Chương 4
I stepped closer to the window and looked through the curtain.
Daniel glanced toward the house.
For a brief moment, his eyes met mine.
He could not have seen much through the glass.
But he looked directly at me anyway.
That was enough.
“He knew I was here,” I said.
My father frowned.
“What?”
“He expected someone else.”
Detective Ramirez looked at me.
“Explain.”
“The way he looked at the window.”
My mother sighed.
“Maya, you cannot build a case because someone looked at a window.”
“No.”
I kept watching Daniel.
“But I can pay attention to behavior.”
Grandma quietly said, “That is what you always did.”
I looked back at her.
“What?”
“You watched people before you trusted them.”
The comment was not criticism.
It sounded like an observation.
Maybe even sadness.
Detective Ramirez opened the door slightly.
“I am going to speak with him.”
I grabbed his arm before I realized I had moved.
“Careful.”
He looked at my hand.
Then at me.
I released him immediately.
“I mean, do not let him know what we know.”
A small smile appeared on his face.
“Still giving instructions.”
“Still ignoring bad ones.”
That earned a quiet laugh from Officer Wells.
It was the first normal sound in the room all night.
Ramirez stepped outside.
Through the window, we watched him speak with Daniel.
The conversation was calm.
Too calm.
Daniel smiled several times.
He gestured toward the house.
Ramirez remained still.
My father stood behind me.
“He does not look dangerous.”
I almost turned around.
Almost.
Instead, I said, “Neither do most people who are dangerous.”
My father was quiet.
Then he said, “You really believe that about me too?”
The question caught me off guard.
I looked at him.
He was not angry.
He looked tired.
“I do not know what to believe about you right now.”
He nodded slowly.
“I guess I deserve that.”
Those words were harder to hear than an argument.
Because anger was easy to fight.
Regret was harder.
A few minutes later, Ramirez returned.
“He wants to come inside.”
“No,” I said immediately.
My mother looked at me.
“You do not get to decide that.”
“She is the one who called me.”
Grandma lifted a hand.
“Let him in.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Grandma—”
“He came here because he thinks I am afraid.”
She straightened.
“I want him to see that I am not.”
I wanted to argue.
Every instinct I had told me to keep distance.
But I also knew something else.
People who lost control often became more reckless when they felt ignored.
Sometimes the best way to understand someone was to let them talk.
Daniel entered the house carrying the smell of rain with him.
He removed his coat carefully and placed it over his arm.
“Evelyn.”
He smiled.
“I was worried when you stopped answering.”
Grandma stared at him.
“I never answered you.”
His smile faded slightly.
“I mean when you stopped responding.”
“I never responded.”
A tiny crack appeared in his confidence.
Only for a moment.
But I saw it.
“Perhaps we misunderstood each other.”
Daniel looked around.
His eyes stopped on the police officers.
Then on me.
“And you must be Maya.”
I did not move.
“How do you know my name?”
He gave a small laugh.
“Evelyn talks about you.”
Grandma did not confirm it.
That mattered.
“What does she say?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable for the first time.
“Nothing bad.”
“That was not my question.”
My mother stepped in.
“Maya.”
A warning.
Not because I was wrong.
Because she was embarrassed.
That was something I knew well about my family.
They often cared more about how things looked than what was happening.
Daniel sat down.
“I think there has been a misunderstanding.”
“That seems to be the favorite sentence tonight,” I said.
He looked at me carefully.
“You are suspicious of everyone.”
“No.”
I met his eyes.
“I am suspicious of people who need me not to be.”
The room went silent.
Daniel leaned back.
“I was trying to help Evelyn.”
“With what?” Detective Ramirez asked.
“Her finances.”
Grandma’s expression hardened.
“I never asked you to.”
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“But you needed someone.”
“I had someone.”
She looked at me.
That simple gesture nearly broke something inside me.
Because for years, my family had treated my distance like abandonment.
But Grandma had never seen it that way.
She had seen it as survival.
Daniel noticed the exchange.
“You are very protective of her.”
“Yes.”
“Even after fifteen years away?”
The sentence landed strangely.
I looked at him.
“What did you say?”
He folded his hands.
“Evelyn mentioned your relationship with your parents.”
My stomach tightened.
“She mentioned me.”
“Yes.”
“Who else did she mention?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“I am not sure why that matters.”
Because that was not an answer.
That was avoidance.
I looked at Ramirez.
He noticed too.
“Mr. Cross,” he said.
“Where exactly did you meet Mrs. Parker?”
Daniel hesitated.
“At her bank.”
“When?”
“A few months ago.”
“Who introduced you?”
“Nobody.”
“That is unusual.”
“Not really.”
Daniel shrugged.
“I help elderly clients organize financial matters.”
“Are you licensed?”
The question changed the air.
Daniel looked toward him.
“I work with several professionals.”
“That was not what I asked.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel reached into his pocket.
“I have identification.”
He started pulling out his wallet.
I noticed his hand shake.
Just slightly.
A person trying to appear relaxed usually worked hardest at hiding the small failures.
He handed over a card.
Ramirez studied it.
Then looked at me.
Not a reaction.
Not an answer.
Just a signal that something mattered.
My phone vibrated again.
Another message from my colleague.
This time, there was an attachment.
I opened it.
A photograph appeared.
A scanned document.
My blood went cold.
It was one of the power of attorney forms.
But it was not the version Grandma had shown us.
May you like
This one had already been signed.
And at the bottom of the page was a witness signature.
