Chương 8
Michael stood.
“Dad?”
He turned back.
“I didn’t steal the necklace.”
He returned to the bed.
“I know.”
Her eyes searched his face.
This time the words did not seem to comfort her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw what happened.”
“So before you saw it, you thought I did?”
Michael hesitated.
That hesitation answered her.
Ella’s hand withdrew from his.
“I don’t know what I would’ve thought.”
“That means yes.”
“No.”
She turned her face away.
Michael sat back down.
“I’m going to tell you the truth.”
Ella remained still.
“If I had come home and Vanessa had shown me the necklace under your pillow, I might have been confused.”
“I told her I didn’t do it.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
He almost smiled at the echo of Noah, but there was nothing funny in it.
“You’re right.”
Ella touched the edge of the bandage with one finger.
Michael watched her.
“I should have been the kind of dad who made it easy for you to tell me when something felt wrong.”
She looked at him again.
“You’re my dad anyway.”
The sentence broke something open in him.
Not forgiveness.
Children could love people who had failed them.
That did not erase the failure.
“Yes,” he said.
“I am.”
She nodded.
“Can I still have chocolate milk?”
“I’m going to make that my highest priority.”
She gave him the smallest smile.
When Michael stepped into the hallway, Claire was standing with a woman in a charcoal blazer and hospital badge.
Noah sat nearby, turning his paper cup slowly between both hands.
The woman introduced herself as Dana Brooks, a hospital social worker.
Her voice was calm without being soft.
“I’d like to speak with both parents separately and with each child as appropriate.”
Claire crossed her arms.
“What happens after that?”
“We document what was reported and make the required notifications.”
“To child protective services?”
“Yes.”
Michael felt Noah look at him.
Claire’s face tightened.
“Are they going to take my children?”
“No one has said that.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Dana nodded.
“I understand.”
“No, I need an actual answer.”
“An investigation can include questions about where the children will stay and whether the current home environment is safe.”
“They’re not going back there.”
Claire’s answer was immediate.
Michael said, “Agreed.”
She looked at him.
Dana noticed.
“Do you share legal custody?”
“Yes,” Michael said.
“Fifty-fifty,” Claire added.
“Whose scheduled parenting time is this?”
“His.”
Claire’s tone made the pronoun sound incriminating.
Dana turned toward Michael.
“Do you currently intend to return the children to your residence?”
“No.”
“Do you have another safe place to stay?”
Michael paused.
His first thought was a hotel.
Then his brother in Arlington.
Then a furnished apartment his company sometimes used for visiting staff.
None of those answers seemed to matter.
“They can stay with Claire.”
Claire turned.
Dana asked, “Is that acceptable to you?”
“Yes.”
Michael watched Noah’s shoulders lower.
The movement was tiny.
It hurt anyway.
Claire saw it too.
“You can stay there too if you want,” she said to Michael.
He looked at her in surprise.
“For tonight.”
The qualification came quickly.
“I have a pullout couch.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
Her eyes flicked toward Noah.
“It might be easier for them.”
Michael nodded.
“Thank you.”
Dana made a note.
“I’ll need contact information and a little more history.”
Michael’s phone buzzed.
An unknown local number.
He ignored it.
It buzzed again.
Claire glanced at the screen.
“You should probably answer.”
Michael stepped several feet away.
“Hello?”
“This is Detective Harris with county police.”
Michael’s grip tightened on the phone.
“Yes.”
“I’m following up regarding the incident at your residence.”
“Okay.”
“Are you at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to need to speak with you tonight if possible.”
“I’ll be here.”
“There’s also something we found while securing the residence.”
Michael looked toward Claire.
“What?”
“I’d rather discuss it in person.”
“Is it about the cameras?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Michael’s stomach tightened.
“What did you find?”
“Mr. Carter, I don’t want to get ahead of the evidence.”
“Was there another camera?”
Another pause.
“More than one.”
Michael turned toward the window at the end of the hall.
The parking lot below was washed in white hospital light.
Cars moved slowly between painted lanes.
Someone pushed an empty wheelchair toward the entrance.
“How many?”
“We’re still determining that.”
“Were they in the children’s rooms?”
Claire saw his face and walked closer.
Detective Harris did not answer immediately.
“We identified a device in the hallway outside the bedrooms and another in a smoke detector housing.”
Michael’s hand went cold.
“Whose bedroom?”
“We need to verify the coverage before I answer that.”
Claire mouthed, What?
Michael raised one finger.
“Did Vanessa install them?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“She installed the security system.”
“That may be relevant.”
Michael stared at the dark reflection of himself in the glass.
“What else?”
“We recovered storage devices from her office.”
“The black pouch.”
“Yes.”
“What’s on them?”
“They haven’t been examined yet.”
Michael closed his eyes.
He heard Ella laugh faintly from inside the treatment room at something on television.
The sound made the conversation feel obscene.
Detective Harris continued.
“One more thing.”
Michael waited.
“We spoke briefly with Ms. Hale after transport.”
“Okay.”
“She claims the cameras were installed because she believed your former wife was entering the house without permission.”
Claire was close enough to hear that.
Her face changed.
Michael looked directly at her.
“She says what?”
“She alleges there were incidents of trespassing and missing property.”
Claire grabbed Michael’s wrist and pulled the phone closer.
“That is a lie.”
Harris heard her.
“Is that Ms. Carter?”
“Yes,” Michael said.
“Please tell her I will need to speak with her separately.”
Claire stepped back.
Her hands were shaking.
Michael asked, “Did Vanessa provide evidence?”
“She referenced recordings.”
Claire laughed in disbelief.
“Of me?”
Michael covered the microphone.
May you like
“Let him finish.”
“She told us,” Harris continued, “that some of the recordings will show Ms. Carter entering the residence.”
