THE CONFESSION
Danny was waiting in the car.
“Why aren’t you checking in?” she demanded. “It’s been twenty minutes.”
Maya got in. Drove. Didn’t speak.
“Mom. What happened?”
“The device. He found it.”
“Shit.”
“He knew I was there. He knew the whole time.”
Danny was silent.
Then: “What did he say?”
Maya gripped the steering wheel.
“He said I was getting close to the truth. That the women didn’t kill themselves.”
“Then who killed them?”
“He didn’t say. But Detective Leah Park was there. She’s working with him.”
“Leah Park? The detective who arrested you?”
“The same.”
“Mom, we need to go to the police. The real police. Not her.”
“Leah is the police. She’s been on the force for seventeen years. If she’s working with Vance, who else is?”
Danny had no answer.
They drove home.
Maya didn’t sleep.
She sat at her kitchen table, staring at her laptop, going through the case files. Sarah Chen. Elena Vasquez. Clara Bennett. Kaela Morgan. Sophie. The fifth woman.
There was something she was missing. A connection. A name. A place.
She pulled up the referral records from Dr. Webb.
Sarah Chen — referred by Dr. Marcus Webb — patient of Dr. Elias Vance.
Elena Vasquez — referred by Dr. Marcus Webb — patient of Dr. Elias Vance.
Clara Bennett — referred by Dr. Marcus Webb — patient of Dr. Elias Vance.
Kaela Morgan — referred by Dr. Marcus Webb — patient of Dr. Elias Vance.
Sophie — referred by Dr. Marcus Webb — patient of Dr. Elias Vance.
Five women. One referring doctor.
Maya searched for Dr. Marcus Webb’s history.
He had been practicing in Barrow Falls for thirty years. He was respected. Retiring soon. He had never been sued. Never been investigated. Never been accused of anything.
But he had one thing in common with his patients.
He was also a patient of Dr. Elias Vance.
Maya stared at the screen.
Webb had been seeing Vance for years. For what, the records didn’t say. But the appointments were regular. Weekly. Sometimes twice a week.
She picked up her phone.
Called Rachel Bennett.
“Rachel. It’s Maya. I need to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“Did Clara ever mention Dr. Webb? Her primary care doctor?”
A pause.
“She said he was nice. Recommended Vance. Said he helped him with his own problems.”
“What problems?”
“She didn’t say. Just that he was struggling. That Vance was helping him.”
Maya’s mind raced.
“Thank you, Rachel.”
She hung up.
She looked at the names on her screen.
Webb. Vance. The bridge. The dreams. The deaths.
She saw the pattern now.
It wasn’t just Vance.
It was both of them.
She just didn’t know how.