Chương 3
Naomi stood when she saw her.
Elara did not.
Leo had finished feeding and was asleep against Elara’s chest, one cheek flattened against the hospital gown.
Ruiz pulled a chair closer but stayed far enough from the bed that Elara did not feel crowded.
“You asked to speak with me again.”
“Yes.”
Ruiz glanced at Naomi.
“Do you want your sister here?”
Elara nodded.
Ruiz sat down.
“I’m going to be careful about what I tell you because the investigation is still open.”
Elara looked at the folder.
“Is Mark being charged?”
“Not at this moment.”
Naomi made a small sound of disgust.
Ruiz ignored it.
“We’re collecting information first.”
“What information?”
“Your medical condition, the calls, what was said before he left, whether he understood the severity of the situation, and whether he had any legal responsibility he knowingly ignored.”
Elara rubbed Leo’s back with two fingers.
“What does Mark say?”
Ruiz leaned back slightly.
“That you told him you were having normal postpartum bleeding.”
Elara looked at Naomi.
Naomi’s mouth tightened.
“He says you were angry he was taking the trip.”
“I asked him to call an ambulance.”
“We have evidence supporting that.”
Ruiz’s tone remained neutral, which somehow made the words heavier.
“The call between you two was not recorded by your phone, but your neighbor’s doorbell camera captured part of an argument near the front entrance.”
Elara frowned.
“I wasn’t near the door.”
“No.”
Ruiz folded her hands.
“Mark was.”
The memory came back without warning.
Mark downstairs, voice carrying up the open staircase while Elara sat on the nursery floor.
His suitcase wheels thumping across the hardwood.
His car keys hitting the console table.
Her own voice yelling from upstairs because she could no longer make it down the stairs.
Ruiz continued.
“The recording doesn’t capture everything clearly, but your voice can be heard saying, ‘I’m bleeding too much,’ and then, ‘Please call somebody.’”
Naomi stared at the detective.
“What does he say about that?”
“He says he thought she was panicking.”
Elara almost smiled.
It was not amusement.
Mark had always been talented at finding a smaller word for whatever he had done.
Cruel became frustrated.
Lying became avoiding conflict.
Taking money without telling her became making a financial decision.
Leaving her bleeding on the floor had apparently become misunderstanding panic.
“Is there more?”
Ruiz paused.
“Yes.”
Elara waited.
“One of the friends who went on the trip spoke with us.”
“Derek?”
“Caleb Morris.”
Elara knew Caleb only vaguely.
He was the quiet one in Mark’s group, an accountant with a nervous laugh who always left parties before everyone else.
Ruiz watched her carefully.
“He says Mark told them during the drive that you were bleeding.”
Naomi swore under her breath.
Elara did not react.
Not outwardly.
Her hand stopped moving on Leo’s back.
Ruiz continued.
“According to Mr. Morris, one of the men asked whether you needed a doctor.”
“What did Mark say?”
Ruiz hesitated.
Elara’s voice sharpened.
“Tell me.”
“He said you were trying to make him turn around.”
The hospital room seemed to contract.
Naomi paced toward the wall, then back again.
“What else?”
Ruiz asked Elara.
“What do you mean?”
“You said you wanted everything we have.”
“I do.”
“Sometimes people say that and then discover they want the pieces delivered slowly.”
“I don’t.”
Ruiz studied her for a moment.
“Mark posted several videos over the weekend.”
“I know.”
“One was deleted Saturday afternoon.”
Elara looked up.
“Deleted?”
“We obtained a copy from someone who had saved it.”
Naomi crossed her arms.
“I haven’t heard this part.”
Ruiz turned back to Elara.
“In the video, Mark appears intoxicated.”
“Appears?”
“He had alcohol in front of him and was behaving in a way several witnesses described as drunk.”
Elara appreciated the precision even though she hated every word.
“What did he say?”
Ruiz lowered her voice because Leo shifted against Elara’s chest.
“He joked that you had sent him messages about going to the emergency room.”
Elara went completely still.
“What messages?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
“I don’t remember sending him anything.”
“You sent six texts between nine sixteen and nine twenty-four.”
Elara’s throat tightened.
Ruiz recited them from her notes.
“Something is wrong.”
“I can’t get up.”
“Please call 911.”
“Leo is crying.”
“I’m scared.”
Then Ruiz stopped.
Elara waited.
“What was the last one?”
Ruiz’s expression softened despite herself.
“Please answer.”
Leo made a tiny sigh in his sleep.
Elara bent her head.
Her lips touched his hair.
She could smell baby shampoo and the faint medicinal scent the hospital seemed to put on everything.
“Did Mark read them?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“The messages were marked read.”
Naomi turned away and covered her mouth.
Elara kept looking at Leo.
“What did he say in the video?”
Ruiz glanced at the folder she had not opened.
“He held up his phone and said, ‘She’s still committed to the bit.’”
The room became very quiet.
Something moved behind the curtain in the neighboring bed space, probably a nurse checking equipment, but no one in Elara’s room acknowledged it.
Elara’s voice came out smaller than she intended.
“And his friends laughed?”
“Some did.”
“All of them?”
“No.”
Ruiz shook her head.
“Caleb Morris did not.”
“What did he do?”
“He says he told Mark to call you.”
“And Mark?”
“Refused.”
Naomi turned back.
“So Caleb just kept partying with him?”
Ruiz’s eyes moved to her.
“That’s one of the questions he’s asking himself now.”
Naomi laughed without humor.
“Convenient.”
“Guilt usually is.”
Ruiz said it so quietly Naomi had no immediate answer.
Elara shifted Leo higher against her shoulder.
Her arm was beginning to ache, but she did not want to put him in the hospital bassinet.
She had spent too many hours unable to reach him.
Ruiz noticed and did not comment.
“What happens next?”
Elara asked.
“We finish interviewing everyone.”
May you like
“And me?”
“When your doctors clear you and when you feel able, we’ll take a formal statement.”
