Chương 8
Mara disliked her immediately.
“She treats me like I can answer my own questions,” Chloe said after their first appointment.
“I treat you that way.”
“You answer them first.”
“I do not.”
“You did it twice in the elevator.”
“The therapist asked about your medications.”
“And I know what I take.”
“You forgot the dosage.”
“I forgot one number.”
“That number matters.”
Chloe stared at her.
Mara raised both hands. “I hear it.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“What do you hear?”
“That I’m irritating.”
“That part was obvious.”
Mara drove home in silence while Chloe adjusted the heat vent with the rubber end of her crutch.
Two months after the assault, Chloe received approval for an accessible apartment in a subsidized complex near Richmond. The unit would not be available until spring. Until then, she stayed with Mara and took over one side of the kitchen table with forms, housing brochures, and colored pens.
She had always liked paperwork when it belonged to her.
One evening, while Mara cooked pasta, Chloe said, “Mom called Lila.”
Mara dropped a wooden spoon.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What did she want?”
“To see me.”
“No.”
Chloe looked up from a benefits application. “She didn’t ask you.”
“She is a witness in a murder investigation and may be charged.”
“She’s also my mother.”
“She protected him.”
“I know.”
“She told police you fell.”
“I know.”
“She hid Leah’s locket.”
Chloe’s mouth tightened. “I know.”
Mara turned off the burner. “Then why would you see her?”
“Because she asked.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“It’s a reason. You just don’t like it.”
“She’ll manipulate you.”
“Probably.”
“She’ll ask you to change your statement.”
“Maybe.”
“She could tell Jonah’s lawyer what you say.”
“Lila would be there.”
Mara gripped the counter.
Chloe closed the folder in front of her. “You don’t get to decide which difficult things I’m allowed to do.”
“I get to decide what happens in my home.”
“Then we’ll meet somewhere else.”
The sentence struck harder than Mara expected.
Chloe watched her carefully. “I’m not threatening to leave.”
“It sounded like it.”
“I am leaving. In spring.”
“That’s different.”
“It’s supposed to be.”
Mara turned the burner on again. The sauce had begun sticking to the bottom of the pan.
“Meet in Lila’s office,” she said. “No private location.”
“I already told her yes.”
“Of course you did.”
“You would have tried to stop me.”
“I am trying to stop you.”
“Yes, but now you can call it advice.”
The meeting occurred two days later.
Mara sat in her car across the street from Lila’s office and hated herself for being there. She had promised Chloe she would not wait outside. She had driven there anyway, parked behind a delivery van, and spent forty minutes pretending to read a news article on her phone.
Evelyn arrived in a hired car.
She looked smaller than Mara remembered. Her coat hung loosely at the shoulders. She stood on the sidewalk for several seconds before going inside, one hand pressed to her stomach.
Mara nearly left.
Then Peter Voss’s associate pulled into the parking lot.
Mara recognized him from the bond hearing: young, narrow tie, polished shoes. He remained in the car, watching the entrance.
Mara photographed the license plate and called Lila.
“You promised,” Lila said.
“There is someone from Jonah’s legal team outside.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“Do not approach him.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You were absolutely planning to.”
“I photographed the car.”
“Leave.”
“Tell Chloe.”
“I’ll handle it.”
Mara drove away, furious at being dismissed and relieved that someone else had taken control.
Inside the office, Evelyn asked Chloe to withdraw the assault complaint.
Chloe told Mara about it that night while they folded laundry.
“She said Jonah was sick with fear when I found the locket,” Chloe said. “She said he didn’t know what he was doing.”
Mara paired two socks that did not match.
“What did you say?”
“I asked whether he knew what he was doing the other times.”
Mara looked up.
Chloe folded a towel slowly, using the heel of one hand to flatten the edge.
“Did she answer?”
“She cried.”
“Mom cries when she can’t control the conversation.”
“She also cries when she’s sad.”
“Sometimes.”
Chloe pushed the towel into the basket. “She said Leah was trying to destroy the family.”
“How?”
“She was going to report Jonah.”
Mara stopped folding.
“For hurting you?”
Chloe nodded.
“Did Mom say that directly?”
“She said Leah misunderstood the way Jonah ‘handled’ me.”
The word sat between them.
Chloe continued. “Leah saw him lock me in the downstairs bathroom because I wouldn’t finish dinner. She told Mom she was reporting him to the agency and adult protective services.”
“Did you remember that before today?”
“Parts.”
“Why didn’t you tell Beck?”
“I did. After the meeting.”
Mara sat back.
Chloe placed another towel in the basket. “Mom said Leah came to the house the night she disappeared. Jonah told police he hadn’t seen her for a week.”
“Did your mother know she was giving you new information?”
“I don’t think she noticed.”
“Did Lila hear it?”
“Yes.”
“Was the meeting recorded?”
“Not secretly. Lila took notes. Mom’s lawyer wasn’t there.”
“That could create issues.”
“I know.”
Mara looked at her sister.
Chloe lifted an eyebrow. “I can understand issues.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You did.”
Mara picked up the mismatched socks and set them aside. “You’re right.”
Chloe’s expression softened. “She asked me if I wanted her to go to prison.”
“What did you say?”
“I said I wanted her to stop asking me to save her.”
For the first time since the assault, Mara saw something in Chloe that was not fear or endurance.
It was grief with a boundary around it.
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Evelyn was arrested the following week on charges related to evidence tampering and obstruction. Investigators alleged that she had concealed Leah’s locket, lied about Leah’s final visit, and destroyed clothing Jonah wore on the night of the disappearance.
She spent one night in jail before being released under supervision.
