Chương 12
Behind me, Lily stirred.
I turned before she opened her eyes.
She blinked at me, confused for half a second, then reached for the rabbit.
“Did I sleep a long time?”
“A little.”
“Are we still going swimming?”
“If you want.”
She sat up.
Her hair had flattened strangely on one side.
“Can we do the pool instead of the ocean?”
“Absolutely.”
I wanted to keep her inside the room forever.
I wanted to move somewhere no one knew our last name.
Instead, I helped her find her swimsuit.
Rachel called while Lily was changing in the bathroom.
I answered quietly.
“I talked to Mom.”
Rachel did not ask how it went.
She waited.
“There was a plan.”
“What kind?”
“They wanted me to agree to a smaller inheritance.”
“Your parents?”
“Vanessa.”
I sat on the edge of the bed.
“My parents were willing to consider it if I volunteered.”
Rachel made a small sound.
“Jesus.”
“They were going to bring it up during the trip.”
“And yesterday was supposed to be the conversation?”
“Yes.”
“That explains the note.”
“Part of it.”
“What part doesn’t it explain?”
I looked toward the bathroom door.
“Lily.”
Rachel was silent.
“She was supposed to go downstairs with Vanessa and the boys.”
“But she didn’t.”
“No.”
“Do your parents know why?”
“They say Vanessa got frustrated.”
“That’s not why.”
“I know.”
I rubbed my thumb over the seam of the bedspread.
“She had my ID.”
“Yes.”
“She tried to alter the rental reservation.”
“Yes.”
“She got a duplicate room key before I left.”
“Yes.”
“That happened before anybody knew whether I would refuse the conversation.”
Rachel’s voice became more careful.
“Exactly.”
My skin prickled.
“So the inheritance discussion wasn’t the whole plan.”
“No.”
“What do you think she was trying to do?”
“I think we need to stop guessing.”
I almost snapped at her.
Then I stopped myself.
Rachel was not minimizing.
She was keeping me from building something that might collapse under one wrong assumption.
“What do we know?”
I asked.
“We know Vanessa had access to private financial information.”
“Yes.”
“We know she had a copy of your ID.”
“Yes.”
“We know she attempted to change the rental agreement.”
“Yes.”
“We know someone created a reason to get you downstairs.”
“Dad admitted that.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Good for establishing sequence.”
Her lawyer brain had arrived fully now.
“Did he admit who suggested the fake billing issue?”
“No.”
“Ask later.”
“I don’t want to talk to them again.”
“You may not need to.”
I looked at the bathroom door.
Lily was humming to herself.
“What about Mark?”
“He wants to meet.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He says he can explain the spreadsheet.”
My stomach tightened.
“Can he?”
“He thinks so.”
“Does Vanessa know?”
“He says no.”
“That makes me trust him less, not more.”
“Same.”
I stood.
“Where?”
“Public place.”
“Not with Lily.”
“Agreed.”
“I’m not leaving her with anyone in this family.”
“I wasn’t going to suggest that.”
I looked around the room.
There was nobody else.
No sitter.
No friend.
No neighbor.
Daniel’s absence felt especially physical in moments like that.
Not grief exactly.
Logistics.
The brutal practical emptiness of one person who used to be there and no longer was.
Rachel said, “I can come.”
I blinked.
“You’re three hours away.”
“Two and a half if traffic behaves.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
“You need another adult.”
“I need you not to drive half a state because my family has lost its mind.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive.”
I smiled despite myself.
“You have court tomorrow.”
“Remote hearing.”
“You hate driving.”
“I hate your family more.”
“That’s fair.”
She arrived just after seven.
Lily ran to her before I could warn her not to.
Rachel barely got the door closed before six-year-old arms wrapped around her waist.
“Well, hello to you too.”
Lily looked up.
“Mom said you were coming because people are being weird.”
Rachel glanced at me.
I shrugged.
It was not my finest phrasing.
“That sounds accurate.”
Rachel set down her overnight bag.
“I brought contraband.”
She pulled a bag of gummy bears from her purse.
Lily gasped like she had revealed diamonds.
“You have to ask your mother.”
“You’re a terrible influence.”
“That is why children trust me.”
We ate takeout pizza on the bed.
For almost an hour, nobody talked about Vanessa.
Lily explained the entire plot of a cartoon I had never heard of.
Rachel pretended to follow.
I drank half a beer from the minibar and decided the twenty-two-dollar charge was worth it.
At eight thirty, Rachel and I drove to meet Mark.
Lily stayed at the hotel with a bonded sitter arranged through the front desk and spent ten minutes interviewing the woman about her favorite animals before agreeing not to come with us.
I hated leaving anyway.
Rachel noticed.
“You can cancel.”
“No.”
“You don’t owe Mark the meeting.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we going?”
“Because I want to understand what happened before Vanessa decides what version everyone else gets.”
Rachel nodded once.
That was enough.
Mark had chosen a diner near the marina.
He was already in a booth when we arrived.
He looked older than he had two days earlier.
His polo shirt was wrinkled.
There were gray shadows beneath his eyes.
He stood when he saw us, then seemed to realize none of us wanted a greeting.
We sat.
A waitress appeared and asked whether we wanted coffee.
Rachel said yes.
I said no.
Mark said, “Please.”
The waitress looked at all three of us.
“Fun table.”
Rachel almost smiled.
When she left, Mark rubbed both hands over his face.
“I don’t know where to start.”
“With the spreadsheet,” Rachel said.
He looked at her.
“You always were terrifying.”
“I charge extra for charm.”
He looked at me.
“Vanessa has been obsessed with your parents’ estate for about a year.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I know.”
He looked down.
May you like
“Our home equity loan is worse than you think.”
I said nothing.
