Chương 14
"Female?"
"Based on build and gait."
"Who?"
"We're enhancing what we can."
The idea made no sense.
Sarah had been hidden by Jason or Eric.
Someone else knew where she was.
Someone else had brought food.
Someone else had chosen not to free her.
"Could it be somebody helping her?"
Chris asked.
"Helping?"
I turned on him.
"She was tied up."
"I mean maybe they couldn't get her out."
"They could call police."
"Unless they were scared."
"Of what?"
Chris stared at me.
"Same thing everybody else seems to be scared of."
Monroe lifted one hand.
"Speculation won't help."
"Then give us facts."
I was losing patience again.
She did not react.
"One fact may matter."
"What?"
"The woman who returned Saturday arrived in a silver minivan."
"So?"
"The plate is registered."
My pulse jumped.
"To who?"
Monroe looked at me carefully.
"To Linda Harris."
For several seconds, I thought I had misheard.
"Mrs. Harris?"
"Yes."
"No."
Chris frowned.
"That's the neighbor?"
"The woman who helped Emily over the fence."
Monroe nodded.
I laughed once.
It sounded terrible.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because she was the one who warned me."
"That doesn't make it impossible."
"She gave me Sarah's letter."
"Yes."
"She helped Emily."
"Yes."
"She called nobody for three days."
The last fact changed the room.
Chris looked at me.
I could see him recalculating.
Mrs. Harris had heard arguments.
Mrs. Harris had seen bags.
Mrs. Harris had accepted Sarah's envelope.
Mrs. Harris had known something was wrong.
And she had waited.
Monroe watched me connect it.
"Did Sarah ever say how well she knew Mrs. Harris?"
"No."
"Any relationship beyond neighbors?"
"Not that I knew."
"Could Sarah have trusted her with other things?"
"Maybe."
I hated the word now.
Monroe's phone rang again.
She answered.
Her eyes moved immediately toward Sarah's room.
"When?"
She listened.
"Secure her residence."
Another pause.
"No contact until we have a unit there."
She ended the call.
"What?"
I asked.
"Officers went to speak with Mrs. Harris."
"And?"
"She isn't home."
"Car?"
"Gone."
I felt a chill move across my shoulders.
"She was home yesterday."
"Yes."
"She knew police had found Emily."
"Yes."
"She knew I had the letter."
"Yes."
Chris stepped away from the wall.
"Maybe she panicked."
Monroe ignored him.
"Her phone is off."
I looked toward the waiting area where Emily sat somewhere beyond two locked doors.
"Does Emily know her?"
"Obviously."
"I mean really know her."
I thought of bad lemonade.
Gardening gloves.
A woman who had lived beside Sarah for years.
"She trusted her."
Monroe's face tightened.
"Then we need to understand why."
Behind us, something moved in Sarah's room.
A nurse called for Dr. Shen.
I turned immediately.
Sarah's eyes were open.
She was trying to sit up.
I pushed through the curtain.
"Sarah."
Her gaze found me.
"Where is Emily?"
"Safe."
"With who?"
"Renee."
"No."
Her voice sharpened despite its weakness.
"Not Harris."
"She's not with Mrs. Harris."
Sarah grabbed my wrist.
Her fingers barely had strength, but the fear in her face did.
"Mark."
"I'm here."
"Linda knew."
My stomach dropped.
"Knew what?"
Sarah looked past me toward Monroe.
Then back at me.
"She wasn't helping Jason."
Her breathing became uneven.
"She was helping Eric."
Sarah's grip tightened around my wrist.
"Eric paid her."
Monroe stepped closer.
"For what?"
Sarah looked at her, confused for a second by the unfamiliar face.
"Who are you?"
"Special Agent Leah Monroe."
Sarah blinked slowly.
Then her eyes moved back to me.
"He needed access."
"To the house?"
I asked.
"To everything."
Her voice rasped.
"Mail, statements, when Jason was gone, when I was gone."
I felt sick.
Mrs. Harris had spent years waving from across the lawn.
She knew school schedules.
She knew when Emily stayed with me.
She knew when Sarah worked late.
"Why would she do that?"
Sarah closed her eyes.
"Money."
Monroe asked, "How much?"
"I don't know."
"How did you find out?"
Sarah tried to shift and winced.
"Messages."
"Between Linda and Eric?"
She nodded.
"On Jason's prepaid phone."
I stared at her.
"Jason knew?"
Sarah opened her eyes again.
"Not at first."
The room seemed to rearrange itself around that answer.
"What does that mean?"
"He thought Eric worked for him."
Monroe's expression changed.
Sarah saw it.
"Jason was stealing too."
Her mouth twisted with pain.
"He just wasn't the smartest thief in the room."
Dr. Shen stepped in.
"That's enough questioning."
Sarah ignored him.
"Eric set up Redwood."
"Using Jason?"
"Using everybody."
Her eyes found mine.
"Your name was leverage."
I leaned closer.
"What leverage?"
"If Jason got scared, Eric could make it look like you were involved."
The threat suddenly made sense.
Not as a perfect frame.
As confusion.
As delay.
As enough suspicion to buy time.
"Why me?"
"Because Jason hated you."
That answer hurt more than it should have.
Sarah gave a weak, humorless breath.
"And because I still had your old records."
I looked at the floor.
"Jesus."
"No."
Her fingers loosened around my wrist.
"Not you."
That startled me.
Sarah had spent years assigning blame with surgical precision.
Hearing her spare me felt unnatural.
"I should've destroyed them."
"We were married."
"I should've noticed."
"We both should have noticed different things."
Dr. Shen gave us both a look.
"Now she rests."
Monroe backed away.
I didn't.
Sarah looked toward the curtain.
"Emily."
"She's here."
"Bring her."
"Doctor says not yet."
Sarah turned her eyes toward Shen.
"Doctor."
He sighed.
"I said not yet, not never."
"How long?"
"If your next neurological check remains stable, we can talk about a short visit."
Sarah closed her eyes.
"Fine."
It was the weakest victory I had ever seen.
Outside the room, Monroe was already on the phone.
She ended the call and looked at me.
"We have enough to locate Mrs. Harris as a person of interest."
"Person of interest?"
"Do not get hung up on labels."
May you like
"She helped keep Sarah tied up."
"If the footage shows what we think it shows, then yes, her conduct may be criminal."
