Chương 10
“We’re checking whether the devices captured audio.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“She was spying on all of us.”
“Possibly.”
“Stop saying possibly.”
Ruiz’s expression sharpened.
“Because I don’t get to turn suspicion into fact before the evidence is processed.”
Adrian opened his mouth, then closed it.
Ruiz continued.
“That is exactly how people get accused of things they didn’t do.”
Clara felt the sentence land between them.
Adrian looked at her.
She looked away.
Ruiz asked Clara, “Did Mrs. Mercer ever confront you about private conversations?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Not directly.”
“Explain.”
“She would make comments.”
“About?”
“Things I hadn’t told her.”
Adrian’s shoulders sank.
Clara continued.
“She once asked why I thought Emma slept better after four in the afternoon.”
Ruiz frowned.
“Why did that matter?”
“It didn’t.”
“Where had you said it?”
“To Adrian.”
Adrian looked at her.
Clara remembered exactly now.
They had been in the nursery.
Emma had finally fallen asleep after nearly an hour of fussing.
Adrian had stood by the crib whispering because he seemed afraid to wake her.
Clara had said the baby’s best naps came after four.
Vanessa had been at a charity luncheon across town.
The next morning she had asked Clara, casually, whether she considered herself the household sleep expert.
Clara had laughed it off.
Ruiz asked, “Any reason she would be jealous of your relationship with Mr. Mercer?”
Clara’s face heated.
Adrian stiffened.
Olivia looked between them.
Clara answered carefully.
“She believed there was something inappropriate.”
“Was there?”
“No.”
“Any flirting?”
“No.”
“Emotional relationship?”
“No.”
Adrian said, “No.”
Ruiz looked at him.
“I asked Ms. Bennett.”
Adrian nodded.
“Sorry.”
Clara almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Ruiz continued.
“Did Mrs. Mercer ever accuse you directly?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“About two months ago.”
Adrian looked at Clara sharply.
“You never told me.”
Clara ignored him.
Ruiz asked, “What did she say?”
“That I enjoyed making her look incompetent.”
“Did she mention Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
Clara hesitated.
“She said I liked how he looked at me.”
Olivia looked down.
Adrian rubbed one hand across his mouth.
Ruiz did not react.
“What did you say?”
“That she was wrong.”
“And then?”
“She laughed.”
“What kind of laugh?”
Clara almost smiled despite the question sounding like the one Chen had asked Olivia.
“Not happy.”
Olivia looked at her.
Their eyes met.
For a second, the girl seemed relieved that Clara understood.
Ruiz closed his notebook.
“There’s something else.”
Nobody spoke.
“The stroller incident may have been intended to create evidence against Clara.”
Adrian’s head came up.
Clara felt cold.
Ruiz continued.
“We found that the main staircase camera had been repositioned.”
“Repositioned how?”
Adrian asked.
“To capture the landing and lower stairs more directly.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Clara stared at him.
“Who moved it?”
“We’re still confirming access.”
Olivia whispered, “Mom did.”
Ruiz looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I saw her on the ladder.”
Adrian turned toward his daughter.
“When?”
“After dinner.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Olivia’s face crumpled.
“Because people move cameras.”
Adrian immediately softened.
“Hey, no.”
He crouched again.
“That wasn’t your job to figure out.”
She looked at him.
“You always say that after.”
The words stopped him.
Clara saw them strike deeper than anything she had said.
Olivia continued, tears finally spilling freely.
“You always say I should have told you, but you’re never there when I’m supposed to tell you.”
Adrian sat back on his heels.
No answer came.
Ruiz looked away.
Marisol stared at the floor.
Clara tightened her arm around Olivia.
Adrian swallowed.
“You’re right.”
Olivia shook her head angrily.
“Stop saying that.”
Clara looked at Adrian.
The same irritation she had felt earlier crossed Olivia’s face.
Agreement was not repair.
Adrian seemed to understand.
“What do you need me to do?”
Olivia wiped both cheeks.
“I don’t know.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to go home.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I don’t want Mom there.”
“She isn’t.”
“I mean ever.”
The room went quiet.
Adrian’s face tightened.
“We’ll figure that out.”
Olivia stared at him.
“No promises?”
He hesitated.
Then shook his head.
“No promises I can’t keep.”
Olivia nodded once.
That answer seemed to matter.
Ruiz’s phone rang.
He stepped into the hallway.
Clara watched him through the gap in the curtain.
His posture changed as he listened.
He said almost nothing.
Then he looked back into the room.
Clara felt it before he returned.
“What happened?”
Ruiz entered slowly.
“They found additional footage.”
Adrian stood.
“Of what?”
Ruiz looked at Olivia.
Then at Clara.
“I don’t want to discuss the details in front of her.”
Olivia’s face hardened.
“It’s about me.”
Ruiz paused.
“Yes.”
“I want to know.”
Adrian said, “Liv—”
“No.”
She looked at Ruiz.
“I want to know.”
Ruiz considered her for a long moment.
“I can tell you the part that affects what happens tonight.”
Olivia waited.
“The footage shows your mother entering your room multiple times while you were asleep.”
Adrian’s face drained of color.
Clara felt Olivia stiffen against her.
“What did she do?”
Ruiz answered carefully.
“She checked your phone.”
Olivia’s mouth opened.
“My phone?”
“Yes.”
“She knew my password?”
“It appears so.”
Olivia looked down at the device in her hands as though it had betrayed her.
“She read my messages?”
“We don’t know exactly what she accessed.”
Olivia whispered, “My messages with Dad.”
Adrian went still.
Ruiz said, “That’s possible.”
Olivia turned toward him.
Her face had changed from fear to fury.
“That’s why she knew.”
Adrian looked confused.
“Knew what?”
Olivia’s breathing shook.
“I told you I wanted to live with Aunt Rachel.”
Nobody moved.
Adrian’s face collapsed.
“When?”
“Last month.”
“I thought you were angry.”
“I was.”
“You never brought it up again.”
“Because Mom did.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What did she say?”
Olivia looked toward Clara.
“She said if I tried to leave, Clara would lose her job.”
Clara’s heart seemed to stop.
Adrian whispered, “What?”
May you like
Olivia’s tears came harder now.
“She said everybody I loved would pay if I embarrassed her.”
