Chương 13
Daniel filled out forms.
I fed Lily a bottle.
Nora complained that the vending machine charged three dollars for water.
Forty minutes passed.
Then another twenty.
My shoulder began to ache more as the adrenaline faded.
A nurse eventually brought us into an exam room.
The doctor was a woman around my age with tired eyes and a cartoon fox clipped to her badge.
She examined Lily slowly.
She checked her pupils, neck movement, shoulders, arms, hips, ribs, and the faint red mark where the blanket had tightened around one thigh.
Lily screamed through half of it.
Then she tried to eat the doctor’s stethoscope.
The doctor smiled.
“She seems neurologically appropriate.”
“Appropriate means okay?”
“It means I’m not seeing signs right now that suggest a serious injury.”
“Right now.”
“Babies make us cautious.”
She gave us a list of symptoms to watch for overnight.
Daniel asked every question twice in slightly different wording.
I normally teased him when he did that.
This time I was grateful.
The doctor examined my shoulder too after noticing how carefully I moved it.
“Probably a strain.”
She said.
“Probably?”
“You’re having a difficult day with that word.”
I looked at her.
She smiled faintly.
“I would too.”
An X-ray showed no fracture.
By the time we left the hospital, afternoon had started turning toward evening.
The sky was already darkening.
Our Seattle flight had landed hours earlier.
Daniel’s mother had sent six messages, none demanding an explanation.
The last one said only, Keep the baby close and eat something.
Nora drove us home.
When we turned onto our street, every muscle in my body tightened.
Nothing looked wrong.
That somehow felt wrong.
Our trash barrels were still at the curb.
A package sat on the neighbor’s porch.
The maple tree in front of our house had dropped more leaves since morning.
Nora parked but did not turn off the engine.
Daniel stared at the house.
“I’ll go in first.”
“No.”
He turned.
“I’m not waiting in the car while you clear our house like you’re on television.”
“It’s not television.”
“I know.”
That came out too hard.
Nora looked between us.
“I have a better idea.”
She called the nonemergency police number.
An officer arrived twelve minutes later.
I felt ridiculous until he checked the backyard and found the side gate unlatched.
Then I stopped feeling ridiculous.
“Was it locked when you left?”
he asked.
Daniel and I looked at each other.
“I think so.”
Daniel said.
“I locked it.”
I said at the same time.
The officer looked at me.
“You’re sure?”
I could see myself that morning wheeling the stroller through the kitchen.
Daniel carrying suitcases.
Lily crying because she wanted breakfast.
Had I gone near the side gate?
No.
Had Daniel taken trash out?
Maybe.
Certainty had become expensive.
“I’m not sure.”
I admitted.
The officer checked the doors and windows.
No signs of entry.
Nothing obviously disturbed.
He told us to call if we noticed anything missing.
Inside, the house smelled faintly like the banana muffin I had eaten before dawn.
Lily’s bib was still draped over the back of a chair.
A coffee mug sat in the sink.
Our lives looked paused rather than invaded.
Nora stayed.
She ordered pizza without asking.
Daniel carried our suitcases upstairs and then brought them back down because neither of us wanted them near the bedroom.
That made no sense, but I did not question it.
At seven seventeen, the doorbell rang.
All three of us froze.
Lily was asleep in the portable crib beside the couch.
Daniel stood.
“Don’t.”
I whispered.
Nora checked the doorbell camera on her phone because Daniel had shared access with her that afternoon.
“It’s a woman.”
“What woman?”
“Older.”
My stomach turned.
Then Nora looked closer.
“She’s holding a folder.”
The woman rang again.
Daniel spoke through the camera.
“Who are you?”
Her voice came through the speaker.
“My name is Anne Kessler.”
I knew the name.
It took me several seconds to place it.
Then I looked at Daniel.
“My father’s estate attorney.”
Daniel opened the door but kept the chain latched.
The woman outside held up identification.
“I’m sorry to arrive without notice.”
She said.
“I have been trying to reach Emily since this afternoon.”
My phone had more than forty unread notifications.
I had stopped looking.
“What do you want?”
I called from behind Daniel.
Anne Kessler looked toward my voice.
“I heard what happened at Logan.”
I moved closer.
She looked exhausted and deeply uncomfortable.
“I believe Patricia took something from my office eleven months ago.”
Daniel’s hand tightened on the door.
“What?”
Anne lifted the folder.
“Your father’s original trust documents.”
My mouth went dry.
She continued.
“And if I’m right, the letter police found today may explain why he made me promise never to let Patricia know where the originals were kept.”
Daniel did not open the door any farther.
“You think she stole legal documents from your office?”
Anne Kessler looked past him toward me.
“I think she removed a folder from a conference room while your father and I were meeting privately.”
“Eleven months ago?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re telling me now?”
Her face tightened.
“I did not know it was missing until after his death.”
“That was still eleven months ago.”
“I know.”
I stepped closer to the door.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because the executed trust remained valid and we had certified copies.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Anne lowered her eyes.
“No.”
She stood in the cold with the folder pressed to her coat.
“I should have contacted you.”
Daniel unlatched the chain.
“Come in.”
Anne entered cautiously, as if the house itself might reject her.
Nora took one look at her expression and went to the kitchen.
“I’m going to pretend I’m not listening.”
“You’re terrible at that,” I said.
“I know.”
She disappeared around the corner.
Anne sat at our dining table.
I stayed standing.
May you like
Daniel did too.
Nobody offered her anything.
