Chương 10
“What did he give you?”
“He said it was a legal stimulant compound.”
“Name.”
“He never gave me one.”
“You put an unnamed substance in my daughter’s body.”
“I know.”
“Don’t.”
“Right.”
Her voice shook.
“The last bottle is still at the house.”
“Where?”
“In the upstairs bathroom.”
“Where exactly?”
“Inside the false bottom of the linen cabinet.”
I looked at Alvarez.
He nodded once and wrote it down.
“Do not touch it,” he whispered.
I relayed nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“I stopped using what Colin gave me after Nora threw up.”
My jaw clenched.
“Then what did you use after that?”
“A supplement I bought myself.”
“What supplement?”
“It was marketed for energy and focus.”
“Name.”
“I don’t remember the brand.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
She sounded exhausted.
“I threw the packaging away.”
I felt something close to rage rise again.
“You thought switching products made this safer?”
“I thought I could control the dose.”
There are sentences you hear and immediately know will live in you forever.
That was one of them.
I could control the dose.
I looked through the narrow glass window in the exam-room door.
Nora was leaning against Louise’s shoulder.
Professor Carrots was not with her, so she had folded the paper covering the table into a long strip and was tying it around her wrist like a bracelet.
I turned away.
“Did Colin ever enter the house while Nora was there?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Twice.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to see the property records.”
“Were they in the house?”
“Some copies.”
“You gave him access?”
“Yes.”
“What else did he take?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he ever go into Nora’s room?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“For once, be careful with that word.”
She went quiet.
Then she said, “I never saw him go in.”
That was better.
Alvarez pointed toward the phone again.
This time I handed it over.
He put it on speaker but did not announce himself immediately.
“What else is on the flash drive?” I asked.
Vanessa answered.
“Emails from Colin.
Bank records.
A list of people he used.
Some recordings from meetings.”
“Meetings with who?”
“Lawyers.
Brokers.
Financial advisers.
People who looked legitimate until you paid attention.”
Alvarez spoke.
“Mrs. Blake, this is Detective Alvarez.”
Vanessa stopped breathing audibly.
“I need you to remain where you are.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t have to tell you where I am.”
“That’s true.”
Alvarez’s tone stayed even.
“But if you are in danger from Colin Mercer, disappearing makes it harder to protect you.”
She laughed once.
“Protect me.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know what he has.”
“Then help me know.”
“I already told Ethan where the drive is.”
“That helps.
Where are you?”
Silence.
Alvarez waited.
A nurse came around the corner carrying a tray and slowed when she saw us.
Then she kept moving.
Vanessa finally said, “I’m in a hotel.”
“Which one?”
“No.”
“Is Colin with you?”
“No.”
“Does he know where you are?”
“I don’t think so.”
“That isn’t the same as no.”
“I know.”
Alvarez looked at me briefly.
“Mrs. Blake, do you have the phone Colin usually contacts you on?”
Another silence.
“Yes.”
“Is it the one you’re using now?”
“No.”
“Where is the other device?”
“In my car.”
“Powered on?”
“Yes.”
Alvarez muttered something under his breath.
“What?”
Vanessa asked.
“Turn it off.”
She did not answer.
“Mrs. Blake, if you believe this man is a threat, turn that phone off and do not return to your vehicle.”
Her breathing quickened.
“He’ll know.”
“He may already know.”
That scared her.
I could hear it.
“Detective.”
“Yes?”
“He has location tools.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.
He always knew when I moved.”
“Through the phone?”
“Maybe.”
“Vehicle tracker?”
“Maybe.”
“App access?”
“I don’t know.”
Alvarez pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Where is the car parked?”
She gave him a street in Mission Valley but not the hotel name.
“That narrows it,” he said.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay inside.
Do not meet anyone.
Do not go back to the car.”
“And Ethan?”
Alvarez looked at me.
“He stays with his daughter.”
Vanessa did not reply.
Then she said my name.
Just my name.
I took the phone back.
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
I nearly hung up.
Then Nora’s words from earlier came back to me.
Sometimes Vanessa sits on the floor in my room after I get mad.
She says she’s sorry.
Sorry had become something Vanessa used after harm instead of before it.
“What are you sorry for?” I asked.
A long pause followed.
“For being scared in ways that made other people pay.”
That sentence sounded more like a confession than anything else she had said.
I had no answer for it.
“I’m giving the phone back.”
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“If Nora asks why I did it, don’t tell her it was because of the house.”
My throat tightened.
“Why not?”
“Because then she’ll think Grace’s house caused this.”
I said nothing.
“She loves that place.”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“Don’t let me ruin that too.”
I handed the phone to Alvarez.
He resumed asking practical questions.
I went back into the room.
Louise looked at me once and understood enough not to ask in front of Nora.
Nora held up her paper bracelet.
“It broke.”
“I can fix it.”
I sat beside her and retied the torn ends badly.
She watched my fingers.
“Grandma says you tie knots like a person with no survival skills.”
Louise said, “I said camping skills.”
“That too.”
For half a second, I laughed.
It escaped before I could stop it.
Nora smiled because I had.
The normality of the moment hurt almost as much as everything else.
A child should not have been able to make a joke in the middle of this.
May you like
Then again, children do not wait for adults to restore order before being children.
The doctor returned and said they wanted to discharge Nora once the social worker completed documentation and follow-up arrangements.
