Chapter 2 - What the Police Found
The daisies landed across the hospital floor.
One stem snapped.
Nobody moved.
Dad stared at the officer.
“What does that mean?”
Officer Ramirez was his name.
I learned that later.
At that moment, he was simply the man whose words had erased every trace of color from my father’s face.
“It means we need to ask you some questions.”
“About my car?”
“Yes.”
“It had mechanical problems.”
Ramirez watched him carefully.
“You told officers at the scene the Lincoln had recently been serviced.”
“It was.”
“Then we'll discuss that outside.”
Dad looked at me.
That was when I noticed something I had somehow missed during his apology.
He wasn't frightened for me.
He was frightened of what I knew.
“Grace,” he said.
Aunt Meredith stepped between us.
“Outside, Daniel.”
His eyes hardened.
For an instant, the gentle father disappeared.
Then he followed Ramirez into the hallway.
I waited until they were gone.
“What did they find?”
Meredith sat beside me again.
“The investigator said a fuel line had been tampered with.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“They aren't certain what happened yet.”
“Tampered with how?”
“They believe it was loosened.”
My mind returned to the strange smell.
Dad dismissing me.
The car is fine.
“Who would do that?”
Meredith did not answer.
That was an answer by itself.
“No.”
“Grace—”
“No. Dad wouldn't—”
“I didn’t say he did.”
“You thought it.”
“I’m telling you why the police are here.”
I pressed my head into the pillow.
Pain pulsed behind my eyes.
“There’s more.”
I looked at her.
Of course there was.
“They found your backpack.”
My breath caught.
“The papers?”
Meredith nodded.
“Your acceptance letter. Lease. Bank information.”
I felt exposed.
Those papers had been my one private doorway out.
“Dad saw them?”
“I don't know.”
Then Meredith hesitated.
“They also found another envelope.”
“What envelope?”
“It wasn't yours.”
“What was in it?”
Before she could answer, Dad raised his voice in the hallway.
“This is ridiculous!”
Ramirez responded too quietly for me to hear.
Then another voice joined them.
A detective.
I recognized her later as Detective Elena Park.
Meredith closed the hospital door.
“Grace, your mother left something with me before she died.”
Every word felt heavier than the last.
“What?”
“She made me promise not to give it to you until you were twenty-one.”
I stared at her.
“I turned twenty-one four months ago.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because I was afraid.”
That surprised me more than anything else.
Aunt Meredith was afraid of almost nothing.
“What was it?”
“A letter.”
I waited.
“And?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
She looked toward the hallway.
“A safe-deposit box.”
The air seemed to leave the room.
“Why would Mom have a safe-deposit box?”
“I don't know everything inside it.”
“But you know something.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Before she answered, someone knocked.
Olivia entered.
She had a bruise along her temple and one wrist wrapped.
For a second, none of the investigation mattered.
“Liv.”
She ran to me.
Carefully.
She hugged me around the shoulders.
“I thought you were going to die.”
Her voice broke.
I held her.
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.”
The words came so fast I almost missed them.
“What?”
She stepped back.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Meredith looked at her.
Olivia seemed terrified.
“I told Dad.”
My stomach tightened.
“Told him what?”
“About Boston.”
There it was.
The missing piece.
“How did you know?”
“I saw your apartment email when I used your laptop.”
I closed my eyes.
“I thought he already knew.”
“What did he say?”
“He got weird.”
“How?”
“He kept asking exactly when you were leaving.”
“When?”
“After graduation.”
“What else?”
“He asked if you'd already paid.”
I looked at Meredith.
“When was this?”
“Yesterday afternoon,” Olivia said.
Hours before the crash.
“Did you tell him about the deposit?”
“Yes.”
My mouth went dry.
“What happened after that?”
Olivia wiped her face.
“He went into his office.”
“For how long?”
“Maybe thirty minutes.”
“And?”
“When he came back, he asked Aunt Meredith if we could leave early.”
I remembered that.
Dad had arrived almost forty minutes before expected.
Olivia stepped closer.
“Grace, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“On the way to Aunt Meredith’s…”
She stopped.
“Dad took the Lincoln to Uncle Ray’s old garage.”
My skin went cold.
“Why?”
“He told me he needed to pick something up.”
“How long was he inside?”
“Ten minutes.”
Meredith stood.
“Did you tell the police this?”
Olivia shook her head.
“Why not?”
“Dad told me not to.”
The hospital room went completely quiet.
“What exactly did he say?”
Olivia looked at me.
“He said if anyone asked about the garage, I should say we drove straight to Aunt Meredith’s.”
My heartbeat thudded against the monitor.
Then Detective Park opened the door.
She carried a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a white envelope.
My name was written across the front.
GRACE HOLLOWAY.
The handwriting wasn't mine.
It wasn't Mom's.
It was Dad's.
“We found this beneath the driver's seat,” Park said.
Dad shouted from somewhere outside.
“Grace, don't answer anything!”
Park looked toward the hallway.
Then back at me.
“Ms. Holloway, we need to know whether you've ever seen this before.”
I stared at the envelope.
“No.”
Park turned it around.
Written across the back were four words.
IF GRACE FINDS OUT.
Olivia covered her mouth.
May you like
And Detective Park said quietly:
“We think whatever is inside may explain why your father was so afraid of you leaving.”
