Chương 8
“Do it.”
Melissa did not rush to praise her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll start.”
The call ended.
Arianne placed the phone beside her.
Baldric waited.
She stared at the ceiling.
Finally she said, “I hate this.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
He nodded.
“That’s probably true.”
She looked at him.
“I keep expecting someone to tell me which thing is the right thing.”
“They won’t.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“No.”
Baldric sat back.
“But it’s true.”
Arianne pressed her lips together.
For a moment she looked so much like her mother that Baldric had to look away.
Marisol used to make that same face whenever someone gave her an answer she did not want but could not argue with.
He had not thought about that expression in years.
Arianne noticed his distraction.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s another lie.”
“I was thinking about your mother.”
Her face softened.
“Why?”
“You made her annoyed face.”
Arianne blinked.
“My annoyed face?”
“She had one.”
“I thought she was always nice.”
“She was nice to you.”
“And not to you?”
“She once threw a dishrag at my head because I bought the wrong tomatoes.”
Arianne laughed carefully.
“What was wrong with them?”
“They were apparently flavorless.”
“Were they?”
“Completely.”
Arianne smiled.
Then the smile faded almost as quickly as it had come.
“I wish she were here.”
Baldric looked down at his hands.
“So do I.”
At seven sixteen, the physician returned with preliminary results.
Arianne had no fractures.
Her head imaging was clear.
Her bloodwork showed traces of a sedative in addition to the medication listed in her old prescription history, but the doctor cautioned that toxicology confirmation would take longer.
“What sedative?” Arianne asked.
The physician named it.
Arianne frowned.
“I’ve never taken that.”
Baldric felt his stomach tighten.
The doctor did not speculate.
“We documented what was found.”
“Could it make someone pass out?”
“It can cause significant drowsiness, especially combined with other medication or alcohol.”
“I didn’t drink.”
“That’s also documented.”
The physician looked at Baldric, then back at Arianne.
“Law enforcement can request the appropriate records.”
After he left, neither of them spoke.
Arianne picked at the adhesive around her IV.
“Blue pills.”
Baldric nodded.
“Maybe.”
“Bertha told Gideon not to talk about them.”
“We don’t know what he meant.”
“Stop protecting me from conclusions.”
“I’m protecting you from the wrong conclusion.”
She turned sharply.
“What wrong conclusion could there possibly be?”
“That Derek planned all of this.”
“Maybe he did.”
“Maybe.”
She looked furious.
“So now you’re defending him?”
“No.”
Baldric leaned forward.
“I’m trying not to become the man who decides the answer first and spends the rest of the day forcing every fact to fit.”
Arianne stared at him.
“That’s surprisingly reasonable.”
“I resent your surprise.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She looked down.
“I don’t know which version scares me more.”
“What versions?”
“The one where he planned it.”
Her voice became quieter.
“And the one where he didn’t.”
Baldric understood.
A planned act meant Derek had considered what he was doing.
An impulsive one meant he had been capable of doing it without considering anything.
Neither offered much comfort.
At seven thirty-two, Tessa called again.
Gideon was being transported to the hospital by another child-services worker.
Arianne sat up straighter.
“When?”
“They should arrive in about twenty minutes.”
“Is Derek objecting?”
“Yes.”
“What is he doing?”
“He’s speaking with an attorney.”
“Good.”
Tessa seemed surprised by the answer.
Arianne closed her eyes.
“I don’t mean good.”
“You mean he’s occupied.”
“Yes.”
Baldric looked at his daughter with something close to admiration and stopped himself from saying it.
She did not need applause for surviving her own morning.
Tessa added, “There’s something else you should be prepared for.”
Arianne’s shoulders tightened.
“What now?”
“Your mother-in-law says she intends to petition for temporary guardianship.”
Arianne stared at the phone.
“On what basis?”
“She claims you are medically and psychologically unstable.”
Baldric stood so abruptly his chair tipped backward.
Arianne pointed at him without looking away from the phone.
“Sit.”
He stared at her.
“Dad.”
He picked up the chair and sat.
Tessa continued.
“She has not filed anything yet, as far as I know.”
“Can she do that?”
“She can file a request.”
“That’s not the same as getting it.”
“No.”
Arianne drew a slow breath.
“What does Derek say?”
“He supports her.”
The answer hurt more than Arianne expected.
Baldric saw it in the way her shoulders collapsed slightly.
Not because Derek’s position surprised her.
Because some part of her had apparently still hoped there was a line he would not cross.
“My own husband wants his mother to take my son.”
Tessa did not answer.
Arianne’s voice became harder.
“Bring Gideon here.”
“We’re doing that.”
The moment the call ended, Baldric’s phone buzzed with an email from Daniel.
The subject line contained two words.
BOARD MEETING.
Baldric opened it.
Roger Vance had demanded an emergency meeting with representatives from Northline after receiving formal notices that morning.
Daniel had scheduled it for the following day.
Under ordinary circumstances, Baldric would have refused.
These were not ordinary circumstances.
He read the message twice.
“What?”
Arianne was watching him.
“Roger wants a meeting.”
“With you?”
“With Northline.”
“Does he know you’re Northline?”
“No.”
She frowned.
“Then why would you go?”
“Because he needs to understand the contract situation.”
“Daniel can explain it.”
“Yes.”
Arianne studied him.
“You want to see his face.”
Baldric put the phone down.
He hated that she had found the ugliest part so quickly.
“Yes.”
She looked disappointed.
He hated that more.
“Then don’t go.”
“It’s my company.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
Baldric rubbed his jaw.
For years, people like Roger Vance had spoken around him at dinners as if a retired mechanic had nothing useful to contribute.
May you like
Bertha had once asked him whether he still changed his own oil, then turned away before he finished answering.
Roger had offered to help Arianne “upgrade” Baldric’s house, using the word with a smile.
