Chương 14
“Possibly.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
He nodded once.
The detective continued.
“Do not go retrieve it yourselves.”
Nathan opened his mouth.
Grace looked at him.
He closed it.
The detective noticed and almost smiled.
“We can arrange contact with the residence.”
Grace gave Victoria’s full name.
Nathan gave the address.
When asked whether Victoria had access to the property, he said, “Yes.”
The detective looked at him.
“Does she live there?”
Nathan hesitated.
“She has for the last fourteen months.”
Grace turned toward him.
He had never said that.
Nathan saw the reaction but did not explain.
The detective wrote it down.
“Any firearms in the house?”
“No.”
“Other weapons?”
Nathan glanced at Grace.
“No.”
The hockey stick no longer felt like sports equipment.
By the time they left, evening had settled over the parking lot.
Grace was exhausted enough that every movement seemed delayed.
Nathan opened the passenger door for her.
She stopped before getting in.
“Call your father.”
Nathan looked toward the station entrance.
“Here?”
“Here.”
He nodded.
The call connected on the third ring.
Nathan put it on speaker without being asked.
His father answered with irritation already in his voice.
“Nathan, I’m in the middle of dinner.”
“Did you authorize a letter to Grace Lin four years ago?”
Silence.
Grace felt her stomach tighten.
“What letter?”
Nathan unfolded the photocopy the detective had allowed them to keep.
“A letter on Cole Holdings stationery instructing her not to contact me and directing future communication through counsel.”
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Then his father said, “Absolutely not.”
Nathan’s expression stayed unreadable.
“Victoria says you did.”
His father laughed once.
Not pleasantly.
“Victoria says many things when frightened.”
Grace and Nathan looked at each other.
Nathan leaned closer to the phone.
“You know she’s frightened?”
“She called me twenty minutes ago.”
Grace’s pulse increased.
“What did she tell you?”
Nathan’s father heard the other voice.
“Who is that?”
“Grace.”
Silence again.
This one felt different.
“Grace Lin?”
“Yes.”
Nathan closed his eyes briefly.
His father’s voice changed.
“Is she with you?”
“Yes.”
“Then I assume this is serious.”
Grace almost laughed.
Nathan did not.
“Did Victoria ever have access to old company stationery?”
“Yes.”
“Could she have used your signature?”
“Anyone with access to archived correspondence could have copied it.”
“Did she have that access?”
His father hesitated.
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Yes or no.”
“Yes.”
Grace looked at the letter.
Nathan’s father continued.
“She managed private correspondence for me then.”
“Did you know Grace was pregnant?”
“No.”
Grace felt something inside her release and ache at the same time.
Nathan stared at the pavement.
“Did Victoria ever tell you?”
“No.”
“Did she mention Grace at all?”
Another pause.
“Once.”
Nathan looked up.
“When?”
“Around the time you moved.”
“What did she say?”
“That the relationship had ended badly.”
Grace frowned.
Nathan’s father continued.
“She said Grace had been asking around about family finances.”
Nathan’s eyes closed.
Grace felt anger flare.
“That’s a lie.”
“I believe that now.”
Grace almost snapped at the phrase.
Then she heard the shame beneath it.
Nathan asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His father exhaled.
“Because you were furious with everyone then, including me.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“No.”
The older man sounded tired.
“It is an explanation.”
Nathan looked away.
Grace watched him absorb the distinction.
His father continued.
“I thought you had already cut ties with her.”
“I had.”
“Then I assumed it was finished.”
Nathan’s voice went flat.
“She was pregnant.”
“I did not know.”
“I know.”
This time Nathan sounded as though he hated the words too.
Grace looked at him.
He looked back.
The phrase no longer belonged to one person.
His father asked quietly, “Is the child yours?”
Nathan’s mouth tightened.
Grace answered before he could.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then, very softly, “How old?”
“Four.”
Nathan’s father exhaled.
There was no dramatic declaration.
No instant warmth.
Only a stunned man trying to rearrange several years of his life.
“Jesus.”
Nathan said, “We’re going to need old phone logs, archived correspondence, anything Victoria could access.”
“I’ll have legal preserve everything.”
“No.”
His father stopped.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Not legal first.”
Grace said nothing.
Nathan continued.
“Preserve it internally, but do not contact Victoria.”
His father’s tone sharpened.
“Why?”
“Because the police are involved.”
Silence fell again.
This one ended the conversation.
“I understand,” his father said.
Nathan ended the call.
For several seconds, he stood beside the car holding the phone.
Grace looked at him.
“He believed her too.”
Nathan gave a hollow laugh.
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make him innocent.”
“No.”
“It makes him human.”
Nathan looked at her.
“That sounds more generous than I deserve.”
“I wasn’t talking about you.”
He almost smiled.
They drove back to Mrs. Lin’s house.
When they arrived, Lily was asleep on the couch with her head in her grandmother’s lap.
Mrs. Lin raised one finger to her lips.
Grace sat beside her daughter and touched the child’s hair.
Nathan remained standing.
“Stay for dinner,” Mrs. Lin said without looking at him.
Grace glanced at her mother.
Nathan did too.
“I thought I was not a guest.”
“You are not.”
Mrs. Lin adjusted Lily’s blanket.
“You are still hungry.”
Nathan accepted the distinction.
Dinner was reheated soup, rice, and leftover chicken.
No one discussed Victoria while Lily ate.
Nathan learned that Lily refused carrots unless they were cut into coins.
He learned she dipped chicken into soup despite everyone telling her not to.
He learned she called broccoli “tiny trees” and disliked when adults corrected her.
He learned that Grace drank tea without sugar now.
That detail seemed to bother him unexpectedly.
“You used to put too much sugar in everything.”
Grace looked at him.
“I was twenty-nine.”
“You say that like sugar is a developmental stage.”
“It can be.”
Lily pointed her spoon at Nathan.
“Mommy likes sour candy.”
Nathan nodded seriously.
“Important intelligence.”
Grace rolled her eyes.
May you like
Mrs. Lin hid a smile behind her cup.
After dinner, Nathan sat on the living room floor while Lily showed him how the plastic rabbit could jump from one cushion to another.
