Chương 12
“We’re still investigating.”
Alex leaned against the wall.
“What does she say?”
“That she didn’t know it was there.”
“Do you believe her?”
Ramirez gave him a look.
“That isn’t how this works.”
He crossed his arms.
I said, “Victor?”
“Still in custody.”
“For what?”
Ramirez’s expression stayed neutral.
“Domestic battery-related charges are being reviewed, and investigators are documenting the evidence.”
“Is Helena arrested?”
“No.”
My heart sank.
Ramirez saw it.
“The firearm was recovered safely.”
“That’s not what scares me now.”
“What does?”
I looked toward the drawer where Alex had put the photograph.
“If she hid it for him.”
Ramirez waited.
“Then she wasn’t just watching.”
“No.”
My voice came out steadier.
“She was helping him.”
Ramirez nodded once.
“That possibility is being examined.”
Alex asked, “What do you need from Claire?”
Ramirez finally sat.
“Information.”
She looked at me.
“Claire, do you know whether Victor’s parents have access to your financial accounts?”
“No.”
“Your passwords?”
“No.”
“Your mail?”
“They’ve been staying at the house.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
I felt something shift inside me.
“What happened?”
Ramirez opened a small notebook.
“When officers were collecting the firearm, they found several envelopes and printed account statements inside the same suitcase.”
My stomach tightened again.
“What statements?”
“Some appear to be yours.”
I stared at her.
“I don’t keep statements in Helena’s suitcase.”
“I assumed not.”
Alex straightened.
“What kind?”
Ramirez looked at me.
“Bank records.”
The room went very quiet.
“And one document that appears to concern the house.”
I set the water glass down before I dropped it.
“What document?”
“I only saw a photograph before detectives took over.”
She chose her words carefully.
“But it looked like a copy of your deed.”
I could hear Victor’s voice from the kitchen that morning.
This is my home.
I thought of the five thousand dollars.
The investment opportunity.
The gun on his belt.
Helena guarding the suitcase.
Something cold settled beneath my ribs.
“Why would she have my deed?”
Ramirez said nothing.
She did not need to.
For the first time, I understood that the message to Alex might have interrupted more than a beating.
It might have interrupted a plan.
Ramirez watched my face while the meaning settled.
“What kind of document?” I asked.
“The copy we saw appears to be the recorded deed from when you and Victor purchased the property.”
“My name is on it.”
“Yes.”
“So is his.”
“Yes.”
Alex folded his arms.
“That doesn’t let his mother do anything with the house.”
Ramirez looked at him.
“I didn’t say it did.”
“What else was in the suitcase?”
She hesitated.
“That’s part of an ongoing investigation.”
I hated the phrase immediately.
It sounded like a locked door.
“I live there.”
“I know.”
“They were my papers.”
“Some appear to be.”
“Then tell me.”
Ramirez’s mouth tightened slightly.
“There were copies of financial documents, correspondence, and what looked like paperwork related to a loan application.”
I stared at her.
“What loan?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“I never applied for one.”
“That matters.”
Alex pushed away from the wall.
“Was her signature on anything?”
Ramirez turned her eyes toward him again.
“I’m not going to speculate from photographs.”
“Was there a signature?”
“There appeared to be one.”
The baby shifted under my ribs.
I pressed my palm there.
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
My throat went dry.
“I didn’t sign anything.”
Ramirez nodded.
“That also matters.”
Alex started pacing.
I recognized the three-step pattern from the hospital.
“I’m going to kill him.”
Ramirez looked at him.
“No, you’re not.”
He stopped.
“I know.”
“Good.”
“I was speaking emotionally.”
“I assumed.”
He shoved both hands into his pockets.
“That sounded worse somehow.”
It almost made me laugh.
I did not.
My mind had gone backward.
Five thousand dollars.
The gun on Victor’s belt.
His sudden interest in whether I planned to return to work full-time after maternity leave.
Helena asking, two days earlier, whether my grandmother had left me anything besides money for the house.
At the time I had called it nosiness.
Now the question looked different.
“Did they take the documents?”
I asked.
“Yes.”
“Can I get copies?”
“Your attorney can request material as the process moves forward.”
“I don’t have an attorney.”
“Then you may want one.”
The word attorney made my chest tighten almost as much as the missing gun had.
Divorce.
Property.
Accounts.
Bills.
Words I had never wanted began lining up in front of me.
“How much does that cost?”
I asked.
Ramirez’s expression changed.
Not pity.
Recognition.
“Denise can give you referrals for legal aid and victim advocacy resources.”
Alex said, “I’ll pay.”
I turned toward him.
“No.”
He blinked.
“It wasn’t a question.”
“It is my life.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
Ramirez looked between us.
Then she stood.
“I’m going to leave you two to have that argument without an audience.”
Alex rubbed his forehead.
“We’re not arguing.”
“You’re siblings.”
She picked up her notebook.
“You’ll get there.”
At the door, she stopped.
“One more thing.”
I looked up.
“Victor’s phone was taken as part of the investigation.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Okay.”
“Detectives may ask you about financial accounts, recent transfers, people he was communicating with, or business dealings.”
“I don’t know anything about his business.”
“That’s fine.”
She opened the door.
“Don’t guess.”
After she left, Alex locked the door again.
The chain slid into place.
I listened to the metal scrape.
Then I looked at him.
“I mean it.”
“About what?”
“You’re not paying for some huge legal fight.”
“You don’t know if it’ll be huge.”
“That’s comforting.”
“I’m trying.”
“I have savings.”
He stared at me.
“The savings he already took five thousand from?”
“I gave him five thousand.”
“Under intimidation.”
“I transferred it.”
“Because he put a gun on his hip during an argument.”
I looked away.
Alex exhaled.
“Sorry.”
“Stop.”
“Fine.”
He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
The expired milk came out.
He sniffed it anyway.
May you like
His face twisted.
“Why did you do that?”
