Chương 10
“We don’t know that.”
Caleb said it too quickly.
I turned on him.
“You don’t get to defend her right now.”
“I’m not.”
“You sound like you are.”
“I said we don’t know.”
“We know she carried a fake custody packet into an airport and told people I stole my own baby.”
Reyes cut in before Caleb could answer.
“The draft wasn’t fake.”
I stared at him.
He corrected himself.
“It wasn’t a court order.”
“That distinction is not helping.”
“I understand.”
The phone vibrated again.
Nora.
Call me.
Then Rachel.
What the hell is happening?
Then a number I did not recognize.
Then another.
Daniel took the phone out of my hand.
“Stop.”
“Give it back.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“You are reading comments from strangers who watched twenty seconds of the worst morning of our lives.”
“They’re calling me a kidnapper.”
“They don’t know you.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to you.”
I hated him for seeing that.
I reached for the phone.
He held it away.
For one ridiculous second, we nearly had our own argument over a phone while sitting in an airport police office after my stepmother tried to take our child.
Reyes looked down at his notebook as if giving us privacy.
Caleb stared at the wall.
Daniel finally handed the phone back.
“Fine.”
I put it facedown on the desk.
Lily startled at a loud announcement outside and began to fuss.
Her lower lip trembled.
Everything else became less important.
I stood and walked the narrow length of the room with her.
“It’s okay.”
My voice sounded steadier when I spoke to her.
“You’re okay.”
She pressed one warm cheek against my neck.
Her tiny hand gripped my collar.
The simplicity of what she needed from me almost broke me.
No argument.
No evidence.
No inheritance.
Just warmth and milk and the familiar rhythm of my voice.
Reyes’s radio sounded again.
He answered quietly.
This time, when he finished, he looked toward Caleb.
“We have an officer ready to take your full statement.”
Caleb nodded.
“Okay.”
He stood.
Before leaving, he looked at me.
“I’ll fix this.”
The words made something in me snap.
“No.”
He froze.
“You don’t get to say that.”
“I mean—”
“I know what you mean.”
My voice was low because Lily was against me.
“You always say you’ll fix it after somebody else has already been hurt.”
Caleb’s face tightened.
“I said I’m sorry.”
“And I heard you.”
“What else do you want?”
There it was.
The old question.
What else do you want after I have admitted the mistake?
Our father had always accepted apology as payment.
I had too.
This time I did not.
“I want you to stop making me responsible for deciding when you’ve suffered enough.”
Caleb stared at me.
Daniel’s face changed slightly.
Caleb opened his mouth, then shut it.
Reyes waited by the door.
Finally Caleb nodded.
“Okay.”
He left without looking back.
The room felt larger after he was gone.
I sat again.
Daniel took the chair beside me.
For a while neither of us spoke.
Outside, airport traffic continued in its endless mechanical rhythm.
A baggage cart beeped in reverse.
A child somewhere laughed so hard he started coughing.
Someone wheeled a suitcase past the door with one bad wheel knocking every rotation.
Daniel picked at a loose thread on his jeans.
“I shouldn’t have said you didn’t handle Patricia.”
I watched Lily’s breathing.
“No.”
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“No.”
He nodded.
We sat with that.
I appreciated that he did not keep going until I forgave him.
After a minute, he said, “Do you still want to go to Seattle?”
The question startled me.
“Today?”
“No.”
He looked toward the window.
“I mean at all.”
I understood.
The trip had stopped being a trip.
It was now part of the story Patricia was telling.
Leaving might look like running.
Staying might feel like surrender.
“I don’t know.”
“Your mom’s not going to care if we delay.”
“Your mom.”
“Right.”
He rubbed his eyes.
“My mother.”
I almost smiled.
Exhaustion made both of us stupid.
“She’ll understand.”
“I know.”
“But I hate that Patricia gets to change what we do.”
Daniel nodded.
“Me too.”
The phone buzzed again.
This time it was Rachel.
Then another unknown number.
Then an email notification.
I flipped the phone over despite myself.
The email subject line read MEDIA INQUIRY.
I stared at it.
Daniel saw.
“No.”
“How did they get my email?”
“Your company website?”
My stomach dropped.
My work.
I had barely thought about work.
I was a project manager for a regional healthcare software company, and my company bio was public.
My name was uncommon enough to find.
“People know who I am.”
Daniel took out his own phone.
“We should call your manager before somebody else does.”
“I’m supposed to be on vacation.”
“Still.”
I hated that he was right.
I called Melissa.
She answered on the second ring.
“Emily?”
Her voice was already tense.
“You saw it.”
“I saw something.”
I shut my eyes.
“I’m okay.”
“Is the baby okay?”
“Yes.”
That was the first question she asked.
I loved her for it.
“Physically, yes.”
“What happened?”
I looked at Reyes.
He gave a small nod that told me I could speak generally.
“My stepmother breached security and tried to take Lily from me.”
Silence.
Then Melissa said, very softly, “Jesus.”
I pressed my lips together.
“There are videos online.”
“I know.”
“She’s saying things about me.”
“I also know.”
My stomach sank.
“What things?”
“There’s a post circulating that says you’re under investigation for endangering your child.”
“That’s false.”
“I assumed.”
“I’m not under investigation.”
“Okay.”
Her tone stayed careful.
“We’re not taking any action against you.”
I almost laughed from relief.
Then she added, “But communications called me.”
The relief disappeared.
“What do they want?”
“They want us not to comment.”
May you like
“Fine.”
“They also want you not to identify yourself publicly as an employee if you respond online.”
