Chapter 6
I went back to the house with James, Officer Grant, and Alicia.
Vanessa was gone.
So were several things.
Her jewelry.
Her laptop.
My mother’s phone.
The hallway camera memory card.
The trash bag with Mom’s clothes.
Or so Vanessa thought.
Mrs. Alvarez had already taken a photo of the bag through the back window before I came home.
She had also saved five videos.
Five.
I watched them in the kitchen where my mother had scrubbed the floor.
Video one:
Vanessa taking Mom’s cane.
Video two:
Mom standing outside the back door in slippers while Vanessa said, “You can come in when you remember whose house this is.”
Video three:
Vanessa throwing Mom’s cardigan into a trash bag.
Video four:
Mom knocking softly on the closet door from inside.
My chest stopped.
The audio was faint.
But I heard her.
“Please. I need my medicine.”
Video five:
Vanessa on the phone, laughing.
“She’ll be gone soon. Michael won’t fight me once the house is mine.”
Alicia paused the video.
The room went silent.
James turned slowly toward me.
“The house?”
My stomach dropped.
The house had belonged to my father before he died.
Mom had transferred her share to me after moving in.
But she had a life estate agreement.
She had the right to live there safely for the rest of her life.
Vanessa knew that.
May you like
Of course she did.
She had asked about it many times.
