Page 57 of Tangled Past
Maya’s hand landed on his shoulder. “That’s her,” she whispered. “My mother.”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice hoarse. “It is.”
His father’s notes here were tighter. More urgent.
“Met Vanessa at the small bar off Route 7, where she worked nights. I went there on a lead from one of the victim’s friends. Vanessa recognized where my questions were going before I asked them. She refused to talk at first. Said, ‘I like living.’ I returned twice. Brought photos of the missing women with me the last time. She froze at #5 and finally admitted the women had all been to the bar shortly around the time they disappeared. She said she knew the person who took the women. I asked her how, thinking it might be her daughter's father. She told me no. Maya’s father was a casual relationship that ended when she became pregnant, and the father didn’t want to have anything to do with her or the baby.
Asa stopped reading and glanced up at Maya. The pain on her face confirmed how much it hurt to hear her father didn’t want her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
She shook her head, tears hovering in her eyes.
He continued reading:
“Vanessa admitted she saw the man who took those women. She said, ‘He watches the way they leave. He likes the ones who leave alone.’”
Maya sniffed several times, her fingers tightened on his shoulder.
Asa drew a breath and read the next line. “She said she saw him take victim #5 from the parking lot behind the bar when she was taking out the bar’s trash before closing up. She hid but made a slight sound. Vanessa’s not sure if he heard her, but she’s terrified she might be next. She said he comes into the bar and watches her.” Below that, his father had written, “She’s the only witness who saw his face and watched him take someone.”
The ink had dug so hard there the paper had nearly torn. Vanessa had tried to do the right thing, and it painted a bigger target on her back.
He turned the page.
“Vanessa refused to do a formal statement at the station. She believed the killer was someone of importance. Someone with a lot of influence. We made an arrangement: I get her off the mainland quickly. She agrees to talk once she’s somewhere he would never think to look. I chose Hope Island because there are no ties to the murders. It’s rural, so someone new to the island would stand out. The plan is to bring her and her daughter Maya over as ‘family friends’ needing a break. I’ll set them up at Hardesty farm outside town, which is close tomy place and vacant at present.” That last part was underlined twice.
Below that was a short line, almost an afterthought.
“Someone is already watching. Saw the white SUV twice driving near the farm. I gave chase, but the driver whom I couldn’t see got away. I don’t think Vanessa has seen the vehicle yet. I’ve made it a point to drive by the farm as much as possible for her and Maya’s protection. Still, I need to move fast.” Asa stared at the words until they blurred.
JT’s voice came from somewhere above him. “So, he knew. Before that night. He knew the danger was active.”
“And he still tried to help us,” Maya said, her voice tremulous and fierce all at once.
Asa turned another page. Near the middle, his father had taped in a photocopy of what looked like a shipping schedule. One line had been circled.
“Brucker Freight. The bar is on the delivery route.”
Brucker.
The name rang a faint bell. Nothing solid. Just an echo from some long-ago conversation about companies servicing the island.
Was someone from Brucker the killer?
Asa filed it away for later. Not now. The last thing he wanted was to leap at coincidence just because he was desperate for something solid. He flipped to the final pages. The handwriting there grew tighter, more compressed.
“Vanessa says she’s ready to talk on record once I can move her and Maya to a different location. She’s terrified and convinced the killer will find her here. She has reason to be if the SUV being spotted was any indication. I’m working on a backup plan now. If something happens to me, someone needs to know about this.”
The last line was written at a sharper angle, as if he’d been interrupted and came back to finish it. Asa’s chest constricted at the mention of his name. “Asa, if you’re reading this and I’m dead, assume he found Vanessa and Maya and murdered me.” Silence closed in around Asa.
No one moved. No one breathed.
Will was the first to find his voice. “We have confirmation now,” he said quietly. “This wasn’t an isolated murder in a barn. This was part of a bigger pattern spanning multiple cities and years. Vanessa wasn’t just an unlucky bystander. She was the one person who saw him clearly and lived.”
“My father knew it,” Asa said, his voice low. “He knew exactly what he was up against.”
Will’s fists clenched. “He still went alone that night.”
