Chương 11
“Yes.”
“And you knew I was recovering from surgery.”
“Yes.”
“And you planned to meet me at my house today.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She hesitated.
“To finish the signatures.”
Robert stared at the ceiling.
His voice, when it came, was exhausted.
“Do not come to the hospital.”
“Dad.”
“Do not come to my house.”
“Dad, please.”
“And do not contact Daniel on my behalf.”
She began to say something else.
Robert ended the call.
He handed me the phone.
His hand shook.
For several minutes he said nothing.
Then he turned his face toward the darkened window and said, “Emily was the one who never asked me for a damn thing.”
I sat beside him without answering.
Robert kept his face turned toward the window, though there was nothing outside except the reflection of the room and a sliver of parking lot lights.
After a while he said, “That sounded worse out loud.”
“It sounded tired.”
“It sounded like I’m keeping score.”
“You are keeping score.”
He looked at me.
“You’re very comforting.”
“I’m not charging by the hour.”
That almost got a smile.
A nurse came in to check his blood pressure again.
She adjusted the cuff, glanced at the monitor, and told him the cardiologist would be up soon.
Robert nodded like a man agreeing to terms he did not intend to honor.
When she left, he said, “Emily never asked because she assumed I’d say no.”
“That’s not true.”
“You don’t know.”
“I live with her.”
“That does not mean you understand her.”
“I understand enough to know she hates owing people.”
Robert looked down at the blanket.
“Linda was like that.”
I waited.
“She would rather use a broken toaster for ten years than let her sister buy us a new one.”
“She once gave us back a fifty-dollar restaurant gift card.”
“She said it was too much.”
“She mailed it back.”
“That was ridiculous.”
“Yes.”
Robert rubbed the corner of the blanket between two fingers.
“Emily got that from her.”
The cardiologist arrived twenty minutes later.
He was younger than Robert expected and old enough not to care about Robert’s opinion on the matter.
He reviewed the tests, listened to Robert’s chest, asked about the pressure, and explained that the initial findings were reassuring but not enough to send him home after recent cardiac surgery.
Robert objected.
The cardiologist listened patiently.
Then he said, “You can argue with me from a hospital bed or argue with me from a hospital bed.”
Robert stared at him.
“I dislike your bedside manner.”
“I’m told it improves after midnight.”
Robert stayed.
By six thirty, Emily’s flight had boarded.
Franklin arrived with a laptop bag, three legal pads, and the expression of a man who had found more work than he wanted.
Tyler followed him into the room carrying a sandwich he had not eaten.
Robert looked at Franklin.
“What now?”
“Now we know enough to be careful.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“It will be cheaper than being careless.”
Franklin set the laptop on the rolling table.
“I spoke with the title company.”
“And?”
“The deed was processed through a remote closing service.”
Robert frowned.
“The woman at the hospital?”
“Most likely the notary assigned through that service.”
“So she was legitimate.”
“She may have been.”
“That does not mean the transaction was.”
Robert looked frustrated by the distinction.
Franklin continued.
“She confirmed identity, witnessed signatures, and notarized what was presented.”
“Did she know what I was signing?”
“I do not know.”
“Did she know I was in the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Does that matter?”
“It may.”
“What did she record?”
Franklin turned the laptop.
“There is an electronic journal entry.”
He pointed to a line.
“She noted that you appeared alert, answered identification questions correctly, and stated that you were signing voluntarily.”
Robert stared at the screen.
“That helps Daniel.”
“It helps establish one thing.”
“That you were conscious.”
“It does not establish what Daniel told you the document was.”
Robert leaned back.
“So if I was awake while being lied to, that is somehow better.”
“It is neither better nor worse.”
“It is evidence.”
Tyler finally opened the sandwich wrapper.
The smell of turkey and mustard filled the room.
He took one bite and chewed without enthusiasm.
Franklin glanced at him.
“Your father called me.”
Tyler stopped chewing.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“What did he say?”
“That you stole files from his computer.”
Tyler swallowed.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“He says you accessed confidential company records.”
“I took pictures.”
“I know.”
“Is he going to call the police?”
“He said he might.”
Tyler went pale.
Robert’s face hardened.
“Over photographs?”
Franklin held up a hand.
“I am telling you what he said.”
“Can he do that?”
“He can call anyone he wants.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“The legal consequences depend on facts I do not have.”
Tyler put the sandwich down.
“I knew I shouldn’t have done it.”
Robert turned toward him.
“No.”
“I should have just stayed out of it.”
“No.”
“I could lose my job.”
“You work for him?”
“I thought you worked for that logistics company.”
“I do both.”
Robert stared.
“How many hours?”
“Depends.”
“How many?”
“Thirty there.”
“Twenty for Dad, usually.”
“And school?”
“Not anymore.”
Robert went still.
“You left school?”
Tyler looked at the floor.
“Last semester.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
“You told me you were taking online classes.”
“I lied.”
Robert closed his mouth.
Tyler’s voice became defensive.
“I was failing anyway.”
“You were not failing.”
“I was barely passing.”
“You were studying engineering.”
“Yeah, and I hated it.”
“Since when?”
“Since sophomore year.”
Robert looked genuinely confused.
“You said you wanted to build bridges.”
“I was twelve.”
No one said anything.
Tyler gave a short, miserable laugh.
“I also wanted to own a tiger.”
Robert looked at him for a long time.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Tyler shrugged.
“Everyone already had enough opinions.”
“Whose?”
“Dad’s.”
“Your mom’s.”
“Yours.”
Robert looked wounded.
May you like
Tyler saw it and looked away.
“You always asked what my plan was.”
