Chương 15
“Lauren, I need you to answer my questions directly.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Then I want my husband.”
“He's speaking voluntarily with another deputy.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“You can request that.”
She looked toward the side yard.
“Marcus!”
Reed's voice became firmer.
“Do not interfere with the interview.”
Her confidence cracked for the first time.
“You cannot keep me from my husband.”
“I am asking you not to disrupt a voluntary conversation.”
Lauren looked at me.
“This is what you wanted.”
I almost answered.
Then I saw the tote bag.
A corner of something blue protruded from beneath a folded sweater.
Dark blue.
With a gold edge.
My pulse changed.
I pointed.
“What is that?”
Lauren looked down.
Too late.
Deputy Reed followed my hand.
He saw it too.
“Lauren, please set the bag on the hood of your vehicle.”
Her face emptied.
“No.”
His posture changed.
Not dramatic.
Just less casual.
“Why not?”
“Because it's mine.”
“I am asking because Mrs. Wells has reported a missing passport, and I can see what appears to be a passport-sized blue booklet in your open bag.”
Lauren gripped the strap.
“It is mine.”
“Then setting it down should make identification straightforward.”
She did not move.
Marcus appeared around the side of the house.
He saw her.
Then the bag.
Then me.
“Lauren.”
She turned sharply.
“Don't.”
His face collapsed.
“What did you do?”
“I said don't.”
Reed held out his hand.
“Lauren, put the bag down.”
For three seconds she stood completely still.
Then she lowered the tote onto the hood.
Reed did not reach inside immediately.
He called the younger deputy over.
They spoke quietly.
Lauren crossed her arms.
“This is absurd.”
Marcus came closer.
“Is that her passport?”
“No.”
“Lauren.”
“No.”
The younger deputy put on gloves.
She carefully moved the sweater.
Then she lifted the blue booklet.
I saw the gold eagle on the cover.
My knees weakened.
The deputy opened it.
She looked at me.
“Patricia Wells?”
“Yes.”
She turned the identification page toward Reed.
My photograph stared back at us.
Lauren's mouth tightened.
Marcus made a sound like he had been punched.
I looked at my daughter-in-law.
“Why is my passport in your bag?”
Her eyes moved from Reed to Marcus to me.
Then something in her finally gave way.
Not remorse.
Calculation.
“You gave it to me.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
“Yes, you did.”
“When?”
“In June.”
“For what?”
“The insurance paperwork.”
“I gave you my passport?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“You don't remember half the things you sign.”
The sentence struck harder than a slap.
Marcus whispered, “Lauren.”
She turned on him.
“Stay out of it.”
His face changed.
For the first time since I had arrived, I saw anger replace fear.
“No.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“No.”
His voice shook, but he did not look away.
“You don't get to tell me that anymore.”
Lauren stared at him.
Then she laughed once.
It was small and ugly.
“Now you grow a spine?”
Marcus went pale.
The insult landed because it had history behind it.
I could see that immediately.
So could he.
He swallowed.
Then he said, “Maybe.”
No perfect comeback.
No triumph.
Just maybe.
Deputy Reed took the passport from the younger deputy and placed it into an evidence sleeve.
Lauren watched him.
“What happens now?”
Reed said, “Now we document possession of an item reported missing, and investigators continue establishing how it came to be in your bag.”
“You're acting like I stole it.”
“I am telling you what we are doing.”
“I need a lawyer.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
She looked at Marcus.
“Call Evan.”
“Who is Evan?” I asked.
Neither of them answered.
Marcus stared at her.
“Your brother?”
Lauren snapped.
“Just call him.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“Marcus.”
“No.”
Her composure broke.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“You are going to leave me standing here with police because your mother threw a tantrum?”
He looked toward the passport in the evidence sleeve.
Then at the house.
Then at her.
“This isn't about the alarm code anymore.”
Lauren's face hardened.
“It was never supposed to be.”
The words escaped before she could catch them.
Every person within earshot became still.
Reed's eyes sharpened.
Marcus whispered, “What?”
Lauren closed her mouth.
I could almost see her trying to pull the sentence back.
She could not.
Reed said, “Lauren, if you're requesting counsel, I recommend you stop answering substantive questions until you've spoken with counsel.”
She stared at him.
Then at me.
I had imagined victory would feel warm.
It did not.
It felt like standing in the wreckage of a room after finally finding the source of the leak.
Necessary.
Expensive.
Sad.
Lauren lifted her chin.
“I want my things.”
I looked at Reed.
He looked at me.
I said, “I am terminating their permission to stay here.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
Lauren laughed.
“You can't just throw us out.”
Elaine's voice came back to me.
Real life was not a revenge story.
I said, “Maybe not today.”
Lauren's expression shifted.
She had expected shouting.
Reed gave a slight nod.
“But you will not control access to this house anymore.”
I looked toward the keypad beside the door.
“And the code changes back now.”
Reed looked at the younger deputy.
“Can you document the current panel and contact the security company with Mrs. Wells present?”
She nodded.
Lauren laughed again, but there was no humor left in it.
“This is insane.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
“This is paperwork catching up with behavior.”
She turned toward Marcus.
“Tell her.”
He stared at the porch boards.
“Tell her what?”
“That she is blowing up our lives.”
Marcus looked at her for a long time.
Then he said, “We did that.”
Lauren's face tightened.
“You signed.”
“I did.”
“You wanted the money too.”
“I wanted the problem to disappear.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
His voice was still shaky, but it held.
May you like
“It isn't.”
She folded her arms.
