Chương 11
“No.”
“Any reason she’d go to the Lake Mercer cabin today?”
“She goes there when she’s upset.”
“Alone?”
“Usually.”
“Does she keep food or chemicals there?”
“I have no idea.”
Bell’s phone rang again.
He answered with a clipped, “Bell.”
We listened to half a conversation.
His face changed on the third sentence.
“Repeat that.”
He turned away from us.
“No, don’t enter.”
A pause.
“Keep eyes on the property.”
Another pause.
“Is the vehicle warm?”
He looked at me.
“All right.”
He ended the call.
“They found her car.”
My chest tightened.
“At the cabin?”
“Yes.”
“Is she there?”
“They don’t know yet.”
“Why don’t they go inside?”
“Because they don’t have legal authority to force entry based on what we have so far.”
I stared at him.
“You have my blood.”
“We have preliminary hospital results.”
“You have the garage.”
“We have unidentified materials in containers.”
“You have the receipt.”
“We have a prescription that may have an innocent explanation.”
My anger flared.
“So what would be enough?”
Bell looked tired rather than offended.
“A warrant.”
“Then get one.”
“We’re working on it.”
“While she sits there?”
“Maybe.”
“What does that mean?”
“The car is there.”
“That’s all we know.”
I shoved the blanket off again.
Dr. Shah reached for it.
“Claire.”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“If Patricia did this, she knows we’re looking.”
Bell nodded.
“Yes.”
“She knows Lily talked.”
“Possibly.”
“She knows the hospital is testing me.”
“Yes.”
“She may know the police went to her house.”
“Also possible.”
“And you’re waiting.”
“I am not waiting.”
His voice sharpened for the first time.
“I have deputies containing the location, another team processing the garage, a child being transported for medical testing, and an application being prepared for judicial review.”
He took a breath.
“I am doing what I can do without turning everything we find into evidence a defense attorney can attack later.”
The words landed.
I looked away.
Bell continued more quietly.
“If she did this, you want it done correctly.”
I hated that he was right.
Daniel spoke through the phone.
“Is Lily leaving the school?”
Bell checked a message.
“Yes.”
“Can I ride with her?”
“That depends on the transporting officers.”
“I’m her father.”
“I understand.”
“No, you keep saying that like it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters.”
“Then why is everybody treating me like I’m involved?”
Bell glanced at me.
“Because right now, everyone with access gets examined.”
Daniel went quiet.
I watched the waveform on the monitor rise and fall.
For years, Daniel had treated my uncertainty like evidence against me.
Now uncertainty had entered his life and sat down beside him.
I expected satisfaction.
Instead I felt sick.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Stay with Lily if they let you.”
A pause.
“You want me there?”
“I want her to have someone she knows.”
His breathing changed.
“Okay.”
“And don’t ask her questions.”
“I won’t.”
“Not even gentle ones.”
“I said I won’t.”
I almost snapped back.
Then stopped.
Old habits were hard to kill even when the marriage was already dying.
Bell ended the call after getting Daniel’s number directly.
The room became quiet again.
Dr. Marquez checked the IV pump.
“We’re starting treatment now.”
“For arsenic?”
“For confirmed significant exposure, yes, with poison control guidance.”
“Before the confirmatory test?”
“Given your presentation and preliminary level, waiting may create more risk than treating.”
I nodded.
“Side effects?”
“Possible.”
“Bad?”
“Usually manageable.”
“That’s doctor language.”
“It is.”
“What does human language sound like?”
She thought for a second.
“You may feel worse before you feel better.”
“Great.”
“And you’ll be admitted.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“My daughter is coming here.”
“I know.”
“I want to see her.”
“If she’s medically stable and staff can arrange it.”
“If.”
“Yes.”
I rubbed my forehead.
Every answer had become conditional.
My marriage.
My health.
My daughter.
My mother-in-law.
Even the court hearing that morning was now suspended somewhere in legal air.
The door opened.
Jenna entered with another nurse and a medication bag.
She read my name and date of birth aloud.
I confirmed both.
“What is that?”
“The first dose.”
I watched the clear fluid begin traveling down the tubing.
Nothing dramatic happened.
No burning.
No sudden relief.
Just drops.
Jenna taped the line more securely.
“You may feel nauseated.”
“I already do.”
“Then you’re ahead of schedule.”
I smiled despite myself.
She smiled back.
Bell’s phone buzzed again.
He read the message and looked toward the hallway.
“I need to go.”
“To the cabin?”
“Eventually.”
“Are you coming back?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe me?”
The question escaped before I could stop it.
Bell paused.
Dr. Shah looked at me.
Dr. Marquez stopped adjusting the chart.
Bell did not answer quickly.
“I believe your blood test.”
It hurt.
I looked away.
Then he added, “And I believe you were not taken seriously when you said something was wrong.”
My throat tightened.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
He put the notebook away.
“But it’s where investigations start.”
He left.
I stared at the closed door.
Dr. Marquez sat again.
“You wanted him to say he believed everything.”
“I wanted one person to.”
“That’s dangerous.”
I looked at her.
She shrugged.
“For him.”
“I know.”
“You don’t look like you know.”
“I’m getting there.”
She gave me a small smile.
“Good.”
An hour later, the hospital room looked less like an emergency room and more like a storage locker for fear.
My handbag sat on one chair.
The court folder, thinner now without the receipt, sat beneath it.
A plastic cup of ice chips melted untouched.
My blouse sleeve was still cut open from the ambulance.
Someone had given me a gown, but I had refused to take the blouse off completely.
It was stupid.
The fabric was ruined.
Still, I kept it draped around my shoulders.
Maybe because it belonged to the morning before everything changed.
May you like
Maybe because I was cold.
Mostly because I did not want Patricia, even absent, to strip one more thing from me.
