Chương 5
The house made ordinary noises around us.
The refrigerator clicked.
The air conditioner came on.
Someone down the block revved a motorcycle.
My phone vibrated every few minutes with messages from my brother, two coworkers, and eventually my boss.
I ignored all of them except my boss.
Family emergency.
Won't be in tomorrow.
His reply came almost immediately.
Take care of your kid.
No questions.
I read it twice.
Emily watched me.
"Work?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have to go?"
"No."
"Even if a freezer breaks?"
"No."
"What if it's a really big freezer?"
I turned off the stove.
"Then somebody else fixes it."
She looked down at the forks.
"Okay."
We ate in silence.
She finished six spoonfuls, then pushed the bowl away.
"Can I sleep in your room?"
"Of course."
"Not with you."
"Okay."
"On the floor."
"Okay."
She frowned.
"You don't have to say okay to everything."
"I am discovering that."
That got the smallest real smile.
I found an old camping mattress in the hall closet and inflated it beside my bed.
Emily changed into one of my T-shirts because the clothes from the hospital had been bagged.
The shirt reached her knees.
She climbed under a blanket and asked me to leave the hallway light on.
I did.
Then she asked me to check the back door.
I checked it.
Then the front door.
I checked that too.
Then every window.
By the time I returned, she looked embarrassed.
"I know it's stupid."
"It isn't."
She stared at the ceiling.
"Jason said you wouldn't come because Mom had made you hate us."
I sat on the edge of the bed.
"She didn't."
"He said you had another family."
"I don't."
"I knew that."
"Good."
"Mostly."
That word stayed between us.
I wanted to tell her everything.
That adults sometimes used children as messengers because we were cowards.
That Sarah and I had said ugly things about each other after the divorce.
That I had once complained about child support in front of Emily when I thought she was asleep.
That I had spent too much time defending my intentions and not enough time noticing what she heard.
Instead, I said, "I'm sorry you ever had to wonder."
She turned onto her side.
"Did you hate Mom?"
"No."
"Do you now?"
I looked at the dark window.
"I don't know what I feel right now."
She accepted that more easily than any polished answer.
A few minutes passed.
Then she said, "She was scared of him."
"How long?"
"I don't know."
"Did he hit her?"
Emily went still.
I regretted the question immediately.
"You don't have to answer."
"He grabbed her sometimes."
My hands tightened between my knees.
"Like her arm."
She demonstrated by wrapping one hand around the other wrist.
"Then he'd say she was being dramatic."
I stared at her fingers.
The bruising on Emily's wrist suddenly felt connected to something larger.
"Did he grab you before this week?"
"Once."
"When?"
"Christmas."
Christmas had been eight months ago.
Sarah had brought Emily to me on Christmas afternoon wearing a long-sleeved green dress.
Emily had seemed quiet.
I had blamed the holiday.
I stood because sitting became impossible.
She flinched.
I froze.
"I'm just getting water."
"Oh."
I went to the kitchen and stood over the sink without turning on the faucet.
Anger moved through me with nowhere useful to go.
I wanted Jason found.
I wanted Sarah found.
I wanted to return to Christmas and ask one different question.
My phone vibrated on the counter.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
"Mr. Carter?"
"Yes."
"This is Daniel Price."
The attorney.
I looked toward the hallway.
"Where are you?"
"At my office."
"Have you seen Sarah?"
There was a pause.
"No."
"When did you last speak to her?"
"Wednesday afternoon."
My grip tightened around the phone.
"She was supposed to meet you Friday."
Another pause.
"Who told you that?"
"The police."
"Then they've read her letter."
"Yes."
I could hear papers moving at his end.
"Mr. Carter, I need you to listen carefully."
"I've been doing a lot of that today."
"Sarah sent me documents Wednesday night."
"What documents?"
"Enough that I told her not to confront Jason."
My heartbeat accelerated.
"She already had."
"I know."
"You knew she was in danger?"
"I knew she believed Jason had committed serious fraud."
"That's not what I asked."
Daniel went quiet.
When he spoke again, his voice had changed.
"Thursday morning, Sarah called me from a number I didn't recognize."
I leaned against the counter.
"What did she say?"
"She said Jason had taken her phone."
"What else?"
"She said Emily had seen too much."
The hallway seemed suddenly darker.
"Did she say where Emily was?"
"No."
"Did she say where she was?"
"No."
"Then why didn't you call the police?"
"I did."
My anger stumbled.
"When?"
"Thursday at nine seventeen in the morning."
I stared at the wall.
"The police knew?"
"I reported what she told me."
"Then why was my daughter in that cage until today?"
Daniel exhaled slowly.
"Because Sarah ended the call by telling me not to send anyone to the house."
"Why?"
"She said Jason had made a threat."
"What threat?"
Daniel was silent long enough that I could hear my own breathing.
"He told her that if police showed up, he would make sure you were the one they blamed for whatever happened next."
For several seconds, the kitchen seemed to tilt around me.
"What exactly did he say he'd blame me for?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Sarah didn't give me the full wording."
"Then give me the part she did."
"She said Jason told her he had enough on you to make the police look in your direction first."
I gripped the counter harder.
"Enough what?"
"I don't know."
"You're her lawyer."
"I'm not her lawyer."
The correction came quickly.
"Not formally."
"Then what are you?"
May you like
"A man she came to because our daughters know each other and because she was scared."
I looked toward the bedroom.
