Chapter 2: The Name on the Tag
My hands went cold the moment Rachel said it.
"What did she find?" I asked.
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
Rachel hesitated.
"She told my daughter there was a bag in there.
A big one.
And…
women's clothes inside it.
Not yours, she said.
She was very specific about that."
The kitchen felt like it tilted sideways.
"She's seven," I said.
"Maybe she was confused."
"That's what I thought," Rachel said.
"But then she described the bag.
Pink.
With a broken zipper.
And a name tag on the handle."
I set my coffee cup down before I dropped it.
"What name?" I asked.
Another pause.
Longer this time.
"She said the name on the tag was Melissa."
I didn't say anything.
I couldn't.
Because I knew that name.
David had told me Melissa was an old colleague.
Someone he hadn't spoken to in over two years.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said softly.
"I just…
I have a daughter too.
I'd want someone to tell me."
After we hung up, I sat completely still for a long moment.
Then I walked to the garage.
David's car was gone.
But on the floor, near where the trunk would have been, was something small.
Something that must have fallen out.
I bent down and picked it up.
It was a hotel key card.
Dated last Thursday.
Last Thursday, David told me he was working late.
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What else has David been hiding — and what does Ava actually remember seeing?
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The truth is darker than it looks.
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