Chương 11
Naomi’s face softened only slightly.
“I’m not hiding a fact.”
“I’m refusing to give you a theory that could contaminate what you remember.”
I hated that she was right.
“So we wait?”
“We document.”
“That sounds like waiting with better stationery.”
Naomi almost smiled.
“Yes.”
A knock came at the bedroom door.
Marcus entered.
“Officer Reyes is downstairs.”
Naomi heard him.
“Put me on speaker.”
By the time Reyes arrived, Elias had moved everyone into the sitting room.
The babies came too because I refused to leave them elsewhere.
Reyes looked exhausted.
Her hair had started escaping its tie.
“I spoke to Marianne.”
My heart kicked.
“Where is she?”
“Safe for now.”
“Did she give you the original?”
“Yes.”
Relief moved through me so strongly I had to sit back.
“She also gave us her messages with Daniel.”
Naomi’s voice came through the tablet.
“Any mention of changing the statement?”
Reyes nodded.
“A text from Daniel telling her to ‘use the updated version only.’”
Marcus let out a quiet breath.
“Anything attaching the updated version?”
“Yes.”
“Metadata?”
Reyes looked at him.
“Please don’t turn into a forensic analyst.”
“I asked one question.”
“And somehow I already regret it.”
She turned to me.
“There’s more.”
I braced.
“Peter Miller contacted us.”
“What?”
“He came into a precinct with an attorney.”
My mouth went dry.
“Why?”
“He says he wants to give a statement.”
Marcus frowned.
“That’s convenient.”
Reyes looked at him.
“Which is why I said statement, not truth.”
I leaned forward.
“What did he say?”
“I haven’t interviewed him yet.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because his lawyer disclosed enough to establish relevance.”
She paused.
“He says Daniel ordered him and Owen to remove you from the apartment.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of the couch.
“He also says he objected.”
“I remember.”
Reyes nodded.
“That may matter.”
“What about Owen?”
“No contact.”
“Daniel?”
“Lawyered up.”
Elias said nothing, but his mouth hardened.
Reyes continued.
“Peter also claims he put the extension cord into his mother’s coat after Owen untied you.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“He says he panicked.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It makes some sense.”
Reyes sat across from me.
“He says Owen wanted to throw the cord in the trash chute.”
“Peter didn’t want to?”
“He says he thought someone might need to see it later.”
I stared at her.
“Then why didn’t he help me?”
Reyes did not rescue him with an excuse.
“I don’t know.”
The answer hurt more than if she had.
I looked down at my hands.
Peter had been afraid.
So had I.
The difference was that I had been bleeding while he chose which consequence frightened him most.
“Did he know about the woman?”
Reyes glanced toward the tablet.
Naomi had already told her.
“He says yes.”
The room went silent.
“What did he say?”
“That her name is Monica Brandt.”
“Who is she?”
Reyes chose her words carefully.
“A consultant.”
“For what?”
“Private adoption arrangements.”
My stomach turned.
Lily began fussing in the bassinet beside me.
I reached for her automatically.
Reyes waited until I had her against my chest.
“Peter says Daniel’s mother contacted Brandt before the twins were born.”
I could barely hear myself.
“Why?”
“He claims the family had discussed placing the babies if they were girls.”
Everything inside me went still.
Not adoption after desperation.
Not some plan invented in panic.
Before.
They had planned before.
I looked at Grace sleeping beside my knee.
“They knew.”
No one answered.
“They knew there could be girls.”
Reyes nodded.
“Of course.”
I laughed once.
It sounded awful.
“They called them a curse like nobody had considered biology.”
Naomi’s voice came quietly from the tablet.
“Ava.”
I looked at the screen.
“Peter says Daniel planned to tell me they died?”
Reyes froze.
Nobody had said it.
But suddenly I could see the shape of the missing piece.
Daniel refusing the hospital.
The private midwife.
The woman with the folder.
The phrase placement fee.
The babies not staying there.
Reyes leaned forward.
“We do not know that.”
I looked at her.
“But Peter does.”
She did not answer quickly enough.
My chest tightened.
“What did he tell you?”
“He told his lawyer that Daniel said you would be easier to handle if you believed the babies had been taken for emergency medical care.”
I stared at her.
“And after that?”
“Peter claims he didn’t know.”
“Do you believe him?”
“That isn’t useful yet.”
I stood.
Pain tore through my abdomen.
Elias moved.
I pointed at him.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
I pressed one hand against the couch until the room steadied.
For years Daniel had made me believe the worst thing about him was what he did when he lost his temper.
Now I saw something colder.
He had made plans.
“I want to talk to Peter.”
Reyes shook her head immediately.
“No.”
“He saw everything.”
“No.”
“He could tell me—”
“He can tell investigators.”
I wanted to fight her.
Then Naomi spoke.
“Listen to her.”
I looked toward the tablet.
“If Peter is cooperating, you do not contact him.”
“He let them throw me outside.”
“Yes.”
Naomi’s voice remained steady.
“And right now his guilt may be the reason he talks.”
I sat back down because my legs had started shaking.
Lily made a soft sound against my chest.
I kissed the top of her head.
“What happens to Daniel’s custody petition?”
Naomi answered.
“We respond with evidence.”
“And the altered statement?”
“We attack its credibility.”
“And Peter?”
“His testimony may support you.”
“May.”
“Yes.”
I hated that word.
Naomi continued.
“There are no guarantees.”
I looked at Elias.
He had been silent for so long I almost forgot he was there.
“What?”
I asked.
His eyes were on Lily.
“Nothing.”
“That isn’t true.”
He looked at me.
“I was thinking about my sister.”
Nobody moved.
May you like
He rubbed one thumb over the edge of his watch.
“When she finally tried to leave her husband, everyone focused on whether she had enough proof.”
