Chương 5
“Arthur followed her after she left.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
I asked.
“Because she had documents he couldn’t allow her to take to you.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you follow?”
“No.”
Toby whispered into my shirt.
“She did.”
I froze.
“What?”
He lifted his head.
“Evie car.”
Evelyn heard him.
There was a long silence on the phone.
Then she said, “Toby is with you?”
“Yes.”
“Thomas, listen to me carefully.”
Something in her voice made Daniel lean closer.
“Arthur doesn’t know Toby saw anything.”
I looked at my grandson.
“What did he see?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you warning me?”
“Because Arthur thinks Genevieve made only one copy of the evidence.”
My eyes moved to the USB.
“And?”
“And if he finds out Toby carried another copy into this hotel, he will come back.”
Daniel took the phone from my hand before I could answer.
“Evelyn, this is Daniel Mercer.”
“I know who you are.”
“Then you know I’m going to ask you one question at a time, and if you lie, I’m going to assume everything else you say is worthless.”
“That sounds like you.”
“Is Arthur still in the hotel?”
“No.”
“You said he was leaving.”
“He left.”
“Which exit?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who is with you?”
“My sister and two bridesmaids.”
“Names.”
She gave them.
Daniel wrote each one down.
“Has Arthur contacted you since he left?”
“No.”
“Are you willing to stay exactly where you are?”
There was a pause.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you’re frightened.”
“I am.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
He ended the call.
I stared at him.
“You hung up on her.”
“I did.”
“She said Arthur could come back.”
“She also admitted helping him spy on you.”
“Years ago.”
“That sentence came out of your mouth faster than I’d like.”
I stood so abruptly Toby slid sideways on the bed.
I caught him and set him upright.
“You think I’m defending her?”
“I think you love her.”
The room went still.
I hated him for saying it because it was true.
Love did not vanish on command just because evidence appeared.
It became contaminated.
That was worse.
I still knew the way Evelyn slept with one foot outside the blanket.
I still knew she hated cilantro and pretended not to mind when restaurants ignored her request.
I still knew she called her sister every Sunday night.
Those things did not disappear because a scanned contract existed.
They simply became impossible to place.
Daniel leaned against the desk.
“Thomas, love is exactly why you don’t make the next decision alone.”
“What decision?”
“What to do with her.”
Toby spoke from the bed.
“Evie bad?”
Neither of us answered quickly enough.
His eyes moved between us.
I sat beside him.
“Evie did something bad.”
“Mommy too?”
“No.”
Then I stopped.
I had almost lied for comfort.
“Mommy made some choices I don’t understand yet.”
Toby frowned.
“Like bad?”
“Maybe scared choices.”
He accepted that more easily than I did.
Children were less offended by uncertainty than adults.
Daniel picked up the USB.
“We need the rest.”
I nodded.
This time I put headphones on before opening the video again.
Toby watched television while Daniel and I leaned over the laptop.
The garage confrontation continued after Evelyn’s slap.
Genevieve stumbled backward, one hand pressed to her cheek.
Arthur stepped between them.
“That was unnecessary.”
Evelyn turned on him.
“Then you handle it.”
He held out his hand to Genevieve.
“Give me the phone.”
“No.”
“You are escalating something that can still be contained.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s advice.”
Genevieve backed toward the elevator lobby.
“You paid your daughter to manipulate my father.”
Arthur’s face changed.
Not anger.
Embarrassment.
That struck me.
He looked like a man being forced to discuss an affair at dinner, not a crime in a parking garage.
“We paid for access,” he said.
“You’re using ugly language because you’re upset.”
“What language would you prefer?”
“Corporate intelligence.”
Daniel whispered, “There it is.”
On screen, Evelyn stepped closer to her father.
“Stop talking.”
Arthur ignored her.
“Your father has used consultants.”
“Not to crawl into somebody’s bed.”
Evelyn flinched.
Genevieve saw it.
“So that’s the part you’re ashamed of.”
“I didn’t sleep with him for information.”
“No, you just met him for information and slept with him later.”
The cruelty in Genevieve’s voice made me wince.
It also sounded like her.
She could be merciless when frightened.
Evelyn looked away.
That tiny movement unsettled me more than the slap.
Arthur said, “This conversation is over.”
Genevieve pulled a key fob from her purse.
“No, it isn’t.”
She turned toward the elevator.
Arthur grabbed her arm.
The camera shook.
Genevieve jerked free and shoved him.
He struck the concrete pillar with his shoulder.
Then everything became confused.
Evelyn moved forward.
Genevieve raised the phone.
Arthur reached for it.
A horn sounded somewhere off screen.
The camera dropped toward the pavement.
For three seconds, the image showed only a tire and a painted yellow line.
Then it went black.
I removed the headphones.
Daniel was staring at the frozen screen.
“That’s not enough.”
“No.”
“It proves assault by Evelyn.”
“One slap.”
“And physical contact by Arthur.”
“It doesn’t prove what happened later.”
“No.”
I looked at Toby.
He was humming under his breath.
“His car.”
Daniel followed my gaze.
“What?”
“Toby said he was in Genevieve’s car.”
“You want him to tell us what he saw?”
“I don’t want to interrogate him.”
“Good.”
“But he may know where they went.”
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
“At three?”
“He knows places.”
“Maybe.”
I sat on the carpet in front of Toby.
He immediately put one hand on my head.
It was something he did when he thought adults needed fixing.
“Buddy, after Mommy left the garage, did you go somewhere?”
He nodded.
“Where?”
“House.”
“What house?”
He shrugged.
“Big house.”
“That narrows it down.”
May you like
Daniel gave me a look.
I ignored him.
