Chương 5
Reyes wrote something down.
Then his radio crackled.
He listened.
His expression changed almost imperceptibly.
“What?”
I asked.
He did not answer immediately.
“Sergeant?”
He looked toward the hall.
“One of our officers searching Ms. Whitmore’s belongings found an envelope in her purse.”
My hands tightened around Lily.
“An envelope?”
“It has your name on it.”
Daniel stood again.
“From who?”
Reyes looked at me.
“The handwriting appears to match material in her wallet that she identified as belonging to your father.”
For a moment, the only sound in the room was the printer waking itself for no reason and clicking through some internal process.
I stared at Reyes.
“My father’s handwriting?”
“That’s what she’s claiming.”
“Can I see it?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because right now it’s evidence.”
“What does it say?”
“We haven’t opened it.”
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
“You find a mysterious letter during an attempted kidnapping and nobody opens it?”
Reyes remained calm.
“We document items before we start handling them unnecessarily.”
I barely heard him.
My father had been dead eleven months.
Patricia had spent those eleven months saying that he would have wanted her involved with Lily.
She had said it so often that the words had become meaningless.
Now she had arrived at the airport carrying something with my name written in what might be his handwriting.
A sound came from the hallway.
Fast footsteps.
Then Caleb appeared in the doorway.
He looked as if he had dressed while running.
Gray sweatpants.
Work boots without the laces tied properly.
A black T-shirt under a winter jacket even though the terminal was warm.
His hair was damp with sweat around the temples.
He saw me first.
Then Lily.
His face crumpled.
“Oh, thank God.”
Daniel moved before I could.
He stepped between Caleb and us.
Caleb stopped.
“Dan.”
“You don’t come near her yet.”
“Come on.”
“You heard me.”
Caleb’s expression changed from relief to hurt, then immediately to defensiveness.
“I didn’t know.”
Daniel pointed at him.
“Don’t start with that.”
“Daniel.”
“No, Emily.”
Caleb looked at me over Daniel’s shoulder.
“I swear to God, Em, she said she just wanted to say goodbye.”
My stomach turned.
“Goodbye to who?”
“You.”
He swallowed.
“And Lily.”
“Why at the airport?”
“She said you blocked her.”
“I did.”
“She said if she came to the house you’d call the cops.”
“I would have.”
“I know that now.”
I stared at him.
“You knew it then.”
Caleb looked away.
That tiny movement answered more than anything else.
Reyes stepped into the space beside Daniel.
“Mr. Hart?”
Caleb nodded.
“I’m Sergeant Reyes.”
“Yeah.”
“We need to talk.”
Caleb rubbed both hands over his face.
“I already told you on the phone, I screwed up.”
“What did you tell Patricia?”
Caleb glanced at me again.
Reyes interrupted the glance.
“Talk to me.”
Caleb exhaled.
“Flight number.”
Daniel cursed.
“Terminal.”
I closed my eyes.
“And what time they’d be here.”
The room went silent.
Reyes kept his voice flat.
“When did you provide that information?”
“Last night.”
“Why?”
Caleb stared at the floor.
“She said she had something Dad left for Emily.”
My eyes opened.
Daniel turned toward me.
Reyes did not move.
“What did she say your father left?”
Caleb’s face went pale.
“A letter.”
For a second, nobody in the room moved.
Caleb looked at me as if he expected me to understand the logic immediately.
“She said Dad wrote it before he died,” he added.
Daniel gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“So you handed her our flight information because she claimed she had a letter.”
Caleb’s eyes flashed.
“I didn’t hand her anything.”
“You gave her the flight number, terminal, and arrival time.”
“I know what I did.”
“Apparently not.”
“Daniel.”
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
Both men stopped.
Lily stirred against my chest but did not wake.
Sergeant Reyes stepped closer to Caleb.
“Did Ms. Whitmore show you the letter before you gave her the information?”
“No.”
“Did she send you a photo of it?”
“No.”
“Did she describe what was in it?”
Caleb rubbed the back of his neck.
“She said it was for Emily.”
“That’s all?”
“She said Dad asked her to give it to Em when the time was right.”
Daniel muttered something under his breath.
Caleb heard him.
“Can you stop acting like I wanted this to happen?”
Daniel turned on him.
“You helped make it happen.”
“I thought she wanted five minutes.”
“She attacked my wife and tried to take my daughter.”
Caleb flinched.
“I know.”
“No, you know now.”
“Daniel, enough.”
He looked at me, and this time anger had reached his face.
“Why are you defending him?”
“I’m not.”
“It sounds like you are.”
“I am trying to keep you from having a fistfight in an airport police office.”
Caleb stared at the floor.
“Wouldn’t be much of a fight.”
Daniel made a movement toward him.
Reyes stepped between them immediately.
“We are done with that.”
His voice had changed.
Nobody argued.
Caleb sank into the chair nearest the door.
His knees bounced once, then stopped.
Reyes asked whether Patricia had told him why she needed to meet us at the airport rather than somewhere else.
“She said Emily wouldn’t answer her.”
“That part was true.”
I adjusted Lily’s blanket.
“She said she wanted to see her before she left.”
“See who?”
“Emily.”
Caleb hesitated.
“And the baby.”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
Reyes noticed the hesitation too.
“Did she say anything specific about Lily?”
Caleb swallowed.
“She said she was scared you were moving.”
My skin prickled.
“We are not moving.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
I stared at him.
“Why were you discussing whether we were moving?”
“Because she asked.”
“You could have said you didn’t know.”
“I did at first.”
“At first?”
Caleb leaned forward, elbows on his thighs.
“She kept calling.”
“How many times?”
“I don’t know.”
“Check.”
May you like
He pulled out his phone.
The screen was cracked across one corner.
