Chương 6
“How much?”
“About eleven thousand.”
I stared at her.
“I never had an eleven-thousand-dollar balance.”
“What did Mom say?”
“That it was household spending and she had already handled it.”
“Did she?”
“I stopped getting letters.”
“That doesn’t mean she handled it.”
“I know.”
The way she said it told me she had learned that lesson recently.
“Anything else?”
“There was a store account.”
“How much?”
“Four thousand, maybe five.”
“Your name?”
“Mine and Paige’s.”
“Paige knew?”
“I don’t know.”
I laughed once.
There was nothing funny in it.
A knock sounded on the open door.
We both turned.
Paige stood there with a plate of badly scrambled eggs.
She looked from me to Gwen.
“I come bearing trauma.”
I said nothing.
She lifted the plate.
“They’re edible if you’re brave.”
Gwen’s mouth twitched.
Paige stepped inside and handed her the plate.
For a strange moment, she looked almost concerned.
“You should eat.”
Gwen took the plate carefully.
“Thanks.”
Paige shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts.
“Mom says Daniel’s being intense.”
“I’m standing right here.”
“I know.”
She leaned against a stack of boxes.
“You always get that face.”
“What face?”
“The one where everyone’s under investigation.”
“Maybe everyone is.”
Her smile vanished.
Gwen lowered her fork.
Paige looked at me.
“You’re really doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Coming home after four years and acting like we robbed a bank.”
“I asked for statements.”
“You asked Mom questions like she was in court.”
“You were listening?”
“The kitchen is not a secure facility, Sergeant.”
“Staff Sergeant.”
“That makes it worse.”
Under different circumstances I might have laughed.
Instead I asked, “Did you open a credit account with Gwen?”
Paige blinked.
“What?”
“A store account.”
“What store?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at Gwen.
Gwen shook her head.
“I barely remember.”
Paige’s expression changed from confusion to annoyance.
“Then why are you asking me?”
“Because your name was on it.”
“My name is on lots of things.”
“Such as?”
Paige pushed away from the boxes.
“You know what, no.”
“No what?”
“I’m not doing whatever weird interrogation game this is.”
She turned toward the door.
“Paige.”
She stopped.
“Did Mom ever ask you to sign financial documents for me?”
Her shoulders went still.
That was enough.
I walked around her and closed the door.
She stared at it.
Then at me.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving us privacy.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Answer me.”
Her chin lifted.
“Sometimes.”
“What did you sign?”
“Stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
“Car paperwork.”
“The truck?”
“Maybe.”
“Loans?”
“I don’t know.”
“Credit cards?”
She crossed her arms.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know a lot for somebody whose name is on lots of things.”
“Stop talking to me like I’m stupid.”
“I’m trying to figure out whether you were stupid or involved.”
Her face flushed.
Gwen whispered, “Daniel.”
Paige took a step toward me.
“Say that again.”
I regretted it before she finished the sentence.
Not because it was entirely false.
Because it was cheap.
“Forget it.”
“No.”
“Paige.”
“You think I stole your money?”
“I think something happened to it.”
“And because Mom bought furniture, suddenly we’re criminals?”
“This isn’t about furniture.”
She laughed sharply.
“It’s exactly about furniture.”
“Then explain the accounts.”
“What accounts?”
“The ones Gwen signed.”
Paige glanced at Gwen.
Gwen looked down.
That glance was different from the one Paige had given Margaret earlier.
Less fear.
More discomfort.
“I wasn’t there,” Paige said.
“For which part?”
“When Mom had her sign things.”
“How do you know that happened?”
Paige opened her mouth.
Stopped.
I waited.
She looked toward the door.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Daniel, move.”
“Tell me what you know.”
Her eyes filled with sudden angry tears.
“I know Mom said she was fixing things.”
“Fixing what?”
“Our credit.”
“Whose credit?”
“All of ours.”
I felt the room shift.
“How?”
Paige wiped beneath one eye with the heel of her hand.
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I really don’t.”
She raised her voice.
“Do you think she gave me seminars?”
Gwen set the eggs aside.
Paige pointed at her.
“And she was there too.”
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t make her the answer.”
“I’m not.”
“You looked straight at her.”
“Because she knows.”
Gwen’s shoulders tightened.
I looked at Gwen.
“What does she mean?”
Gwen did not answer.
Paige gave a humorless laugh.
“There.”
“Paige, shut up.”
“No, you want records, right?”
She opened the door herself.
“Ask your wife why Mom had to start moving money around in the first place.”
She left before I could stop her.
I stared at the doorway.
Gwen looked pale even in the dim light.
“What was she talking about?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Gwen.”
“She thinks this started because of me.”
“Did it?”
She pressed her lips together.
“Partly.”
I waited.
“My mother called two years ago.”
I had met Gwen’s mother exactly twice.
Both times Linda Avery had treated me with the distant courtesy of someone who assumed soldiers were temporary husbands.
Gwen had barely spoken to her since our wedding.
“She needed money,” Gwen said.
“How much?”
“Eight thousand.”
“Did you give it to her?”
“Not all at once.”
My chest tightened.
“How much total?”
“Maybe twelve.”
I stood again.
Gwen flinched this time.
I saw it.
That stopped me colder than any accusation could have.
I sat back down immediately.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I know.”
“No, you didn’t.”
She stared at the floor.
I hated that more than the money.
“Where did the twelve thousand come from?”
“The account.”
“My deployment money?”
“Our money.”
I looked at her.
She lifted her chin.
“It was our money, Daniel.”
“Yes.”
The correction mattered.
I let it stand.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you hated her.”
“I didn’t hate her.”
“You called her a tornado with a checking account.”
“That was accurate.”
A tiny smile appeared and disappeared.
“She said she was going to lose her apartment.”
“So you sent twelve thousand.”
May you like
“Over seven months.”
“Did she pay it back?”
