Chapter 6 - The black SUV
Officer Brooks immediately returned.
He never pressured Grace.
He simply asked her to draw.
A house.
A tree.
The wheelbarrow.
Then:
“Can you draw the car?”
Grace chose a black crayon.
Large body.
Square windows.
She added a silver circle on the front.
“What’s that?”
“A bird.”
An emblem.
Brooks photographed the drawing.
Hayes recognized it later.
Whitmore Security.
Charles Whitmore’s family company operated its own private security division.
Their vehicles carried a silver eagle emblem.
Police began reviewing available footage from roads near Rachel’s home.
One camera had captured a black SUV two days earlier.
Another caught what appeared to be the same vehicle leaving the area.
That still did not prove a crime.
But it justified questions.
Charles’s older brother, Richard Whitmore, arrived at the sheriff’s office with an attorney before anyone contacted him.
That alone interested Hayes.
Richard was fifty-eight.
Polished.
Controlled.
He claimed Rachel had been obsessed with Charles.
He denied the twins could be his brother’s children.
“My brother had a wife.”
“Was he seeing Rachel?”
“No.”
Police showed him the photograph.
Richard paused.
“A photograph proves nothing.”
Then Hayes asked:
“Why did one of your company vehicles visit her house?”
For the first time, Richard’s composure cracked.
“Many people drive those vehicles.”
“Who?”
“I would have to check.”
“We already did.”
Silence.
The SUV was assigned to Richard’s executive protection team.
He immediately requested to end the interview.
Back at the hospital, Dr. Miller had better news.
Noah was responding.
Emma remained weaker, but her temperature was rising.
Grace touched the incubator glass.
“You’re okay,” she whispered.
Then Rachel’s condition suddenly deteriorated.
Doctors rushed into her room.
Grace watched them disappear down the corridor.
And somewhere inside that room, Rachel began trying desperately to speak.
May you like
Only one word came out clearly.
“Richard.”
