Chương 11
He seemed to see that in me.
“Natalie.”
“I know.”
He flinched anyway.
Bell’s phone rang.
He checked the number and stepped aside.
Blake stared at the photograph again.
“My whole life.”
I said nothing.
He gave a small, broken laugh.
“My father spent my whole life talking about bloodlines.”
My mother looked at him.
“That should have been your first warning.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the smile vanished.
“He used to say the company belonged to the family because family was the only thing you couldn’t manufacture.”
“That sounds like Richard,” I said.
Blake looked at me.
“You remember that?”
“He said it at our rehearsal dinner.”
“I forgot.”
“I didn’t.”
He lowered his gaze.
There were hundreds of things I remembered that he had forgotten.
That realization used to make me lonely.
Now it simply felt accurate.
Bell returned.
“We located Margaret Ellis.”
Blake stood immediately.
“She’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Tucson.”
“Can we call her?”
“Another unit is already on the way.”
Blake grabbed his jacket from the chair.
“I’m going.”
Bell stepped into his path.
“No.”
“She’s my aunt.”
“And there’s an active kidnapping investigation.”
“She may know who my father is.”
“Yes.”
“And that may be exactly why someone else could want to reach her first.”
Blake stopped.
That argument landed.
Bell continued.
“She stays where she is until police make contact.”
Blake looked toward the window.
“What am I supposed to do?”
Bell gave him a tired expression.
“For the next five minutes?”
“Yes.”
“Sit down and stop creating new problems.”
Blake actually obeyed.
My mother’s eyebrows rose.
Bell noticed.
“It happens occasionally.”
The room almost became human again.
Then my phone buzzed.
Bell took it immediately.
Another message.
NOON.
DO NOT BE LATE.
Beneath it was a map pin.
Bell studied it.
“Old Copper Road.”
Blake said, “Near Wickenburg?”
“Yes.”
Owen crossed his arms.
“She is not going.”
Bell ignored him for the moment.
He zoomed in on the map.
The property appeared to be north of the highway, beyond a cluster of dirt roads and dry washes.
My mother leaned closer.
“There are houses nearby.”
“Not many.”
Bell traced the screen.
“Main structure, outbuildings, maybe livestock fencing.”
“Satellite image?”
“Yes.”
“How recent?”
“Several months.”
Owen said, “None of this changes her condition.”
I looked at him.
“I heard you.”
“You’re treating this like stubbornness is a treatment plan.”
“I’m not walking there.”
“You shouldn’t be leaving the hospital.”
“Could I be transported?”
“No.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
His jaw tightened.
“Medically, you could be transported in an ambulance if necessary.”
“Then it’s possible.”
“For medical transfer.”
“Still possible.”
My mother groaned.
“You’ve been like this since you were twelve.”
I looked at her.
“Since when?”
“You broke your wrist and argued with the emergency doctor because he said you couldn’t play in the school recital.”
“That was different.”
“You played with a cast under a shawl.”
“It was a speaking role.”
Bell looked between us.
“This explains more than I wanted to know.”
Owen did not look amused.
“If she leaves against medical advice and starts bleeding internally, this rescue operation becomes two rescue operations.”
That silenced me.
He stepped closer.
“You lost a dangerous amount of blood.”
“I know.”
“No, you know the sentence.”
His voice softened.
“You don’t know what your body is doing yet.”
I looked away.
The monitor beeped steadily.
My abdomen felt heavy.
Every movement required planning.
My anger had been pretending I was stronger than I was.
I hated him for making me notice.
Bell said, “We’re not deciding anything tonight.”
“The message says noon.”
“And it’s barely seven.”
“We don’t have forever.”
“No.”
Bell looked at me.
“But we have enough time not to be stupid.”
Blake said, “Richard has to know.”
My mother turned.
“You think he doesn’t?”
Blake went still.
That possibility landed differently.
Bell asked, “When did you last speak to your father?”
“Tuesday morning.”
“Before the attack?”
“Yes.”
“What about?”
“Work.”
“Specific.”
“He wanted me at a board dinner.”
“Did you go?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Natalie and I had dinner plans.”
I stared at him.
“We did?”
Blake looked confused.
“Yes.”
“You never told me.”
“I put it on the calendar.”
“You put things on your calendar, Blake.”
He opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
It was such a small marital failure compared with everything else that I almost laughed.
Instead, I felt unexpectedly sad.
Bell asked, “Did Richard know you were going home that afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“My assistant.”
“What time?”
“I don’t know.”
Bell made a note.
“Who knew Chloe was coming?”
Blake shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
“You’re certain?”
“I swear.”
Bell ignored the oath.
“Did Richard have contact with Chloe?”
“Not that I knew.”
“Graham?”
“Yes.”
Blake paused.
“Maybe.”
“What does maybe mean?”
“I saw Graham at my father’s house about four months ago.”
“Did Chloe know?”
“I don’t know.”
Bell looked at me.
“Any unusual contact from Richard around the pregnancy?”
“No.”
Then I remembered something.
I closed my eyes.
There had been a lunch.
Not unusual.
Richard invited me every few months under the pretense of keeping family relationships functional.
Three weeks after the ultrasound, he had asked whether Blake and I were considering children.
I had assumed it was another intrusion.
“What?” Bell asked.
“Richard asked if we were trying to have a baby.”
Blake looked at me.
“When?”
“About three weeks ago.”
“You never told me.”
“No.”
“What did you say?”
“That it was none of his business.”
My mother smiled faintly.
Bell did not.
“Anything else?”
“He asked whether I’d had any recent medical issues.”
Owen’s attention sharpened.
“What exactly?”
“He said I looked tired.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I’d been busy.”
“Did he mention the cyst procedure?”
I thought.
“Yes.”
Blake turned toward me.
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether the surgeon had followed up.”
“Why would he care?”
“I assumed because he recommended him.”
May you like
Bell said, “Or because he wanted to know whether anyone had discovered something.”
My skin prickled.
