Chapter 5: Locker 317
The police took us to a small interview room on the hotel's second floor.
Maya sat beside me with a blanket around her shoulders, holding a paper cup of hot chocolate an officer had brought her. She hadn't taken a sip.
Every few seconds, she looked at the door.
I couldn't blame her.
Within an hour, the woman I had planned to marry had become a suspect in a frightening mystery. A detective I had trusted for years had demanded evidence from my daughter. And a stranger had appeared outside our dressing room, apparently knowing more about my family than he had any right to know.
The wedding guests were still downstairs.
I wondered how long it would take before someone posted a photograph of me leaving the hotel with a frightened child and two police officers.
I didn't care.
Maya rested her head against my arm.
“Daddy, are we going home now?””
“Soon, baby.””
“Can we lock the doors?””
“Yes.””
“And can you sleep in my room tonight?””
I kissed her forehead.
“Of course.””
She nodded, but her fingers continued twisting the blue ribbon attached to the brass key.
Across the table, Vanessa watched us.
Her makeup had run down her cheeks. One side of her face was beginning to swell where I had slapped her.
I looked away.
I would deal with my own actions later. Right now, my daughter needed answers.
A woman in a dark suit entered the room carrying a notebook and a small digital recorder.
“Mr. Mercer? I'm Detective Lena Brooks. Major Crimes.””
She placed her identification on the table.
“I'm taking over the initial interviews. Detective Shaw has been asked to remain outside pending review of the circumstances surrounding this incident.””
“Is he still here?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because he hasn't been formally removed from the investigation, and we need to establish exactly what happened.””
I didn't like that answer, but I appreciated her honesty.
She glanced at Maya.
“Would you prefer that we speak while your daughter is present, or would you like an officer to sit with her in the adjoining room?””
Maya immediately grabbed my hand.
“He stays with me.””
Detective Brooks nodded.
“Then we'll work around that.””
She turned to Vanessa.
“Let's start with the phone.””
Vanessa handed it over without resistance.
“Do you know who sent the messages?””
“No.””
“Do you recognize the number?””
“No.””
“Have you spoken with Detective Shaw outside official interviews?””
Vanessa hesitated.
Brooks noticed.
“Ms. Vale, I need you to understand that withholding information may make it harder to protect the child.””
Vanessa looked at Maya.
Then she nodded.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Several times over the past six months.””
“What did you discuss?””
Vanessa rubbed her trembling hands together.
“He wanted to know whether Daniel had mentioned Alicia. Whether Maya had been asking questions. Whether Daniel was planning to remarry.””
I stared at her.
“You reported on us?””
“I was scared.””
“You could have told me.””
“And what would you have done?”” she snapped.
“You were so desperate to find Alicia that you would have believed anyone who promised to bring her back!””
I started to answer, but Brooks raised one hand.
“Let's keep this focused. Ms. Vale, did Detective Shaw instruct you to harm Maya?””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“He told me to make sure she wouldn't interfere with the wedding.””
The room went cold.
I stood so abruptly that my chair scraped the floor.
“He told you to hurt my daughter?””
“No! He didn't say to hit her!””
“Then what did he mean?””
“He said Maya had to be kept away from the ceremony. He said there were people watching, and if the wedding went ahead without a problem, everything would be settled.””
“What would be settled?””
“I don't know!””
Brooks leaned forward.
“Did you believe he would stop contacting you if you followed his instructions?””
Vanessa nodded.
“He said it would all be over after today.””
“And you believed him?””
“I wanted to believe him.””
I stared at her, unable to understand how someone could stand in front of an eight-year-old child with scissors and convince herself she was doing something necessary.
“Why cut the dress?”” I asked quietly.
Vanessa looked at Maya.
“Because she found the phone.””
My daughter stopped twisting the ribbon.
I turned toward her.
“What phone, sweetheart?””
Maya looked frightened.
“The one Mommy told me about.””
Vanessa's face drained of color.
Detective Brooks gently placed her pen on the table.
“Maya, you don't have to tell us anything you're not comfortable sharing. But if you remember something about your mother, it might help us understand what's happening.””
Maya stared at the brass key.
“Mommy told me to hide a phone in my dollhouse.””
I remembered the dollhouse.
It had been a birthday gift from Alicia, a beautiful wooden mansion with tiny blue shutters and miniature furniture. After Alicia disappeared, Maya refused to let anyone move it from her bedroom.
We had kept it even after selling our old house.
It was currently in the attic of my parents' home.
“Where is the phone now?”” I asked.
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
“Vanessa took it.””
I turned slowly toward my former fiancée.
She closed her eyes.
“I thought it was a toy.””
“You took something from my daughter's dollhouse?””
“I found it when I was helping her pack for the wedding. It was wrapped in a little blanket. I thought it was an old phone she was playing with.””
“Then why didn't you give it back?””
“Because it rang.””
Nobody spoke.
Detective Brooks switched on the recorder.
“Tell me exactly what happened.””
Vanessa swallowed.
“The phone rang the night before yesterday. I answered because I thought it might be one of Daniel's relatives. A woman asked for Maya.””
“Was it Alicia?””
“I don't know. She wouldn't give her name.””
“What did she say?””
Vanessa stared at the table.
“She said, 'Tell Daniel the truth before they take the key.''”
My pulse quickened.
“What happened next?””
“She asked to speak to Maya. I refused. She said that if I cared about the child at all, I would stop the wedding and get her out of the hotel.””
“And you told her?””
“I told her she was insane.””
Vanessa's voice broke.
“She said, 'You have no idea what you've helped them do.'' Then she hung up.””
I leaned forward.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I received another call ten minutes later. It was Detective Shaw. He said he knew about the phone, and he told me not to listen to anyone claiming to be Alicia.””
Brooks wrote something in her notebook.
“Did he explain how he knew about the phone?””
“No.””
“Did he tell you to destroy it?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“He told me to keep it safe until someone came to collect it.””
“Who?””
“He didn't say.””
The pieces were beginning to fit together, but the picture they formed was uglier than anything I had imagined.
Someone had known about Alicia's phone. Someone had known about the key. Someone had arranged for Vanessa to keep both objects away from me.
And someone had expected Maya to remain silent.
Detective Brooks closed her notebook.
“I need to arrange a safe location for you and your daughter while we verify the information about the storage facility.””
I looked at her.
“You believe us?””
“I believe there are enough inconsistencies to warrant immediate investigation. I also believe the threats against your daughter need to be taken seriously.””
It wasn't a promise that everything would be fine.
It was the first honest answer I'd heard all morning.
Then Maya suddenly lifted her head.
“Daddy, I remember the rain.””
I crouched beside her chair.
“What about it?””
“Mommy took me somewhere before she went away. It was dark, and water was falling on the windows. She told me not to look at the man in the front seat.””
My heart began pounding.
“Do you remember where you went?””
She nodded slowly.
“There were lots of metal doors. And a man gave Mommy a little paper.””
Detective Brooks exchanged a glance with the uniformed officer near the door.
“Could it have been a storage facility?”” she asked gently.
Maya nodded.
“Mommy said we were visiting a place where the rain never stops.””
I took the brass key from my pocket.
“Do you remember the number on the door?””
Maya studied the key.
“Three-one-seven.””
Detective Brooks immediately picked up her phone.
“I need a patrol unit to check a storage facility in the area. We're looking for a unit numbered 317, possibly connected to Alicia Mercer.””
She stepped into the corridor to make the call.
I turned toward Vanessa.
“Is this the facility you meant?””
She nodded.
“It's called Rainier Storage. Alicia rented a unit there under a different name. I found the paperwork in her old belongings after she disappeared.””
“Why didn't you tell the police?””
“Because Robert Shaw told me the unit had been cleared.””
“By whom?””
“He said Alicia's family had removed everything.””
“My family never touched her belongings.””
“I know that now.””
I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to demand why she had spent so long keeping secrets that could have helped me find my wife.
Instead, I looked at Maya.
My daughter had been carrying that key for three years.
She had been waiting for her mother to return, holding onto the only thing Alicia had left her.
And every adult who should have protected her had failed.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
Detective Brooks returned, her expression serious.
“We found Rainier Storage,” she said.
“A patrol unit is on the way to secure the property.””
“Is the unit still there?””
“We don't know yet.””
She glanced at the key.
“But the facility manager confirmed something interesting. Unit 317 was paid through the end of this month.””
I felt my breath catch.
“Alicia paid for it?””
“No. The account was opened under another name.””
“Whose?””
Detective Brooks looked directly at Vanessa.
“Vanessa Vale.””
Vanessa began to cry.
I stared at the woman I had nearly married.
She had rented a storage unit containing something connected to my missing wife, concealed it from me, and then tried to keep my daughter silent.
“What's inside?”” I asked.
Brooks shook her head.
“We won't know until we get there.””
Then her phone rang.
She answered, listened for several seconds, and turned toward me.
“Mr. Mercer, we have a problem.””
“What?””
“The storage unit is empty.””
My stomach dropped.
“Everything is gone?””
“Almost everything.””
She paused.
“There's a photograph on the floor. It's a picture of you, Alicia, and Maya taken the day before your wife disappeared.””
I stared at her.
“What's wrong with it?””
Detective Brooks lowered her voice.
“Someone has written a message on the back.””
She turned the photograph toward me.
May you like
In thick black ink, beneath our smiling faces, were six words.
*Your daughter remembers what you did.*
