Chương 6
“Did my father speak after Daniel left?”
Elena stared at the table.
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He told Daniel to get out.”
“After that.”
“He asked me for ice.”
Adrian went quiet.
“Anything else?”
“He said he didn’t want a hospital.”
“How long before the ambulance?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You told the police.”
“Then ask them.”
“Elena.”
She heard the old authority in his voice.
The assumption that persistence was a form of permission.
“No.”
The silence changed.
He tried again.
“Please.”
That was new.
She rubbed a thumb against the cardboard sleeve around her coffee.
“What are you really asking?”
“Did Daniel leave him alive?”
“Yes.”
Adrian breathed out slowly.
“Was my mother with him?”
“Yes.”
“And Cal?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Adrian.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Five minutes? Ten?”
“Maybe four before I called. Maybe less.”
“Who told you not to call?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Cal.”
“And my mother?”
“She said nothing.”
He did not respond.
A truck passed outside.
The coffee shop windows trembled softly.
Elena said, “Why did Daniel lie to you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you asked him?”
“He won’t answer.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Then I think you have bigger problems than me.”
“He sent one text.”
“What did it say?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Don’t believe Mom.”
Elena sat back.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Did you tell the police?”
“No.”
“You should.”
“I called you first.”
“That was stupid.”
“Yes.”
The admission surprised her enough that she had no answer.
Adrian said, “Can I send it to you?”
“Send it to Detective Holbrook.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
“Why are you doing this?”
She looked through the window at the man with the stroller.
He had finally gotten it folded.
He lifted both arms in victory.
His toddler remained unimpressed.
“Because your family has spent two days deciding which truth is least expensive.”
Then Elena ended the call.
Daniel Cole appeared at her apartment that evening.
He did not knock on her door.
He waited across the street beside a rented gray sedan until she returned from taking groceries to her mother.
She recognized him immediately despite the baseball cap and unshaven face.
He looked terrible.
That gave her no satisfaction.
“Elena.”
She kept walking toward the entrance.
“I’m calling the police.”
“I know.”
She turned.
Daniel stopped six feet away.
He was thirty-five and had always resembled Adrian most when he was irritated: the same dark eyes, same tendency to set his jaw before saying something unwise. Richard used to joke that Adrian had inherited his discipline and Daniel had inherited everything else.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I need you to hear me before they find me.”
“They’re looking for you?”
“Probably.”
“Strong start.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I didn’t kill him.”
“Your cufflink had his blood on it.”
“I know.”
“You knew Cal hid it?”
Daniel looked confused.
“What?”
That seemed real.
Elena watched him carefully.
“He hid it behind the nameplate on your father’s coffin.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Jesus Christ.”
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“Did you tell Cal to clean the library?”
“No.”
“Your mother?”
He looked away.
That was an answer.
Elena took out her phone.
“I’m calling Detective Holbrook.”
“Wait.”
“No.”
“Thirty seconds.”
“You had two days.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I’m not you.”
The sentence came out wrong.
Daniel knew it immediately.
Elena stared at him.
He closed his eyes.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It sounded exactly like what you meant.”
“I meant I had more to lose.”
She laughed.
There it was.
The family disease.
“What?”
Elena stepped closer.
“My mother loses her insurance if I lose my job. My sister could lose her apartment. I’ve had reporters outside my building since this afternoon. Tell me again how much more you have to lose.”
Daniel looked at the pavement.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. You’re terrified.”
“Yes.”
That answer stopped her.
He looked up.
“I shoved him.”
Elena said nothing.
“He hit me first. That isn’t an excuse. I shoved him. He fell against the chair.”
“The impact.”
“Yes.”
“Did he hit his head?”
“I think so.”
“Where?”
“Side of the chair. Maybe the table. It happened fast.”
“He was bleeding from his mouth.”
“He punched me. His ring cut his lip when I blocked him.”
Elena remembered the smear on Daniel’s wrist.
“What were you fighting about?”
Daniel looked toward her building.
A curtain moved on the second floor.
Someone watching.
“Can we go somewhere?”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
He gave a tired nod.
“My father was going to remove me from the board.”
“I heard that.”
“That wasn’t the reason.”
“What was?”
Daniel took a breath.
“He found out I’d been helping my mother.”
“With what?”
He looked at her.
“Leave him.”
Elena’s grip on her phone loosened.
For nine years she had watched Richard and Evelyn operate as if marriage were a corporate structure nobody could dissolve because too many assets were tied to it.
“She was leaving?”
“She’d been talking to a lawyer for six months.”
“Why?”
Daniel gave her a look that made the question feel naive.
Then he seemed to regret it.
“You worked there.”
“I worked for them. I didn’t sleep in their bedroom.”
“He controlled everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Money. Friends. Where she went. Who she saw. The usual stuff people don’t call abuse when the house is big enough.”
Elena looked at him.
“Did he hit her?”
“Once that I know of.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
“Once.”
“One time is enough.”
“Yes.”
Daniel rubbed his hands together.
“I helped her open accounts he couldn’t access. I introduced her to an attorney. Nothing illegal. Nothing stolen. Her money.”
“Richard found out.”
“Yesterday.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“And he blamed you.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you come over?”
“My mother called me.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“What did she say?”
“That he knew.”
“And?”
“That I should stay away.”
“But you came.”
May you like
Daniel laughed without humor.
“That’s the most Daniel thing in the world, according to Adrian.”
