Chương 13
“I married her.”
“Yes.”
“You could say it.”
“Say what?”
“That I was stupid.”
Louise leaned back.
“Would it help?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll save it for Christmas.”
Despite everything, I laughed once.
Then I covered my face.
The laugh turned into something else.
Louise waited.
She had always been good at waiting when other people were falling apart.
Grace had inherited that from her.
“I brought her into Nora’s life.”
“Yes.”
“I trusted her.”
“Yes.”
“I left them alone.”
“Yes.”
Each answer hurt more because she would not rescue me from it.
Finally, she said, “And tomorrow you will still be Nora’s father.”
I looked at her.
“That’s not absolution.”
“I didn’t offer absolution.”
She took a sip.
“You made a catastrophic mistake in trusting someone.”
Her eyes stayed on mine.
“What matters now is whether you make the next mistake because you’re busy punishing yourself for the first one.”
My phone rang.
Alvarez.
I answered immediately.
“We found Vanessa,” he said.
My chest tightened.
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Is she hurt?”
“No.”
“Where?”
“In custody.”
I stood.
“For what?”
There was a pause.
“Obstruction initially.”
“What happened?”
“She left the hotel through a service exit before officers reached her room.”
“Why?”
“She says she believed Colin was inside the building.”
“Was he?”
“We don’t know.”
“Then why arrest her?”
“Because she destroyed a phone after being told to preserve evidence.”
I shut my eyes.
Of course she had.
Self-preservation again.
“What about Colin?”
“We have a stronger problem now.”
“What does that mean?”
“The flash drive is real.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“And?”
“It contains evidence suggesting Mercer has been running variations of this scheme for years.”
“How many people?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Does it prove what he did to Nora?”
“Not by itself.”
“What does?”
“We found messages between Vanessa and Mercer.”
My heart began beating faster.
“About the drops?”
“Yes.”
I waited.
Alvarez’s next words came slowly.
“Mercer told her not to use anything that could be medically detected.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
“So he knew.”
“He knew she intended to induce symptoms.”
“Then arrest him.”
“We’re trying.”
“Trying?”
“He’s gone.”
“Where?”
“We don’t know.”
I looked toward the dark kitchen window.
My reflection stared back at me.
“When did he disappear?”
“His residence was empty when officers arrived.”
“Car?”
“Gone.”
“Phone?”
“Off.”
I thought of Daniel.
“Call Hargrove.”
“We are.”
“He knows Colin.”
“Yes.”
“He knows how he thinks.”
“We know.”
I hated hearing that phrase from him now.
“Alvarez.”
“What?”
“If Colin thinks Vanessa talked, what does he do?”
A pause.
“Depends on what kind of man he is.”
“You have the files.”
“You tell me.”
Alvarez exhaled.
“He protects himself.”
The answer chilled me.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning you do not go home tonight.”
I looked toward the stairs where Nora was sleeping.
“Wasn’t planning to.”
“And you don’t leave Mrs. Hargrove’s house.”
I frowned.
“Louise Blake.”
“Right.”
“Why?”
“Because we recovered another message from Vanessa’s second phone.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did it say?”
Alvarez hesitated.
Then he read it.
“Tell Ethan the house was never the only leverage.”
I stood very still beside Louise’s kitchen table while Alvarez’s words settled into the room.
“What else does he think he has?”
“We don’t know.”
“That message came from Colin?”
“From a number associated with him.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Alvarez sounded tired again.
“We are tracing what we can.”
Louise watched my face from across the table.
“What does he want?”
I asked.
“That may be the wrong question.”
“What is the right one?”
“What does he think you are afraid to lose?”
I looked toward the stairs.
Nora.
The answer was so obvious it felt like an accusation.
“Security is coming to the house,” Alvarez said.
“Police?”
“A patrol unit will remain nearby tonight.”
“Nearby?”
“Visible enough.”
I lowered my voice.
“If Colin wanted Nora, why would he warn me?”
“He may not want her.”
“What else is there?”
“You.”
The room went quiet.
Alvarez continued before I could answer.
“You are trustee.
You are the person whose decisions mattered to the asset.
You are also the person who can identify how you were approached, what Vanessa told you, what documents appeared, and whether Mercer influenced any decisions.”
“He wants me quiet.”
“That is one possibility.”
“By doing what?”
“We are not going to invent threats for him.”
There was something almost merciful in Alvarez’s refusal to speculate.
Fear was already creative enough.
He told me an officer would arrive within twenty minutes.
Then he said something I did not expect.
“Vanessa asked to speak with you again.”
“No.”
“Good.”
I looked at the phone.
“You agree?”
“She has counsel now.”
“Already?”
“She requested an attorney after her arrest.”
I almost laughed.
Vanessa had finally decided not to improvise.
“Then I don’t speak to her.”
“That would be wise.”
“What happens to her?”
“Not my decision tonight.”
“What is she facing?”
“Potential child endangerment.
Evidence tampering.
Fraud-related charges may follow depending on what the financial investigation establishes.”
“And Colin?”
“We find him.”
It sounded less like reassurance than a job description.
After the call ended, Louise poured the rest of her bourbon into the sink.
“You’re wasting good alcohol,” I said.
“I need to be awake.”
“So do I.”
“You need to sit down.”
I did.
Neither of us spoke for several minutes.
The refrigerator clicked on.
A car passed outside.
Somewhere upstairs, a floorboard creaked.
Louise folded a grocery receipt into smaller and smaller squares.
“She asked me once whether you’d ever sell the house.”
I looked at her.
“When?”
“Last spring.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because people ask questions.”
“What did you say?”
“That it wasn’t my decision.”
“Did she press?”
Louise thought about it.
“She asked whether Grace had ever intended Nora to keep it forever.”
“And?”
“I told her Grace intended Nora to have a choice.”
That sounded exactly right.
May you like
Grace had hated sentimental obligations disguised as gifts.
She had loved the Coronado house, but she would never have wanted Nora chained to it simply because dead people had once been happy there.
