Chương 13
“What happens to the laptop?”
“We’ll handle it lawfully.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I’m not asking you to go back and hand it to me.”
That answer steadied me more than reassurance would have.
He continued.
“We’re working on the messages and the hotel incident.”
“Did you find out who the man was?”
“Not enough yet.”
“Was he connected to Daniel?”
“We don’t know.”
I pressed my palm against my forehead.
“I’m tired of that sentence.”
“I imagine you are.”
“What if Daniel’s telling the truth about something bigger?”
“Then evidence will support him.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then the voicemail is just another thing he said.”
I looked at the dark television across the room.
For fourteen years, I had confused marriage with giving Daniel extra chances to make his explanations come true.
Hale apparently did not operate that way.
“Can I ask you something?” I said.
“You can.”
“Do people really do this?”
“What?”
“Blow up their entire lives and then act like everybody else caused the explosion.”
Hale exhaled through his nose.
“Yes.”
“That was a stupid question.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It was a tired one.”
The next morning, a detective named Lena Ortiz called me at eight-fifteen.
She had the kind of voice that made every sentence sound as if it had already been stripped of unnecessary drama.
She asked permission to meet at the hotel.
I agreed.
She arrived forty minutes later carrying a paper cup of coffee and a thin folder.
She was in plain clothes, dark slacks and a green blouse under a charcoal jacket.
She looked around the room once, then asked whether I wanted to sit near the window or farther from it.
The question startled me.
“Farther.”
We sat at the small table beside the dresser.
Ortiz opened the folder.
“I’m going to separate three things because right now they’re tangled together.”
I nodded.
“Your mother-in-law’s withdrawal.”
“Our joint-account transfers.”
“The messages and contact you received.”
She tapped the folder.
“They may connect, but I’m not going to assume they do.”
That sounded like Hale.
“Did the bank have video?”
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
Ortiz did not make me wait.
“Daniel made the withdrawal.”
I looked down at my hands.
Seeing proof should have changed something.
Instead it only gave a hard edge to what I already knew.
“Was Patricia there?”
“No.”
“Did he forge something?”
“The bank is reviewing the authority document and transaction handling.”
She paused.
“We have enough to say the withdrawal was not made by you.”
A strange laugh escaped me.
“I’m glad we finally solved the mystery of whether my debit PIN allowed me to teleport into a teller line.”
Ortiz’s mouth twitched.
“Hale mentioned the PIN.”
“He laughed.”
“He shouldn’t have.”
“I didn’t mind.”
“He still shouldn’t have.”
I liked her for that.
She slid a sheet of paper toward me.
“The joint transfers went to an account in Daniel’s name.”
I stared at her.
“His name?”
“Yes.”
“So there was no mysterious recipient.”
“Not on those transfers.”
Anger rose so quickly it made my face hot.
“He told me reversing one would put him in danger.”
“That may still reflect a debt.”
“But the money went to him.”
“It went to an account controlled by him.”
I leaned back.
“Why?”
“We found subsequent payments.”
“To gambling sites?”
“Some.”
The word some lodged in my chest.
“What else?”
Ortiz closed the folder for a moment.
“I need to be careful here.”
I waited.
“One payment went to a private individual who has been investigated in connection with illegal betting activity.”
“So Daniel wasn’t completely lying.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“He said they weren’t just bookies.”
“People who run illegal betting operations are still bookies.”
I almost smiled.
Ortiz continued.
“But the person involved has also been connected to unlicensed lending.”
“Loan sharking.”
“That’s one common phrase.”
“Was the man at the hotel connected to him?”
“We’re investigating.”
“Do you know?”
“We know the delivery driver has done courier work for the same individual.”
My fingers went cold.
“So he was sent.”
“Most likely.”
“To threaten me?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“What was in the envelope?”
Ortiz looked directly at me.
“A copy of a handwritten debt acknowledgment signed by Daniel.”
I stared at her.
“How much?”
“Twenty-eight thousand dollars.”
The number was so absurd I almost checked whether I had heard correctly.
“Twenty-eight?”
“Yes.”
“What did the note say?”
“That he owed the amount and agreed to repay by installments.”
“Was there a threat?”
“No.”
“Then why send it to me?”
Ortiz let the question sit.
Because I was his wife.
Because whoever held the debt had decided embarrassment and fear might make me useful.
Because Daniel had probably mentioned me.
Maybe complained about me.
Maybe talked about my paycheck, my cautiousness, my separate account, the house.
I swallowed.
“Was my name on it?”
“No.”
That helped less than it should have.
Ortiz took a sip of coffee.
“Daniel contacted us early this morning through an attorney.”
I looked up.
“Where is he?”
“He came in voluntarily.”
“Is he under arrest?”
“Yes.”
The answer was so plain that for a moment I did not react.
“For what?”
“At this stage, charges related to the withdrawal and false report are moving forward.”
She held up one hand before I could speak.
“There are additional financial issues under review.”
“Did he confess?”
“He gave a statement with counsel present.”
“What did he say?”
“I can’t walk you through everything.”
“Did he blame me?”
Ortiz’s expression did not change.
“He said he panicked after you separated your finances.”
I laughed.
There it was.
Not exactly blame.
Just Daniel’s favorite architecture.
He acted.
I caused the weather.
“He also acknowledged making the withdrawal.”
“Why?”
“He said he intended to use the money to satisfy part of the debt.”
“And accusing me?”
Ortiz paused.
“He claimed he believed the bank would treat it as fraud and reimburse Patricia.”
May you like
I stared at the wall behind her.
Even now, his logic made room for himself.
