Chương 12
Tasha shifted slightly in her chair.
No one intervened.
Emily looked at her son.
“I know we’re safe here.”
Noah shook his head.
“That’s not what I mean.”
“I know.”
“Did Grandma give Dad those pills?”
“I don’t know.”
“There.”
He pointed at her as if catching her in a trick.
“You said it again.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Her first impulse was to tell him not to speak to her that way.
Her second was to defend herself.
Her third was to cry.
She did none of them.
“What do you want me to say?”
Noah’s face changed.
The anger drained out so quickly he looked ashamed.
“I don’t know.”
Emily nodded.
“Me neither.”
The phone began ringing again.
Noah covered his ears.
“Turn it off.”
The nurse silenced it.
Morales stood.
“I’m going to ask an officer to contact Mrs. Carter separately.”
Emily looked up.
“Don’t tell her what we found.”
Morales paused.
“I won’t discuss investigative details with her unless there’s a reason to.”
“She’ll call Daniel’s lawyer.”
“She might.”
“She’ll destroy whatever she has.”
“If she has anything.”
Emily hated the correction.
Morales seemed to see it.
“I understand why you’re suspicious.”
“No, you understand why I sound suspicious.”
He did not deny it.
Emily pulled the blanket tighter around her waist.
“She loves him.”
Morales waited.
“She always takes his side.”
“That doesn’t mean she helped him.”
“I know.”
Emily rubbed at the hospital bracelet.
“I know.”
Noah lowered his hands.
“Grandma said Mom makes Dad crazy.”
The room went still.
Emily turned toward him.
“When?”
Noah looked instantly uncomfortable.
“I don’t remember.”
Morales sat again.
“Was it recently?”
Noah shrugged.
Emily fought the urge to answer for him.
“Maybe summer.”
“What was happening?”
“Dad was mad.”
“What about?”
Noah looked at Emily.
She could see him searching her face for permission.
“It’s okay.”
“He threw the remote.”
Emily remembered.
A Sunday afternoon in July.
Daniel had wanted everyone to watch a baseball game.
Emily had been answering a work email.
The remote hit the wall beside the television and broke the battery cover.
Daniel apologized ten minutes later.
He ordered pizza that evening.
Noah had laughed at something on the box.
By bedtime the house had returned to normal.
Or what Emily called normal then.
“Was your grandmother there?”
Morales asked.
“No.”
“How did she say it?”
“On FaceTime.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
Daniel had called Carol after the argument.
He had gone into the garage.
Apparently Noah had followed.
“Did you hear the whole conversation?”
“No.”
“What exactly did you hear?”
Noah picked at the corner of the cracker wrapper.
“She said Mom needs to stop pushing him because she knows how he gets.”
Emily stared at the sheet over her legs.
The sentence sounded like Carol.
Not cruel.
Practical.
Almost weary.
Carol had once told Emily that marriage meant learning which battles were worth having.
Emily had thought it was old-fashioned advice.
Now she wondered how many warnings had been disguised as wisdom.
Morales wrote the statement down.
“Anything else?”
Noah hesitated.
“She said Dad was under pressure.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she say anything about money?”
Noah thought.
“Maybe.”
Emily’s attention sharpened.
“What do you mean?”
“She said he needed to fix it before you found out.”
Morales stopped writing.
Emily stared at Noah.
“Found out what?”
“I don’t know.”
“When did you hear that?”
“I said summer.”
“Noah, think.”
His eyes flashed.
“I am thinking.”
Emily heard Daniel in her own impatience and immediately pulled back.
“You’re right.”
Noah looked surprised.
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged but stopped tearing the wrapper.
Morales leaned forward slightly.
“Did your grandmother say what needed fixing?”
“No.”
“Did Daniel?”
“No.”
“Anything about work?”
Noah shook his head.
“Anything about bills?”
Another shake.
“Did they know you were listening?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“I was in the garage behind the car.”
Emily stared at him.
“What were you doing there?”
Noah looked embarrassed.
“My baseball glove was in Dad’s trunk.”
“You were hiding?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Emily recognized that too.
Morales changed direction.
“Did your dad seem upset after the call?”
“He told me to get inside.”
“Did he know you heard them?”
“I don’t think so.”
Emily pressed her fingers against her mouth.
Fix it before you found out.
The bank password changed around the same time.
Daniel started questioning every purchase.
He took extra calls outside.
He became angry whenever she mentioned opening their tax documents.
Emily had assumed work trouble.
Then money trouble.
Then nothing at all because Daniel always produced a reason.
Morales stood again.
“I need to have someone look more closely at financial records.”
Emily nodded.
“Can you?”
“With the proper legal process.”
“How long?”
“It depends.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Everything depends.”
Morales gave her a tired look.
“That’s investigations.”
Noah spoke quietly.
“Dad said cops are slow because they don’t care.”
Morales glanced at him.
“Sometimes we’re slow because paperwork is slow.”
“That sounds boring.”
“It is.”
“Do you care?”
Morales looked at the child for a moment.
“Yes.”
Noah seemed to accept that.
Tasha stood and stretched one leg.
She had been quiet for several minutes, letting the conversation happen.
Now she asked Emily whether there was anyone from work she trusted enough to contact in the morning.
Emily immediately thought of Melissa again.
The answer still felt embarrassing.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“I haven’t told her anything.”
“You don’t have to tell her everything.”
“She’ll ask.”
“You can choose what to say.”
Emily almost responded that it was not that simple.
Then she realized she had been treating every relationship as if Daniel were present inside it.
What will Melissa ask?
What will she think?
What will she tell someone else?
What if it gets back to Daniel?
Every possibility had him in the center.
“I’ll call her.”
Tasha nodded.
“From a safe phone.”
“Yes.”
May you like
“Not one connected to your shared accounts if we can avoid it.”
Emily looked toward the bin containing her smartphone.
