Chương 15
I waited.
“He tells Evelyn not to use the garage when you’re expected home early.”
The wall against my back suddenly felt like the only solid thing in the building.
Kim kept speaking, but for several seconds I heard nothing.
Not because I had misunderstood.
Because I had finally understood exactly enough.
Taylor had not merely known what his mother was doing.
He had helped her hide it from me.
I stayed against the courthouse wall until Detective Kim finished speaking.
She did not tell me everything.
She told me enough.
The backup contained clips from the garage camera, a hallway camera Taylor had forgotten was synchronized, and message archives between him and Evelyn dating back more than a year.
Some files were corrupted.
Some had no audio.
Some showed nothing more than people walking through rooms.
But several showed Lily being taken toward the garage after crying or arguing.
One showed Taylor standing in the kitchen while Evelyn led Lily past him by the wrist.
He looked up.
He did nothing.
Another showed him opening the garage door nine minutes later.
Kim would not tell me what happened inside.
“I need to see it.”
“Not today.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then let me see what happened to her.”
“No.”
The word hit me like an order.
I almost fought it.
Then I heard Judge Whitcomb telling me my job was stability.
I closed my eyes.
“Is there evidence he touched her?”
“Not that we’ve identified.”
“Is there evidence he put her in the freezer?”
Kim paused.
“Not directly.”
“Did he know Evelyn did?”
“We have evidence strongly suggesting he knew confinement was happening in the garage.”
That phrasing mattered.
She was being precise because precision was what survived courtrooms.
“What happens now?”
“We continue.”
“With Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“With Taylor?”
“Yes.”
“Are they being arrested?”
“I cannot discuss timing.”
I looked down the hallway where Taylor had disappeared.
“He knows you have the drive.”
“Yes.”
“Does he know what’s on it?”
“His attorney has been informed that potentially relevant evidence was recovered.”
Potentially relevant.
Another phrase built to withstand attack.
I hated it less than I had a few hours earlier.
Facts needed boring language.
Boring language did not make them less terrible.
Kim said she would contact Michelle.
Then her voice changed slightly.
“Go home.”
“I am going.”
“Actually go home.”
“I heard you.”
“I’m not sure you did.”
I looked at the courthouse exit.
“I’m going to my daughter.”
“Good.”
Outside, the afternoon sun was offensively bright.
People crossed the plaza carrying folders and coffee.
A man argued into his phone about parking.
Someone had dropped half a sandwich near a concrete planter, and three pigeons were conducting a loud jurisdictional dispute over it.
I stood there for a moment, stunned by the fact that pigeons still had problems.
Then I went home.
Lily was building a blanket fort in the living room when I opened the door.
Jenna sat inside it wearing the stuffed octopus on her head.
“This is a secure facility,” Jenna said.
Lily crawled out.
“What did the judge say?”
I knelt.
“You’re staying with me.”
She searched my face.
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She considered that.
“Can I sleep in your room anyway?”
“Yes.”
“Even when I get my own bed?”
“Yes.”
“Can we get bunk beds?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not climbing a ladder at two in the morning.”
“You’re in the Army.”
“Exactly.”
She smiled.
Then she hugged me.
Her arms went around my neck with no warning.
I held her carefully because her fingers were still sore.
Over her shoulder, Jenna looked away.
When Lily released me, she returned to the fort as if we had settled a scheduling question.
Jenna followed me into the kitchen.
“What happened?”
“Emergency custody.”
Her shoulders dropped.
“Good.”
“It’s temporary.”
“Still good.”
I poured water and drank half the glass without stopping.
Jenna watched me.
“You look awful.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I told her enough to explain why I might need help over the next few days.
I did not tell her about the videos.
I could not make myself say it yet.
She listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she leaned against the refrigerator.
“What do you need from me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Great.”
She nodded.
“I’m excellent at undefined missions.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
I looked toward the blanket fort.
“I may need someone she trusts.”
“You have me.”
The words were simple.
They almost hurt.
That evening, Lily ate half a grilled cheese sandwich and asked whether Grandma was going to jail.
I told her I did not know.
She asked whether Daddy was.
Same answer.
She frowned at her tomato soup.
“Adults don’t know much.”
“No.”
“We know where the spoons are.”
She looked at the drawer.
“That’s not a lot.”
“Some days it’s enough.”
At seven, someone knocked.
Lily froze.
I checked the peephole.
Two detectives stood outside.
Kim and a man I had not met.
I let them in.
Kim introduced Detective Aaron Feld, who worked crimes against children.
Lily stayed behind the couch.
Kim crouched.
“We aren’t here to ask you questions.”
Lily peeked at her.
“Then why are you here?”
“To talk to your mom.”
“About Grandma?”
“Yes.”
“And Daddy?”
Kim hesitated only briefly.
“Yes.”
Lily disappeared behind the couch again.
I brought the detectives into the kitchen.
Feld placed a document on the table.
“We executed additional search authority at the Aspen Ridge residence.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did you find?”
“The missing storage drive.”
I sat.
“Where?”
“Inside a locked cabinet in the basement.”
“Who put it there?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Was it damaged?”
“Partially.”
Kim added, “Someone attempted to overwrite portions of it.”
“When?”
Feld looked at his notes.
“Preliminary system information suggests after the emergency call.”
I stopped moving.
Evelyn had been at the house.
Taylor had returned before police secured everything.
May you like
Either of them could have tried.
“Can you recover it?”
