Chương 14
David’s.
Dad read my face.
“What?”
“He bought a condo.”
Dad said nothing.
That was becoming his most alarming response.
I called Mark.
He answered in a whisper.
“I’m at work.”
“Then why did you tell me to call?”
“I didn’t.”
“You texted me that I need to see the unit.”
“I said you need to see what’s inside.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A lawyer-sized difference, probably.”
Despite everything, that sounded like Mark.
He had always coped with discomfort by becoming annoyingly literal.
“Start talking.”
He exhaled.
“David asked me last year if he could use my mailing address.”
“For what?”
“He said investment stuff.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why did you let him?”
Another pause.
“Because he’s my brother.”
There were a lot of terrible decisions hiding inside that sentence.
“What did you find out?”
“He bought a condo in Alexandria.”
“When?”
“Seven months ago.”
“After we found out Nathan was a boy.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who lives there?”
“Nobody, I think.”
“That is not useful.”
“I’ve never been inside.”
“Then how do you know?”
“He got drunk at my house three weeks ago.”
I gripped the phone.
“He said he had an exit plan.”
Dad’s eyes hardened.
“What exactly did he say?”
Mark hesitated.
“Claire.”
“Exact words.”
“He said if things went bad, he wasn’t going to get cleaned out in a divorce.”
The kitchen became very quiet.
“He was planning to divorce me.”
“I think he was planning for the possibility.”
“Don’t soften it.”
“I’m not trying to.”
“You are.”
Mark sighed.
“He was moving money.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
“What is in the storage unit?”
“Furniture, files, a safe, some clothes.”
“Whose clothes?”
“His.”
“No women’s clothes?”
“Not that I saw.”
“You were inside?”
“Once.”
“You just said you never went inside the condo.”
“The storage unit is different.”
I closed my eyes.
“Mark.”
“I know.”
“Why did you go?”
“He needed help moving a desk.”
“When?”
“About six months ago.”
“Did you know he was hiding it from me?”
“Yes.”
That answer landed cleanly.
No excuse wrapped around it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was a coward.”
Dad looked away.
Mark continued.
“I told myself it was none of my business.”
“You helped him move a desk into a secret storage unit.”
“I know.”
“You let him use your address.”
“I know.”
“You knew he was preparing to leave.”
“I know.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“And then he showed up at my house last night saying you cheated on him.”
I stopped.
“What did he tell you?”
“That the baby had blue eyes.”
I almost laughed.
“That was enough for you?”
“No.”
“Was it enough for him?”
“At first, maybe.”
The phrasing caught me.
“At first?”
Mark was silent.
“What happened after he calmed down?”
“He kept changing what he was angry about.”
“How?”
“He started talking about money.”
Dad moved closer.
“What money?”
I asked.
“He said you were going to use your father against him.”
I looked at Dad.
“What does that have to do with money?”
“He thinks your dad is rich.”
Dad’s eyebrows rose.
“I thought he believed Dad was broke.”
“He did.”
“When did that change?”
“Last night.”
My skin prickled.
“How?”
“The police recognized your father.”
Of course.
The moment Officer Ramirez named him.
The moment David’s idea of Dad shifted from retired bureaucrat to three-star general.
“He searched him online,” Mark said.
Dad rubbed one hand over his face.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“What did he find?”
“Enough.”
My father looked genuinely irritated.
“I hate the internet.”
Mark continued.
“After that, David got weird.”
“He was already weird.”
“Different weird.”
“What does that mean?”
“He started saying you’d been playing him for years.”
I stared at the counter.
“That’s insane.”
“I told him that.”
“What did he say?”
“That if your father had that kind of influence and you hid it, then maybe you’d hidden other things.”
Nathan began crying from the living room.
Dad immediately turned toward the sound.
I stopped him.
“I’ll get him.”
Dad looked at me.
“You’re on the phone.”
“I’m his mother.”
He nodded and stayed where he was.
I walked carefully into the living room and lifted Nathan from the bassinet.
He settled against me after a few seconds.
Mark was still speaking.
“He said the paternity thing made sense because he’d already been thinking about leaving.”
There it was.
The accusation had not created his escape plan.
It had justified it.
“At least to him,” Mark added.
I sat on the couch.
“What does he think I did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
“He thinks you lied about who your family was.”
“That isn’t cheating.”
“I know.”
“He thinks because my father had a career he didn’t understand, I betrayed him?”
“He feels humiliated.”
I looked down at Nathan.
His fist had curled around the edge of my shirt.
“Humiliation is not a fact.”
“No.”
“It is not evidence.”
“No.”
“It does not turn my son into somebody else’s child.”
“No.”
Mark sounded tired now.
“I know.”
“Then why are you still explaining him to me?”
He was quiet for a long moment.
“Because he’s my brother.”
I almost snapped back.
Then I understood.
Not agreed.
Understood.
Love could make a person defend the indefensible right up to the line where defense became participation.
Mark had crossed that line months ago.
Now he was trying to step back over it.
“Send Patricia everything you know.”
“Who’s Patricia?”
“My lawyer.”
He groaned softly.
“Of course you have a lawyer.”
“David filed for emergency custody.”
“What?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
That sounded genuine.
“He filed this morning.”
Mark swore.
“Send the condo address, storage unit information, every message you have, and anything tied to the money.”
“Okay.”
“And Mark?”
“Yeah?”
“Do not warn him.”
“I won’t.”
“You already protected him once.”
“I know.”
“If you do it again, I’m done speaking to you.”
He breathed out.
“Understood.”
May you like
The call ended.
Nathan had fallen asleep against me.
