Chapter 4: What Diane Knew
Diane lived twenty minutes away in a house that still had Rachel's childhood photos on the hallway wall.
I'd always liked that about her.
She hadn't taken them down after the funeral.
She'd left them exactly where they were.
She met me at the door before I knocked.
"Where's Sophie?"
"With my neighbor.
She's fine." I stepped inside.
"Talk to me."
Diane led me to the kitchen.
Two mugs were already on the counter.
She'd known I was coming the moment I said I needed the truth.
She sat down across from me and wrapped both hands around her mug.
"How much do you know?" she asked.
"I know Sophie heard Rachel's voice on Vanessa's phone today.
I know Vanessa pushed Sophie into the pool.
I know there was a message on Vanessa's phone that said they needed to move faster." I looked at her.
"I know you're not surprised by any of this."
Diane closed her eyes.
"I saw her," she said.
"Eight months ago.
At a gas station two towns over.
I almost didn't recognize her.
She'd cut her hair.
She was wearing glasses she doesn't need." She opened her eyes.
"She saw me too.
She shook her head.
Just once.
Like she was telling me not to say anything."
The mug in my hands felt very heavy.
"You've known for eight months."
"I didn't know what to do, Daniel.
I didn't know if she was in danger.
I didn't know if going to you would make things worse.
I didn't know—" Her voice broke.
She pressed her fingers to her mouth.
"She's my sister."
"She's Sophie's mother."
"I know that."
"Sophie thinks she's d*ad, Diane.
For two years, that little girl has thought her mother was g*ne."
"I know." It came out as barely a sound.
I stood up.
Sat back down.
"Was Vanessa involved in whatever happened?
In Rachel disappearing?"
"I don't know the whole story.
But Rachel was scared of someone before she vanished.
She called me the week before — she said she'd found out something about someone close to you.
She wouldn't say what.
She said she needed a little more time to be sure."
"Close to me." I went still.
"Vanessa."
"I don't know."
"Rachel found something out about Vanessa.
And then Rachel disappeared.
And then Vanessa was suddenly in my life, in my house, close to my daughter." I pushed back from the table.
"I need to find Rachel."
"Daniel—"
"She reached out to you once.
She's been watching.
She called Sophie today.
She's trying to get close without being seen." I looked at Diane.
"Help me find her.
Please."
Diane was quiet for a long moment.
She turned her mug in a slow circle on the table.
"There's a number," she said finally.
"She left it with me the day I saw her at the gas station.
She slipped a piece of paper through my car window before she walked away." She stood and went to the kitchen drawer.
Came back with a folded square of paper, worn at the creases like it had been opened and closed many times.
She held it out.
I took it.
Unfolded it.
A phone number.
And four words written beneath it in Rachel's handwriting, handwriting I would know anywhere.
*Don't call.
Text only.*
I looked up at Diane.
"She's been waiting," Diane said softly.
"I think she's been waiting for you to find out."
I pulled out my phone.
My hands had stopped shaking.
Something had replaced the shaking — something quieter and more focused, like a door that had been rattling in a storm finally going still.
I typed four words.
*Sophie heard your voice.*
I pressed send.
The three dots appeared almost immediately.
Then they stopped.
Then a message came through that made me grip the edge of Diane's kitchen table with my free hand.
May you like
*Is she safe?
Is Vanessa still there?*
