Chapter 7: The Secret Buried With Ethan
“Daniel, please don't ask me about that night.””
Vanessa's voice was barely audible.
I stared at her, still holding my phone.
The anonymous messages glowed on the screen.
Ask Vanessa what happened the night Ethan died.
Michael stood near the window, his hands clenched into fists.
“What happened that night?”” he demanded.
Vanessa shook her head.
“Michael, you need to calm down.””
“Don't tell me to calm down. You've been hiding things from us for years.””
“I didn't want to hurt anyone.””
Michael laughed bitterly.
“You've managed to hurt everyone anyway.””
The baby began stirring in the bassinet.
I walked over and checked her blanket before turning back toward Vanessa.
“I'm going to ask you one more time. What happened the night Ethan died?””
Vanessa looked at the floor.
Then she whispered, “He called me.””
I frowned.
“Called you?””
“About the embryos.””
Michael stepped forward.
“What about them?””
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“He had found out your mother had arranged the additional embryo without telling him. He was furious.””
Michael shook his head.
“That's impossible. Ethan never mentioned anything.””
“Because he didn't want you involved.””
“Go on,” I said.
Vanessa took a shaky breath.
“Ethan came to see me that evening. He told me he had contacted the fertility clinic and requested that every remaining embryo be destroyed.””
Michael stared.
“He wanted them destroyed?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because he was afraid someone would use them without his permission.””
I looked at the documents.
That explained why Ethan had left such specific instructions.
But it didn't explain the accident.
“What happened after that?””
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“We argued.””
“About what?””
“He said I needed to let him go. He said I was holding on to the possibility of a child instead of accepting what was happening.””
She pressed her hands together.
“I told him I couldn't accept that. I told him I had already lost too much.””
Michael looked away.
“Then what?””
Vanessa's voice cracked.
“He left.””
I waited.
She continued.
“He was angry. I followed him outside, but he told me to go back inside. He said he needed to be alone.””
I looked at her.
“And then?””
“About twenty minutes later, I got a call from the police.””
Michael slowly sat down.
“You were the last person who saw him?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I didn't want you to think I had caused his death.””
The room went quiet.
I took a step toward her.
“Did you?””
Vanessa looked horrified.
“No! Daniel, no!””
“Then what are you hiding?””
She covered her face.
“I never told anyone that Ethan had been drinking.””
Michael's head snapped up.
“What?””
“He was upset. He had been drinking before he came to see me.””
Michael stood.
“Ethan didn't drink when he was taking medication.””
“He wasn't taking medication that evening.””
“You're lying.””
“I'm not!””
Michael grabbed the back of the chair.
“His medical records showed no alcohol in his system after the accident.””
Vanessa went completely still.
I looked between them.
“Wait. What?””
Michael reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone.
“I kept copies of everything after the accident. My mother wanted to understand what happened.””
He searched through his files.
Then he showed us a photograph of a medical report.
The toxicology results were negative.
No alcohol.
No sedatives.
No intoxicating substances.
Vanessa stared at the screen.
Her lips trembled.
“I don't understand.””
Michael looked at her.
“Then why did you say he had been drinking?””
She began crying harder.
“I thought…”
“You thought what?””
“I thought if I told the truth, everyone would blame me.””
I stepped closer.
“Vanessa, what truth?””
She looked at me.
Then she whispered:
“I took something from him that night.””
Michael's face changed.
“What did you take?””
“The clinic envelope.””
“What envelope?””
“The one containing the original embryo identification records.””
Michael stared at her.
“Why?””
“Because Ethan wanted to destroy everything. I thought if I kept the documents, I could still have the child we had dreamed about.””
I felt sick.
“You took the records from him?””
She nodded.
“He left them on the kitchen table. I put them in my handbag.””
“And then he drove away?””
“Yes.””
Michael slowly sat down again.
“Did you tell the police?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Why?””
“Because the records were missing. I was afraid they would ask why I had them.””
I looked at the baby.
Then back at Vanessa.
“So you've spent six years keeping this secret.””
“Yes.””
“And when you married me, you still didn't tell me?””
She started sobbing.
“I thought the past was over.””
I shook my head.
“The past isn't over when you keep making decisions based on it.””
Before she could respond, someone knocked on the door.
A hospital security officer stood outside.
“Mr. Carter?””
“Yes?””
“There's a detective downstairs asking to speak with you and Mrs. Carter.””
My stomach tightened.
“Why?””
“He says it's regarding a newly submitted report connected to Ethan Cole's accident.””
Vanessa gripped the bedrail.
“What report?””
The officer checked his notes.
“A witness statement that was received this morning.””
Michael looked at her.
“Who submitted it?””
The officer hesitated.
“According to the paperwork, the witness is Mrs. Rebecca Cole.””
Michael went pale.
“That's impossible.””
“Why?”” I asked.
Michael swallowed.
“Because my mother has been dead for two years.””
Detective Samuel Brooks entered the hospital room fifteen minutes later.
He was a tall man in his late forties, with a tired face and a dark blue suit.
He introduced himself, then asked everyone to remain seated.
“I understand this is an unusual situation,” he began.
“But a document was delivered to our department this morning. It concerns the circumstances surrounding Ethan Cole's death.””
Michael leaned forward.
“My mother is dead. Who delivered it?””
“An attorney representing her estate.””
Detective Brooks opened a brown envelope.
Inside was a handwritten statement, several photographs, and a copy of an old police report.
“Mrs. Cole left instructions that this information should only be released if certain events occurred.””
Michael frowned.
“What events?””
The detective glanced at Vanessa.
“Specifically, if someone attempted to use the stored reproductive material without proper authorization.””
Vanessa began shaking.
I looked at her.
“You knew about this?””
“No.””
The detective continued.
“According to the statement, Mrs. Cole believed that the original embryo records had been altered shortly before Ethan's accident.””
Michael stood.
“By whom?””
“That's what we're trying to establish.””
Detective Brooks removed a photograph.
It showed Ethan standing outside the fertility clinic.
The date printed on the back was the day he died.
I looked at Vanessa.
She stared at the photograph as if she had seen something impossible.
“Where did you get that?”” she whispered.
“It was included in the envelope.””
Vanessa reached for it.
Then stopped.
The detective turned the photograph over.
A handwritten note appeared beneath the date.
Ethan discovered the truth. He was on his way to confront the person responsible.
Michael's face tightened.
“What truth?””
The detective looked at him.
“Mrs. Cole believed Ethan had discovered that one of the stored samples had been used without the donor's consent.””
Michael slowly sat down.
“My sample.””
The detective nodded.
“Possibly.””
I felt the room closing around me.
“Are you saying Ethan died because he discovered someone had used Michael's genetic material?””
“I'm saying we have reason to reopen certain questions about the accident.””
Vanessa suddenly began crying.
“I didn't kill him.””
Nobody had accused her.
But she had said it anyway.
Detective Brooks turned toward her.
“Mrs. Carter, nobody has made that accusation.””
She pressed her hands against her mouth.
Then the detective removed one final photograph.
It showed a dark SUV parked outside the fertility clinic.
The license plate was partially visible.
Michael leaned forward.
His expression changed.
“That's my father's car.””
The detective nodded.
“Your father was listed as having been out of town that evening.””
“He was.””
“According to the original statement.””
Michael looked confused.
Then the detective placed another page on the table.
“This is a revised statement submitted by your mother before her death.””
Michael read the first line.
His hands began trembling.
Then he looked up.
“My father was there?””
The detective nodded.
“And Mrs. Cole believed he was the last person to see Ethan alive.””
Vanessa made a small choking sound.
I looked at her.
She was staring at the photograph.
And then she whispered:
“That's not possible.””
I turned toward her.
“Why?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because I saw someone else in that car.””
The detective immediately leaned forward.
“Who?””
Vanessa looked at Michael.
Then at me.
And finally, she said a name none of us expected.
“Rebecca.””
The detective frowned.
“Mrs. Cole?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“No. Not Michael's mother.””
She pointed at the photograph.
“The woman sitting beside Ethan's father.””
I stared.
There were two figures visible through the windshield.
One was a man.
The other was a woman.
Vanessa's voice dropped to a whisper.
May you like
“It was Claire.””
And suddenly, the woman who had spent the afternoon telling us she was merely an administrator at the fertility clinic became the most important person in the room.
