Chương 6
Everything happened too quickly after that.
Hospital security came running. Nick swore. Daniel held his mouth. Rachel dragged Emma behind her, furious at both men, furious at herself for not predicting the most predictable thing in the world.
“Are you insane?” she yelled at Nick.
“He left her in a pool!”
“He did not leave her in a pool!”
Nick stared at her.
She pointed at Emma.
“Look at her.”
Nick looked.
His anger collapsed.
Emma was crying.
He immediately backed away.
“Oh, Em. I’m sorry.”
Rachel knelt and held her.
Daniel wiped blood from his lip.
Security asked if he wanted police.
“No,” he said.
Nick laughed once without humor.
“Generous.”
Rachel turned on him.
“Stop.”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“No. You’re trying to feel useful.”
Nick went quiet.
That one landed too.
The drive to Rachel and Daniel’s apartment took twenty minutes.
It took almost an hour to get inside because two photographers were waiting across the street and Nick refused to use the front entrance.
They went through the loading dock.
Emma thought this was interesting.
“Do we get to ride the garbage elevator?”
“It’s a service elevator,” Rachel said.
“It smells like garbage.”
“That part is accurate.”
Nick carried Emma’s hospital bag.
Rachel carried Emma.
By the time they reached the apartment, her arms were trembling.
Their home looked exactly as they had left it.
That offended her.
A cereal bowl sat in the sink.
One of Daniel’s shoes was beside the sofa.
Emma’s stuffed rabbit lay facedown on the kitchen counter because Rachel had forgotten to put it back after washing him.
She picked it up.
Emma hugged it.
“You forgot.”
“I did.”
“You said you did.”
“I’m becoming very honest.”
Nick snorted.
Rachel looked at him.
He raised both hands.
“Not a word.”
She put Emma into bed.
The child slept for five hours.
Rachel did not.
Nick made coffee badly.
He always made coffee badly, too strong and full of grounds.
Rachel drank it anyway.
At ten-thirty, her mother arrived from Westchester.
At ten-forty, Rachel regretted telling her.
Margaret Bennett entered the apartment carrying two grocery bags, a purse large enough for emergency surgery, and enough fury to power the building.
“Where is he?”
“Not here.”
“Good.”
“Mom.”
“I want to know where he is.”
“I don’t.”
Margaret put the grocery bags down.
“Is Emma sleeping?”
“Yes.”
“Did they check her lungs?”
“Yes.”
“Did they do imaging?”
“Yes.”
“Did a real doctor see her?”
Rachel stared.
“No, Mom. We got a dentist from Queens.”
Margaret pressed her lips together.
Nick laughed.
Rachel started laughing too.
The laughter lasted too long.
Then Rachel cried again.
Margaret took her into her arms.
Rachel let her.
She had not wanted to be anybody’s daughter that morning.
Apparently that decision was not hers.
At noon, a detective called.
Her name was Simone Greene.
She asked Rachel to come to the precinct when Emma was rested enough to be cared for by another adult.
Rachel said, “Are you arresting my husband?”
Detective Greene paused.
“Mrs. Bennett, I’m not going to discuss investigative decisions over the phone.”
“Can you tell me if he’s dangerous?”
“I can tell you that based on what we know right now, there’s no allegation that he intentionally put your daughter into the pool.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
The distinction mattered.
She did not like that it mattered.
Greene continued.
“There are serious questions about what happened before she entered the water and about what adults knew and did.”
“Is Claire talking?”
Another pause.
“I’d rather go over that in person.”
Rachel almost asked about the video.
Instead she said, “Someone posted a clip of me hitting Daniel.”
“We’ve seen it.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“Do you want the legal answer or the practical answer?”
Rachel blinked.
“Both.”
“The legal answer is that striking someone can be an offense. The practical answer is that Mr. Bennett declined to make a complaint last night, and we have significantly more urgent concerns.”
“Great.”
“That wasn’t permission to do it again.”
Despite herself, Rachel smiled.
“Understood.”
At the precinct, Detective Greene did not look like television.
She wore a blue button-down shirt with one cuff unbuttoned and had a half-finished bottle of orange juice on her desk.
She spent twenty minutes establishing basic facts Rachel found insulting until she understood why they mattered.
What time had Rachel arrived?
Who was supposed to supervise Emma?
Had Daniel agreed to watch her?
Who had access to the cabana?
How had Rachel obtained the security footage?
That question required explanation.
The rooftop’s security director, Marcus Lee, had approached Rachel after Emma was revived.
A waiter had told him Emma was seen near the cabana shortly before the incident. Marcus had reviewed the common-area security feeds while police were on the way.
The cabana itself had no camera inside.
The camera was mounted outside above the pool equipment room and captured the glass entrance.
A microphone on the security unit was intended to record disturbances near the rooftop access doors. It was not designed to capture private conversation, but with the cabana door cracked open, voices carried.
Marcus had shown Rachel forty-two seconds on a building-issued tablet.
Rachel had recorded the playback on her phone because Marcus told her police would take the original system footage and she should not expect immediate access.
Greene nodded.
“So the clip on your phone is a recording of a recording.”
“Yes.”
“It may be useful. The original matters more.”
“You have it?”
“We secured the system.”
“Can Daniel delete it?”
“No.”
Rachel exhaled.
Greene watched her.
“Did you think he could?”
“He paid for half the rooftop renovation.”
“That doesn’t give him access to police evidence.”
“You don’t know my husband.”
“No,” Greene said. “That’s why I’m asking questions.”
Rachel disliked her for approximately four seconds.
Then she respected her.
Greene played a portion of the original video.
Rachel had not seen all of it.
May you like
She almost asked her to stop.
Instead she watched.
