cared. She loved her family and her job. She loved Clarksburg and didn’t ever intend on moving. I know what you’re facing. I know what’s happened feels like it’s too much to take, but fleeing with two people’s blood on your hands isn’t going to fix it.”

Elyse stared straight ahead, a shirt half folded in one hand. “It’s amazing how little two friends can know about each other, isn’t it? How weekly phone calls can hide as much as they reveal about a person. I put Ava directly in that monster’s path. I failed my own daughter, Leigh. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”

“Yes.” Leigh could only think of her brother’s disappearance. Of her personal oath to find him and fix everything. No matter what it took. She imagined Elyse felt the same way. Responsible. Knowing that if she sat back and let the world work itself out, she’d be left with nothing but an empty space in her chest for the rest of her life. “I do.”

“Then you know why I have to do this.” Elyse shoved the rest of the clothing into the suitcase and zipped it shut. “So now I’m going to need you to tell me where my daughter is.”

“You left a voicemail on my phone. You asked for my help. Well, here I am.” Rope twine scratched at the thin skin along the back of Leigh’s hand as she pulled one hand free with everything she had. She had to keep her upper body from jarring to one side so as not to attract Elyse’s attention. “Let me help you.”

“How? How are you going to help me? By arresting me like Detective Moore wanted when she walked in on me packing? By bringing me in and giving me a chance to tell my side of the story? You don’t want to help me, Leigh. It’s clear you’ve already chosen your side.” Elyse turned a sad half smile on her. Warm light caught the tip of Leigh’s pocketknife on the floor, the one she’d dropped while trying to keep Detective Moore from bleeding out. Her friend walked over to it, collected it in one hand. “And it isn’t mine. So I’ll ask again. Where is Ava?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Leigh kept her attention on the knife. On Elyse closing the distance between them.

“Then I’ll make this quick.” Elyse bent in half, setting her forehead against Leigh’s, and closed her eyes. The tip of blade pricked through her button-down. Right against her heart. One wrong move, and it would all be over. “You’ve been a good friend. One I’ll never forget.”

“I won’t forget this either.” Leigh latched her free hand on to Elyse’s wrist and brought both of her feet up. She kicked against the bed frame. The world flipped on its axis as gravity dragged her backward. Taking Elyse with her. Air knocked free of her chest as they hit the ground as one.

A groan filled the room. Leigh didn’t realize it’d been hers until the pain started in her shoulder. The blood came next. Slowly leaking across her skin and staining her shirt.

Elyse fell to one side and struggled to her feet. Her gaze on the pocketknife protruding from beneath Leigh’s collarbone. “I’m sorry, Leigh. I really am, but I’m never going to stop protecting my family. Even if that means losing you as a friend.”

THIRTY-EIGHT

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Monday, September 23

7:04 p.m.

So this was what dying felt like.

Leigh braced her shoulder, fingers on either side of the blade. Blood seeped from the wound. Warm and sticky with an almost sweet smell. A heavy wave of dizziness hit as she grabbed for the rope still secured around her other hand, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Don’t come looking for me, Leigh.” Elyse stepped over her, grabbed the suitcase off the bed, and headed for the hallway. “You’ve already seen how far I’m willing to go to protect what’s mine. I’d hate for you to end up like Samuel Thornton.”

“Except you didn’t kill Samuel Thornton.” Leigh shoved her elbow into the back of the chair and hefted her uninjured shoulder up. She threaded one leg over the other and struggled to stand on both feet. Dragging the chair with her. Pain and exhaustion threatened to bring her down. She’d survived worse, but this time, she’d have to arrest someone she’d trusted. Cared about.

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