Chương 14
“So Voss knew Cole.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad knew Voss knew Cole.”
“Yes.”
The phone in my pocket rang.
Chloe.
I stared at her name.
Keene said, “Answer it.”
I did.
“Where are you?”
Chloe’s voice was breathless.
“Manhattan.”
“Are Mom and Dad with you?”
“No.”
A car horn sounded behind her.
“Where are you?”
“Outside their house.”
My heart jumped.
“Why?”
“Mom called me and said you had some kind of breakdown and ran off.”
I closed my eyes.
“What else did she say?”
“That your lawyer is manipulating you.”
James looked offended.
I almost smiled.
Chloe continued.
“Fay, what the hell is going on?”
“Go home.”
“What?”
“Leave Mom and Dad’s house.”
“I just got here.”
“Please.”
The word changed her breathing.
“What happened?”
“I can’t explain yet.”
“Did Dad do something?”
I looked at Keene.
She shook her head slightly.
Not yet.
“Just leave.”
Chloe was silent.
Then she said, “Mom’s in the garage.”
I felt cold spread through my chest.
“Is Dad there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do not go inside.”
“Fay.”
“Get in your car.”
A door slammed somewhere on her end.
Chloe whispered, “Someone’s coming out.”
Keene took the phone from my hand and put it on speaker.
“Chloe, this is Detective Mara Keene.”
“What?”
“Get inside your vehicle and lock the doors.”
There was a pause.
Then Chloe said, “Why is Dr. Voss here?”
Keene’s face changed before anyone else in the room moved.
“Chloe, do not speak to him.”
“What?”
“Get in your car.”
“He sees me.”
“Lock the doors.”
I heard the chirp of a car unlocking, then Chloe’s breath speeding up.
“Why is he walking over here?”
Keene was already dialing with her other phone.
“Dawson, move now.”
On Chloe’s line, a man called her name.
Dr. Voss sounded exactly as he had in my parents’ living room.
Warm.
Measured.
Safe.
“Chloe, your mother asked me to come by.”
“Stay away from me.”
Her voice cracked.
“Chloe, you’re frightened.”
“No kidding.”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
Keene spoke sharply.
“Do not engage him.”
Voss’s voice came closer.
“I only want to make sure you’re all right.”
Chloe whispered, “He’s touching the handle.”
I stopped breathing.
Then another male voice shouted from farther away.
“Sir, step away from the vehicle.”
Voss said something I could not make out.
A car door slammed.
There was movement.
Keene listened with her whole body.
“Dawson?”
The officer’s voice came through her second phone.
“We have him detained pending identification.”
“Do not search the vehicle without lawful basis.”
“Understood.”
“Where are the Mercers?”
“Gerald is inside.”
“And Patricia?”
“Garage.”
Keene’s eyes met mine.
“Secure the scene if you have cause.”
Dawson answered, “There’s smoke coming from the garage.”
My stomach dropped.
Keene was already moving.
“Call fire.”
I grabbed my coat.
James stepped in front of me.
“No.”
“She’s burning something.”
“You cannot get there faster than police.”
“She’s burning Nathan’s evidence.”
“We don’t know what she’s burning.”
“I do.”
Keene ended the call and looked at me.
“You’re staying here.”
I laughed once.
“No.”
“Fay.”
“No.”
Her voice hardened.
“This is not about control.”
“That is exactly what everyone says right before they try to control me.”
The words hit harder than I intended.
Keene went still.
James looked at the floor.
I took a breath.
“I won’t interfere.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I need to see this through.”
Keene studied me.
Then she nodded once.
“You ride with James.”
He opened his mouth.
“Don’t.”
She pointed at him.
“Not now.”
We drove back to Ridgewood with Keene ahead of us.
The trip felt shorter than it had any right to.
By the time we reached my parents’ street, red lights washed across the houses.
Neighbors stood on lawns in coats and slippers.
Smoke drifted from the open garage.
A firefighter carried out a blackened metal trash can.
My mother stood near the curb wrapped in a blanket she clearly did not need.
My father sat on the front steps.
Dr. Voss was nowhere in sight.
Chloe ran to me before I had both feet out of the car.
“What is happening?”
I hugged her.
She held on harder than I expected.
Then she pulled back.
“Why are there cops?”
“Because Mom was burning documents.”
Chloe stared at me.
“What?”
Patricia heard.
She turned.
“I was burning personal papers.”
Keene walked toward her.
“Patricia Mercer?”
My mother lifted her chin.
“You know who I am.”
“I need you to remain available while we determine what was destroyed.”
“I’m not under arrest.”
“No.”
“Then I’m going inside.”
Keene stepped aside.
“You can.”
Patricia seemed almost disappointed.
She looked at me instead.
“This is what you wanted?”
“No.”
“You brought police to our home.”
“You brought Dr. Voss.”
Her face tightened.
“He came because I called him.”
“Why?”
“To help.”
Chloe laughed sharply.
“With what?”
Patricia looked at her.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
My mother’s gaze moved between us.
For once, she seemed unable to decide which daughter required managing first.
Gerald stood from the steps.
“Pat.”
She ignored him.
Chloe said, “Did you really try to have Fay declared incompetent?”
Patricia closed her eyes.
“Not exactly.”
“That sounds like yes.”
“It was precautionary.”
“For eight million dollars?”
“For her.”
“No.”
My voice came out quiet.
“For you.”
She looked at me.
I continued before she could interrupt.
“You were building records on me before Nathan died.”
Her face changed.
Just enough.
Chloe saw it.
“What records?”
Patricia did not answer.
Keene did.
“Medical records under Fay’s name.”
Chloe stared at our mother.
“Fake ones?”
Silence.
Gerald sat down again.
That was answer enough.
My mother turned toward the house.
Keene said, “Patricia.”
She stopped.
“I am not questioning you right now.”
“Good.”
“But if you destroy anything else, that changes.”
Patricia laughed bitterly.
“You all think this is so simple.”
I looked at her.
“Then make it complicated.”
She turned back.
May you like
For the first time that night, she looked frightened rather than calculating.
“Your father was going to lose everything.”
