Chapter 4: The Woman Behind the Backpack
Dad picked the photograph up from the floor.
His thumb covered the corner, but I could still see the image clearly.
Vanessa stood beside a woman I had never seen before.
Between them was a little girl’s backpack.
Nia’s backpack.
The same purple backpack with the faded moon stickers she had carried to school for more than a year.
Dad looked at Vanessa.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa said nothing.
“Who is that woman?””
Still nothing.
Dad’s voice sharpened.
“Vanessa.””
She stared at the photograph.
Then she whispered, “Someone I hired.””
My stomach dropped.
“For what?”” I asked.
Vanessa looked at me.
“Lily, stay out of this.””
“No.””
Dad stepped between us.
“She asked a question.””
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I hired someone to help with childcare.””
“You hired someone to watch Nia?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“She was having problems.””
“What problems?””
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Everyone wants an explanation for everything.””
Dad slammed the photograph onto the counter.
“You kept a file on my daughter. You monitored what she ate. You recorded her crying.
You stored food in a locked cabinet. Now I find out you hired someone I’ve never met to follow her around.””
He pointed toward the photograph.
“I want her name.””
Vanessa looked away.
Claire answered.
“Her name is Marlene Voss.””
Dad turned.
“How do you know?””
“Because Vanessa asked me to find her.””
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“I told you not to say that.””
Claire shook her head.
“You told me to keep quiet. There’s a difference.””
Dad stared at both women.
“Why would you need someone like that?””
Claire opened the folder again.
“Because Vanessa believed Nia was stealing.””
Nia’s face crumpled.
“I wasn't.””
“I know,” Claire said gently.
Dad looked at Vanessa.
“Stealing what?””
“Food.””
The word came from Vanessa so quietly that for a second I thought I had imagined it.
“She thought Nia was taking food from Ava,” Claire said.
Dad looked at Nia.
“Were you?””
Nia immediately shook her head.
“No.””
“Never?””
“No.””
Claire stepped closer.
“She wasn't stealing from Ava. She was taking back food that had been bought for her.””
Dad looked confused.
“What does that mean?””
Claire reached into the folder and pulled out a receipt.
“This.””
It was dated eight months earlier.
A grocery order.
The items were simple.
Bread.
Milk.
Peanut butter.
Crackers.
Apples.
Granola bars.
Chicken.
Rice.
Normal things.
Then Dad noticed the highlighted line at the bottom.
The total was almost three hundred dollars.
He frowned.
“That's a lot of groceries.””
“It was,” Claire said.
Then she handed him another document.
A delivery confirmation.
Same date.
Same store.
Same household.
But the delivery address wasn’t our house.
Dad stared at it.
“Where did this go?””
Claire looked at Vanessa.
“To a storage unit.””
Dad’s eyes lifted.
“The one in the photographs?””
Claire nodded.
I looked at Vanessa.
“Why were you buying food and taking it somewhere else?””
Vanessa rubbed her forehead.
“You don't understand.””
“Then explain it.””
“I had a plan.””
Dad’s jaw clenched.
“What plan?””
She hesitated.
Claire answered for her.
“She was preparing to leave.””
Dad went silent.
“Leave where?””
Claire looked at Nia.
“Without you.””
That sentence changed everything.
Dad looked toward Vanessa.
“You were planning to take Nia somewhere?””
Vanessa shook her head quickly.
“No.””
Claire interrupted.
“She was planning to take Ava.””
Dad froze.
“Only Ava.””
Vanessa said nothing.
I felt Nia’s hand go limp in mine.
Dad stared at Vanessa.
“You were going to leave Nia behind?””
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“She isn't my daughter.””
The words hit harder than anything she had said all night.
I looked at Nia.
Her lips parted.
Dad looked like someone had punched him.
“You have spent three years calling yourself her mother.””
“I took care of her.””
“You just said she isn't your daughter.””
“Because she isn't!””
Claire closed her eyes.
“Vanessa…”
“No,” Vanessa snapped.
“I'm done pretending.””
Dad took a step forward.
“What were you planning to do?””
Vanessa’s breathing became uneven.
“Ava belongs with me.””
“Nia?””
“She belongs with you.””
Dad stared.
“You were separating them.””
“She isn't Ava's sister.””
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“She has lived with Ava since she was five!””
“And?”” Vanessa shouted.
“That doesn't make them sisters.””
Nia started crying.
Dad immediately moved toward her.
Vanessa noticed and laughed bitterly.
“There it is.””
Dad stopped.
“What?””
“That look.””
She pointed at Nia.
“You always choose her.””
Dad stared at her.
“She is my daughter.””
“Ava is my daughter.””
“And that gives you permission to hurt mine?””
Vanessa's face hardened.
“I never hurt her.””
Dad looked toward the cabinet.
“You just don't count hunger as hurt?””
Vanessa looked away.
Claire picked up another document.
“There’s something else.””
Dad turned.
“What?””
“The storage unit wasn't for clothes.””
He stared at her.
“What was inside?””
Claire looked at Vanessa.
“Furniture.””
Dad’s expression changed.
“Furniture?””
“A bed. A dresser. A small table. Kitchen supplies.””
My chest tightened.
“She was setting up another house.””
Claire nodded.
“An apartment.””
Dad looked stunned.
“Where?””
Claire handed him a piece of paper.
He read the address.
Then he read it again.
“This is two counties away.””
“Yes.””
“For when?””
Claire hesitated.
“Next month.””
Vanessa suddenly grabbed the document.
“That was before.””
Dad looked at her.
“Before what?””
“Before everything got complicated.””
“Everything got complicated because you were planning to disappear with Ava.””
“I was trying to protect my daughter.””
“From what?””
Vanessa looked directly at Nia.
The hatred in her eyes made me pull my sister closer.
“From her.””
Nia gasped.
Dad’s voice became terrifyingly calm.
“Get out.””
Vanessa blinked.
“What?””
“You heard me.””
“This is my house.””
“I paid for this house.””
“I live here.””
“Not anymore.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You can't do this.””
Dad pointed toward the front door.
“Get out.””
She looked at Claire.
Then at me.
Then at Nia.
For the first time, she looked defeated.
But as she walked toward the hallway, she stopped beside Dad.
“You really think this is all about food?””
Dad turned.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa smiled.
It wasn't a happy smile.
“You've been lied to too.””
Then she kept walking.
Dad watched her disappear around the corner.
A second later, the front door slammed.
Nobody spoke for nearly a minute.
Then Nia tugged on Dad’s sleeve.
“Dad?””
He turned immediately.
“Yes, baby?””
“Am I going anywhere?””
The question nearly broke him.
He dropped to his knees and wrapped both arms around her.
“No.””
Nia clung to his shirt.
“Promise?””
“I promise.””
“She said you’d get tired of me.””
Dad squeezed his eyes shut.
“I could never get tired of you.””
Nia sobbed against his chest.
“I tried to be good.””
“You never had to earn my love.””
I looked away.
I couldn't watch anymore without crying.
Claire stood quietly nearby.
When Nia finally calmed down, Dad stood.
He looked at Claire.
“You've known about this for months.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“Six months ago.””
Dad frowned.
“How?””
“I called your office.””
“I never got a call.””
“Then three months ago, I sent an email.””
Dad pulled out his phone.
“I don't remember seeing it.””
Claire’s face tightened.
“Because Vanessa had access to your work account.””
Dad went still.
“What?””
“She told me she handled your personal correspondence.””
He checked his phone.
Then his face changed.
“That's impossible.””
Claire shook her head.
“It isn't.””
Dad scrolled rapidly.
“There are messages missing.””
“Exactly.””
He looked at her.
“How did you find all this?””
Claire took a long breath.
“Because Nia isn't the first child Vanessa has done this with.””
Nobody moved.
Dad stared at her.
“What?””
Claire opened the folder to a page filled with names.
Girls.
Boys.
Dates.
Addresses.
Notes.
I leaned closer.
The first name was twenty years old.
The newest was Nia.
Dad’s face hardened.
“Who are these children?””
Claire looked directly at him.
“They were all children in families Vanessa lived with, worked for, or married into.””
Nia looked up.
“Did she hurt them too?””
Claire crouched beside her.
“I don't know everything she did.””
Dad stood.
“But you know enough.””
Claire nodded.
“She always controlled the food.””
Dad stared at the list.
“Why?””
Claire hesitated.
“Because it was how she controlled people.””
Dad looked toward the front door.
Then back at the cabinet.
The hidden food.
The recordings.
The logs.
The photographs.
The apartment.
Everything suddenly looked like pieces of the same puzzle.
Then his phone buzzed.
One message.
Unknown number.
Dad opened it.
There was no greeting.
No explanation.
Just one sentence.
*Ask Nia what happened at the lake house last summer.*
Dad slowly lifted his eyes.
“Nia?””
Her face went pale.
She looked at the floor.
Claire whispered, “Oh no.””
Dad knelt in front of her.
“What happened at the lake house?””
Nia’s lips trembled.
“I wasn't supposed to tell.””
Dad’s voice softened.
“Tell me anyway.””
She looked toward the closed front door.
Then she whispered:
“Vanessa didn't take me there for a vacation.””
May you like
A beat of silence.
“She took me there so nobody could hear me scream.””
