Chương 13
“He likes to stop halfway,” Daniel said.
“Why?”
“I don’t think he knows.”
Laura almost smiled.
“He gets that from you.”
Daniel looked down.
“I deserved that.”
“I wasn’t trying to be mean.”
“I know.”
Owen drank noisily.
Laura touched his cheek.
“Who gave you the formula?”
“A woman on the bus.”
Laura looked up.
“A stranger?”
“I ran out.”
“You ran out of food for him?”
Daniel felt himself become defensive before he spoke.
“I packed enough for the ride home.”
“But you ran out.”
“The bus got stuck.”
“You should’ve packed more.”
“I know.”
The words came sharper than he intended.
Laura looked away.
Daniel rubbed his palms against his jeans.
“A woman helped me.”
“What woman?”
“Her name was Ruth.”
“You know her name?”
“She rode back toward the hospital with me.”
Laura stared at him.
Daniel heard how it sounded.
“She used to be a postpartum nurse.”
“That makes it weirder.”
“It wasn’t weird.”
“You met a stranger on a bus and brought her here?”
“She didn’t come inside.”
Laura shook her head faintly.
“You always do this.”
Daniel felt heat rise in his chest.
“Do what?”
“Trust people you barely know and lie to people who love you.”
He sat very still.
Owen stopped drinking.
Laura tilted the bottle.
Daniel watched the formula move inside.
“That’s fair,” he said.
She looked at him, surprised.
He swallowed.
“I lied about the money.”
Laura said nothing.
“I lied about the overtime.”
Her eyes stayed on him.
“I borrowed eight hundred from Mara.”
“I know.”
He blinked.
“She told you?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“I saw the transfer on your phone.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
Daniel looked toward the floor.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was waiting to see if you would.”
That hurt worse than anger.
He leaned forward.
“I didn’t take the pills.”
Laura’s face tightened.
“I believe you.”
Daniel looked up.
She was crying silently.
“I believe you now.”
The relief that should have come did not.
“Why now?”
“Because I remember the man.”
“Part of him.”
“Enough.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not enough.”
Laura wiped her cheek with her shoulder because both hands were occupied.
“I accused you.”
“You were scared.”
“I told Mara.”
“I know.”
“I told Cynthia.”
“I know.”
“I told them I didn’t want you taking Owen.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I know.”
Laura looked down at the baby.
“I didn’t know what was real.”
Daniel wanted to cross the room.
He wanted to take her hand.
He wanted to tell her none of it mattered because she had almost died and was alive now.
Instead, he stayed in his chair.
Too much had happened between them for tenderness to erase it.
“I don’t know what’s real either,” he said.
Laura nodded.
That was as close as they came to reconciliation.
Mara returned carrying three coffees and one packet of powdered creamer.
“I didn’t know what anybody wanted.”
“Black,” Daniel said.
“You hate black coffee.”
“Today I’m flexible.”
She handed him a cup.
Laura declined hers.
Mara set it on the windowsill.
The three of them sat in an uneasy triangle while Owen finished eating.
For a few minutes, conversation turned strangely ordinary.
Mara complained that the parking garage charged too much.
Laura said the hospital mashed potatoes tasted like insulation.
Daniel asked how she knew what insulation tasted like.
Laura said living with him had broadened her education.
They all laughed.
It ended too quickly.
But for perhaps thirty seconds, Daniel could almost see their old life.
Then someone knocked.
Harris entered.
His expression had changed.
Daniel set down his coffee.
“What?”
Harris closed the door behind him.
“We found Mr. Cole on the footage.”
Laura’s hand tightened around the bottle.
Daniel stood.
“You’re sure?”
“Reasonably.”
“Was he wearing my jacket?”
“He appears to be wearing a gray jacket consistent with the description.”
“Appears?”
“The image quality isn’t great.”
“But you recognized him.”
“We compared the footage with the photograph you provided and with another source.”
“What source?”
Harris glanced at Laura.
“Visitor registration.”
Daniel stared.
“He signed in?”
“Not as himself.”
Mara said, “He used Daniel’s name.”
Harris shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel felt something colder than fear.
“Whose?”
Harris looked directly at Laura.
“Yours.”
Laura went pale.
“My name?”
“He registered as Laura Mercer’s brother.”
“I don’t have a brother.”
“The visitor desk does not verify relationships.”
Daniel moved toward Harris.
“What ID did he use?”
“That’s the problem.”
“What problem?”
“He didn’t.”
“You said the desk requires identification.”
“Usually.”
Daniel remembered his own words from minutes earlier.
Requires and gets aren’t always the same thing.
Harris continued.
“The clerk on duty recognized him.”
“From where?”
“We’re still determining that.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He ignored it.
Harris said, “There’s more.”
The phone vibrated again.
Daniel pulled it out, intending to silence it.
A text from Gavin filled the screen.
Hope Laura’s doing better.
Daniel’s skin prickled.
A second message appeared before he could react.
We need to talk before hospital security talks to you.
Daniel looked up at Harris.
“They already did,” he said quietly.
“What?”
Daniel handed him the phone.
Harris read the messages.
Mara rose.
Laura whispered, “Why would he send that?”
Harris’s expression hardened.
“Do not answer.”
Another message appeared while the phone remained in his hand.
I can explain the bottle.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Harris looked at him.
“Still don’t answer.”
Then the phone began ringing.
GAVIN COLE appeared across the screen.
Nobody moved.
It rang four times.
Five.
Six.
Laura shifted Owen against her chest.
“Answer it.”
Harris shook his head.
“No.”
Laura looked at Daniel.
“He knows something.”
“Laura.”
“He came into my room.”
Her voice trembled, but she did not look away.
“He made me afraid of my husband.”
Harris said, “We need to handle this correctly.”
Daniel watched Gavin’s name flash on the screen.
The call ended.
A voicemail notification appeared almost immediately.
Harris handed the phone back without opening it.
“Don’t listen to that yet.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Because if this becomes a criminal investigation, I want law enforcement to preserve the original communication.”
