Chapter 3 - MY WIFE KNEW THEIR NAMES
The envelope had been sealed.
Aaron opened it in front of Ethan, a child-services attorney, and Detective Mara Chen from the county major-crimes unit.
Inside were four pages.
The first line destroyed whatever remained of Ethan’s belief that he had known his wife completely.
Ethan,
If Emma and Ella are at the cabin, then everything I was afraid of has happened.
Ethan stopped reading.
He looked at the twins through the interview-room window.
Same dirty dresses.
Now wearing hospital socks and holding juice boxes.
He continued.
The girls are sisters. They are seven. Their mother is Rachel Wade. She is not dead. If anyone tells you she is, do not believe it without proof.
Ethan looked at Mara.
“Rachel Wade?”
Mara typed the name.
A missing-person report appeared.
Rachel Wade, thirty-three.
Reported missing fourteen months earlier.
Her husband:
Thomas Wade.
The twins’ father.
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
The letter continued.
Thomas is dangerous when he thinks he is losing control. Rachel asked me for help after she found financial records that could put him in prison. I helped her contact an attorney and a domestic-violence advocate. She planned to leave with the girls.
Then:
She never made it to the meeting.
Ethan looked up.
“Olivia was helping a woman escape her husband?”
Mara said:
“It appears so.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
The next paragraph answered.
I did not tell you because Thomas has people watching Rachel, and because I was afraid that if you knew, you would try to protect me in ways that made us both visible.
Ethan closed his eyes.
That sounded exactly like Olivia.
Infuriating.
Loving.
Certain she could carry danger alone.
The letter named an attorney:
Mara Alvarez, family-law attorney in Asheville.
It also named a nonprofit advocate:
June Porter.
Both had tried to help Rachel disappear safely.
Then the letter ended with a warning.
If the girls return without Rachel, check the old storage locker in Boone. Unit 314. The key is taped under the drawer in my desk.
And Ethan—
please do not assume my accident was connected to this unless there is evidence.
I know how your mind works.
Follow facts.
Not grief.
Love,
Olivia.
Ethan laughed once.
May you like
Then cried.
Even dead, she was still correcting him.
