Chapter 3: The Name on the Ticket
Derrick looked down at the travel confirmation.
The printed details were partially hidden beneath the passport, and Vanessa was now standing beside the open van door, one hand gripping the frame.
“Give me my passport,” she demanded.
Derrick ignored her.
He smoothed the paper against his knee, flattening the crease that had concealed the passenger information.
The first name was Vanessa's.
The surname was hers, too.
But beneath it was a second line, partially obscured by a fold.
Derrick turned the paper toward the sunlight coming through the window.
Rochelle leaned closer.
“What does it say?””
“Wait.””
He unfolded the bottom section.
There was a second booking reference.
And a second passenger.
Derrick read the name once.
Then again.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
“Vanessa,” he said, his voice suddenly quiet.
“Who is Camille Brooks?””
Vanessa stopped reaching for the passport.
For the first time since Derrick had known her, she looked genuinely unprepared.
“It's a friend.””
“A friend who has a booking reference attached to your one-way flight?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because we're traveling together.””
“Where?””
“I told you, I haven't decided.””
Derrick lifted the paper.
“You've booked a one-way flight for tomorrow, arranged for someone named Camille to travel with you, and hidden the confirmation behind your passport. What part of this looks undecided?””
Vanessa stepped away from the door.
“You don't understand the situation.””
“Then explain it.””
She looked at Mia.
Derrick immediately noticed.
His arm tightened around the little girl.
“Don't look at her. Look at me.””
Vanessa's jaw worked as she searched for an answer.
Rochelle spoke first.
“Is Camille the woman you kept calling from the balcony last night?””
Vanessa's head snapped toward her.
“You were listening to my conversations?””
“No. I was getting ice when you said, 'Tomorrow changes everything.'' I didn't know what you meant.””
Derrick stared at his wife.
“What changes tomorrow?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I can't explain this in front of everybody.””
“You've had four years to explain whatever this is.””
“You're making it sound sinister.””
“You left a six-year-old child behind at a resort.””
“I made a mistake!””
The words came out louder than she intended.
Mia jerked against Derrick's chest.
Vanessa saw her reaction, swallowed, and forced herself to speak more calmly.
“I made a mistake,” she repeated.
“I thought Rochelle had her. Everyone was moving around, the driver was leaving, and I assumed somebody had checked.””
Rochelle stared at her.
“You told the driver to leave.””
“I told him we were running late.””
“You watched Mia run after us.””
“I didn't realize how far she'd fallen behind!””
Derrick remembered the cold certainty in her voice.
She'll be fine.
He couldn't reconcile that sentence with the explanation she was offering now.
“Then why didn't you ask the driver to stop?”” he said.
Vanessa rubbed her forehead.
“Because I was angry.””
“At a six-year-old?””
“At all of you!””
Her voice cracked across the van.
For a moment, she looked almost relieved to have finally said something honest.
“You all walk around this family like nothing can ever change,” she continued.
“Every decision revolves around Mia. Every holiday, every dinner, every dollar. If she wants something, Derrick makes it happen.
If she cries, everyone stops. And if I object, I'm the wicked stepmother.””
Derrick didn't interrupt.
Vanessa pointed toward the little girl.
“Even this vacation was supposed to be different. I asked for one week where we could act like a normal family, and you spent half of it running after her.””
Derrick looked at Mia.
The child was staring at her own shoes, trying to make herself smaller.
He turned back to Vanessa.
“She is a normal part of our family.””
“And what about me?””
“You're the adult who was supposed to help protect her.””
Vanessa's eyes filled, but her tears didn't soften Derrick's expression.
“You think I wanted this?”” she asked.
“You think I wanted to spend my life competing with a dead woman?””
The van fell silent.
Rochelle's face changed.
“Don't you dare bring Angela into this.””
“Angela is always in this house!”” Vanessa shouted.
“Her pictures are everywhere. Her daughter gets everything. Derrick still talks about her like she was perfect, and I'm supposed to smile and pretend I don't feel like a guest in my own marriage.””
Derrick absorbed the words without looking away.
“My daughter died,” he said.
“Mia lost her mother. There is no competition.””
“You don't know what it's like to come second every single day.””
“No,” Derrick answered.
“But I know what it's like to bury someone you love. And I know that Mia didn't ask to lose her mother.””
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“Of course you'd take her side.””
“I'm taking the side of a child who was frightened enough to think her grandfather had abandoned her.””
Mia finally looked up.
“Grandpa?””
Derrick turned toward her.
“I'm right here, sweetheart.””
“Are we going home?””
He brushed a curl away from her wet cheek.
“Yes. We're going home.””
Vanessa let out a bitter laugh.
“You can't just decide everything.””
“I can decide that Mia isn't going anywhere with you until I understand what happened this morning.””
“You can't keep my own family from me.””
“I haven't decided anything about your future with this family. I've decided she's staying with me today.””
Vanessa looked toward the resort again.
Her phone buzzed inside her handbag.
She ignored it.
Then it buzzed a second time.
Derrick extended his hand.
“Show me the message.””
“No.””
“Then tell me who Camille is.””
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
Rochelle slowly reached for the folded travel confirmation.
“Derrick, there's something else.””
He handed her the paper.
Rochelle turned it over, studying the reverse side. A narrow strip of printed text had been hidden against the fold.
Her eyes widened.
“What?”” Derrick asked.
She passed the paper back to him without answering.
At the bottom, beneath the passenger details, was a reservation note.
*SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT CONFIRMED.*
Below it was a second line.
*ADDITIONAL PASSENGER DETAILS TO FOLLOW.*
Derrick stared at the words.
“Additional passenger?”” he repeated.
Vanessa's face had gone pale.
He looked at the two booking references again.
“One ticket for you. One for Camille. And somebody else was supposed to be added?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Derrick glanced toward Mia, who was now clutching his hand with both of hers.
Then he looked back at his wife.
“Who else was supposed to be on that flight?””
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, the phone inside her handbag began ringing again.
She pulled it out so quickly that the bag slipped from her shoulder and struck the floor.
The screen lit up.
This time, the caller's name was visible.
*CAMILLE BROOKS.*
Vanessa answered without taking her eyes off Derrick.
“Not now,” she whispered.
A woman's voice came through the speaker, clear enough for everyone in the van to hear.
“Vanessa, listen to me. We have a problem.””
Vanessa shut her eyes.
The woman continued.
“The person you promised me would be there tomorrow has already—”
Vanessa abruptly ended the call.
Nobody spoke.
Derrick slowly placed the passport and travel confirmation side by side on the seat.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“What person?”” he asked.
Vanessa's hand trembled around the phone.
May you like
And Mia, still pressed against her grandfather, whispered the one question that made every adult in the van turn toward her.
“Grandpa... why did Auntie Vanessa ask me yesterday if I wanted to go on a trip without you?””
