Chương 11
“I wasn’t planning to respond online.”
“Good.”
A pause.
“Emily, do not argue with strangers on the internet.”
“I know.”
“I’m saying that because I know you.”
Despite everything, a small smile pulled at my mouth.
Melissa had once watched me spend forty minutes correcting a man in a neighborhood Facebook group about snow emergency parking.
“I won’t.”
“I mean it.”
“I said I won’t.”
“Okay.”
Her voice softened.
“Take whatever time you need.”
“I’m supposed to be back Thursday.”
“Forget Thursday.”
My throat tightened.
“Thank you.”
“Just keep me updated when you can.”
“And Emily?”
“Yeah?”
“If someone from the press contacts you, don’t let them pressure you into answering quickly.”
I looked at the unread media email.
“Too late for contact.”
“Then don’t answer yet.”
“Okay.”
We hung up.
Daniel exhaled.
“That could’ve been worse.”
“Yes.”
The fact that this was now a sentence we could use about my employer made me feel sick.
Reyes sat again.
“The video complicates things.”
“How?”
I asked.
“It may generate witnesses.”
“That sounds good.”
“It can be.”
He folded his hands over his notebook.
“It can also generate noise.”
“What kind of noise?”
“People claiming they saw things they didn’t.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Internet detectives.”
“Among others.”
I thought of the comments already deciding what kind of mother I was.
“Can Patricia post from custody?”
“Not directly.”
“Can someone post for her?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
I looked toward the door.
“Caleb?”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
Reyes did not speculate.
I picked up the phone and called Nora.
She answered immediately.
“Oh my God.”
“I’m okay.”
“Is Lily okay?”
“Yes.”
I heard her exhale.
“Where are you?”
“Still at Logan.”
“Do you need me to come?”
My eyes burned.
Nora lived forty minutes away without traffic.
With traffic, maybe twice that.
“Yes.”
The answer came out before I could make myself independent.
“Okay.”
No hesitation.
“I’m leaving now.”
“Nora.”
“What?”
“Don’t post anything.”
She was quiet for a second.
“I already replied to one person.”
“Nora.”
“I deleted it.”
“What did you say?”
“That Patricia isn’t Lily’s grandmother and people should stop being idiots.”
Daniel heard enough to cover his face with one hand.
“Nora.”
“I deleted it.”
“Please don’t do anything else.”
“Fine.”
Another pause.
“Do you want coffee?”
The question was so ordinary that I almost cried.
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“You know what kind.”
“I’m making sure trauma hasn’t improved your taste.”
“Vanilla latte.”
“Still terrible.”
“Extra shot.”
“Now we’re talking.”
We hung up.
Daniel looked at me.
“She’s coming?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Reyes checked the time.
“We’re almost done here.”
“I want to take Lily to the hospital.”
“Of course.”
“Can Patricia find out which hospital?”
“Not from us.”
That answer was not enough.
“What about Caleb?”
Daniel asked.
Reyes looked toward the hallway.
“That becomes a family decision.”
I stared at the door where my brother had disappeared.
For the first time in my life, the idea of not telling Caleb where I was going felt less like punishment and more like a boundary.
The difference hurt.
Reyes’s radio crackled once more.
He answered, listened, then stood.
“I need to update you on one thing before you leave.”
My stomach tightened automatically.
“What?”
“Patricia has requested an attorney and is no longer answering questions.”
Daniel nodded.
“That’s her right.”
“Yes.”
Reyes glanced at me.
“She did make one statement before invoking counsel.”
I waited.
“She said your father promised her that Lily would never be taken away from her.”
I stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“I’m not saying it does.”
“My father died before Lily was six months old.”
“Did he ever discuss Lily with Patricia?”
“Of course.”
“What kind of discussions?”
I searched through exhausted memories.
Dad holding Lily in his recliner.
Patricia hovering.
Dad telling her to stop correcting how I strapped the diaper bag.
Dad once saying, She’s Emily’s baby, Pat, not a committee project.
Then another memory surfaced.
A hospital room.
My father thinner than I wanted to remember.
Patricia standing by the window.
Dad had asked her to leave so he could speak with me privately.
She had refused at first.
Later, while I was feeding Lily from a bottle, Dad had taken my wrist.
Do not let anybody make you feel guilty for choosing your own family.
At the time I thought he meant death.
I thought he meant the old conflict between caring for him and caring for my newborn.
I looked at the evidence sleeve holding his letter.
“He warned me about her.”
Daniel turned toward me.
“What?”
“Not directly.”
My voice had gone weak.
“He said something before he died.”
“What did he say?”
I repeated it.
Reyes wrote the sentence down.
Daniel stared at me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know it meant anything.”
A heavy silence followed.
Then I looked again at the envelope.
The looped E in my father’s handwriting seemed suddenly less like a message from the dead and more like evidence that he had been afraid while he was alive.
“What if Patricia didn’t misunderstand him?”
I asked.
Daniel frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“What if she knew exactly what he wanted?”
I looked at Reyes.
“And decided she was entitled to the opposite.”
Reyes did not answer immediately.
He closed his notebook and looked at the envelope again.
“That is something the investigation may help establish.”
I hated the careful phrasing, but I understood why he used it.
Daniel rubbed both palms over his face.
“So what happens now?”
“You take your daughter for the medical evaluation you wanted.”
“And Patricia?”
“She remains in custody for now.”
“For now.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Reyes continued before he could argue.
“I am also strongly recommending that you speak with an attorney today about an emergency protective order.”
“I thought that was something police handled.”
I asked.
“We can document the incident and provide information, but the court process is separate.”
May you like
“Can we do that tonight?”
“There are procedures for emergency relief, but an attorney can explain your options better than I can.”
