Chương 15
“You left her in that house.”
“I did.”
“You knew your mother hated her.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Grace was afraid of her.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“And you still left.”
“Yes.”
Claire’s anger seemed to stumble because I was not defending myself.
She stepped closer.
“You don’t get points for agreeing.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know.”
Grace looked at me.
I almost said I know.
Instead, I shut my mouth.
Claire noticed.
“Good.”
Noah made a tiny sound from the bassinet.
Claire’s entire face changed.
She crossed the room immediately.
“Oh my God.”
Grace smiled.
“There he is.”
Claire bent over the bassinet.
“He’s so small.”
“He resents that.”
“He looks like you.”
Grace said, “Daniel thinks he looks like a potato.”
“I did not say that.”
Claire glanced over.
“You thought it.”
I couldn’t deny it.
Grace laughed.
Claire reached into the bassinet and touched Noah’s foot.
Then her eyes filled.
She turned away quickly.
Grace saw.
“So much for not crying.”
“Shut up.”
“You cried at dog food commercials when you were pregnant with Emma.”
“That dog had arthritis.”
Claire wiped her face.
“It was manipulative.”
The room softened around them.
I sat near the wall.
Claire told Grace that Emma had already selected three stuffed animals for Noah and refused to accept that newborns did not care about dinosaurs.
Grace smiled more in ten minutes with her sister than she had in the previous twelve hours.
I felt jealous.
The feeling embarrassed me immediately.
It was ugly and small.
I let it exist without pretending it was anything else.
Then Claire looked at me.
“So what happens now?”
I glanced at Grace.
“She decides.”
Claire nodded.
“At least you learned one sentence.”
Grace looked down.
“I don’t know what happens now.”
The room became quiet.
Claire sat on the edge of the visitor chair.
“You come home with me.”
Grace looked up.
“To Evanston?”
“Yes.”
“You have two kids and one bathroom upstairs.”
“We’ll survive.”
“Emma leaves towels everywhere.”
“She’s nine.”
“She’s a criminal.”
Claire smiled.
“You can have the downstairs office.”
Grace glanced at me.
I understood what that glance meant.
She did not know where I fit.
Neither did I.
“I can stay somewhere else,” I said.
Claire answered immediately.
“Excellent.”
Grace gave her a warning look.
“What?”
Claire spread her hands.
“He volunteered.”
Grace looked at me.
“Where?”
“I have an apartment downtown.”
“Your mother knows about it.”
“Yes.”
“A hotel?”
“She can find that too.”
Claire said, “You could stay with Victor.”
I stared at her.
She shrugged.
“What?”
“He seems useful.”
“Claire.”
“Fine.”
Grace rubbed her forehead.
“I don’t want us hiding forever.”
“No one said forever,” Claire said.
“I don’t want Noah’s first week to be us moving between safe places.”
Her voice tightened.
“I want to know where I’m sleeping.”
I looked at her.
“The house is yours.”
Grace’s expression hardened instantly.
“No.”
“I don’t mean the estate.”
I shook my head.
“The townhouse in Lincoln Park.”
She frowned.
“We rented that out.”
“The tenants moved in June.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I was going to surprise you.”
Grace stared at me.
That sounded terrible now.
I knew it.
“I thought we could use it after Noah was born.”
“Why?”
“Because you hate the estate.”
Claire snorted.
“Strong insight.”
I ignored her.
“I thought we could stay there for a while.”
Grace looked down at Noah.
“Does your mother have keys?”
“Probably.”
“Then no.”
“I can change the locks today.”
“Cameras?”
“I’ll replace them.”
“Staff access?”
“None.”
Claire said, “Security?”
I looked at Grace.
“Only if she wants it.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“I hate that we have to talk like this.”
No one answered.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Patel.
Call me privately.
I looked at Grace.
She saw my face.
“Go.”
I stepped into the hallway.
Patel answered immediately.
“We located Rebecca.”
“Where?”
“At a motel near O’Hare.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes.”
“Why did she run?”
“She says your mother told her she would be blamed for everything.”
I closed my eyes.
“Is she cooperating?”
“She wants an attorney.”
“That sounds like no.”
“It sounds like someone who has finally become afraid of consequences.”
“What did she say before asking for one?”
Patel paused.
“That Evelyn did not create the original plan.”
My eyes opened.
“What?”
“She says Dr. Mercer did.”
The corridor seemed to narrow.
“Why would Mercer care whether Grace left me?”
“She claims he didn’t.”
“Then what was the plan?”
Patel’s voice became quieter.
“According to Rebecca, the first plan was to convince you that Grace needed psychiatric hospitalization before the baby was born.”
I leaned against the wall.
“For what purpose?”
“Your mother wanted documentation.”
“Documentation of what?”
“That Grace was unstable enough to challenge any custody claim later.”
My jaw tightened.
“That sounds like my mother.”
“Yes.”
“But Rebecca says Mercer suggested the confinement?”
“She says he suggested controlling Grace’s environment temporarily.”
“That’s a convenient phrase.”
“I agree.”
“Why?”
“He allegedly believed stress was causing dangerous blood pressure spikes.”
“Did it?”
“We’re verifying her medical records.”
I looked through the glass at Grace.
Claire was holding Noah now.
Grace was watching her sister.
“What changed?”
“Rebecca says your mother escalated it.”
“How?”
“After Grace refused to sign the separation acknowledgment.”
I frowned.
“What acknowledgment?”
“Not the separation agreement.”
Patel took a breath.
“A statement saying she had voluntarily withdrawn from public and family contact due to emotional distress.”
I closed my eyes.
“She refused.”
“Yes.”
“So my mother locked her in.”
“That appears to be the point where the arrangement changed.”
I felt anger rise, then stopped.
“What does Rebecca have to prove any of this?”
“Emails.”
My heart kicked.
“Where?”
“Not on your company system.”
“Then where?”
“She used a private archive.”
“Why?”
Patel hesitated.
“She says your mother instructed her to keep certain conversations off company servers.”
That was the first genuinely careless thing my mother had done.
Except it was not careless.
May you like
It was arrogance.
Private archives still existed.
