Chương 12
At least nothing I remembered seeing.
Ortiz said, “There are several messages from Ethan with no visible preceding message.”
Daniel asked, “Like what?”
Ortiz read one.
“‘I don't understand what you're implying.’”
Another.
“‘If this is about Olivia, say it clearly.’”
My chest tightened.
I did not remember writing those.
Then the trigger came.
A hotel lobby.
Denver.
Three weeks earlier.
I had been waiting for a car after an investor dinner.
Mason had texted me something strange.
I had been tired.
I had thought he was trying to warn me that Olivia was angry about my travel schedule.
There had been a phone call after that.
A short one.
I had forgotten it almost immediately because my head had been foggy.
I rasped.
“Call.”
Ortiz leaned closer.
“What?”
“Call.”
“Mason called you?”
Once.
“After these messages?”
Once.
He checked the thread.
“There is a call record here.”
Daniel said, “How long?”
Ortiz looked.
“Two minutes, eleven seconds.”
My mind pushed through the fog.
Mason's voice in the hotel lobby.
He had asked whether I had noticed Olivia changing anything about my vitamins.
I had laughed.
I had asked if this was some kind of therapist joke.
He had gone quiet.
Then he said he was probably overthinking something.
I had told him I was boarding a flight the next morning and would talk later.
We never did.
Or maybe he tried.
Maybe the messages Daniel saw were part of that.
I forced another sound.
“Vi.”
Daniel leaned close.
“What?”
“Vit.”
“Vitamins?”
Once.
Ortiz said, “Mason asked about vitamins?”
Once.
Dr. Patel looked toward the medication history.
“You weren't taking any supplements when I last reviewed your chart.”
I moved once.
Olivia had started giving them to me.
Not pills in bottles.
Packets.
Powder dissolved in water.
Something she said her nutritionist recommended.
The memory came with the image of silver sachets lined up beside the coffee grinder.
I tried to speak.
“Pow.”
Rachel understood first.
“Powder?”
Once.
Dr. Patel said, “Supplement powder?”
Once.
“Prescribed?”
Twice.
“Brand?”
I had no way to say it.
Ortiz asked, “Was Olivia giving it to you?”
Once.
Daniel whispered, “Jesus.”
Dr. Patel said, “How long?”
I could not answer with a finger.
I tried my voice.
“Three.”
“Three days?”
Twice.
“Weeks?”
Once.
Dr. Patel's face went still.
The timeline matched my symptoms.
Rachel said, “We need the packaging.”
Ortiz was already on his phone.
He stepped toward the door.
“Secure every supplement, medication, drink mix, powder, bottle, and container in the residence.”
He listened.
“Yes, all of it.”
Another pause.
“No, do not let anyone enter until the warrant issue is sorted.”
He ended the call.
Daniel said, “Olivia has a key.”
Ortiz looked at him.
“She lives there.”
“Exactly.”
“She is still downstairs.”
“For now.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Security knows not to let her leave unnoticed.”
Kline said, “Unnoticed is not the same as detained.”
“I am aware.”
Daniel threw up his hands.
“We all know.”
Ortiz ignored him.
He went back to the phone.
“There are more messages from Mason.”
He scrolled.
“One from twelve days ago.”
He read quietly.
“‘You need to stop taking anything she gives you until we talk.’”
My mind recoiled.
I had never seen it.
Daniel whispered, “She had your phone.”
That was true more often than I liked to admit.
I left it everywhere.
Kitchen counters.
Nightstands.
The passenger seat.
Olivia knew my passcode.
She knew every passcode.
I had called it convenience.
Ortiz said, “There is no reply from Ethan.”
He scrolled again.
“Next visible message is from Ethan two days later.”
He read.
“‘Don't contact me about my wife again.’”
My stomach seemed to turn despite the paralysis.
I had not written that.
I moved twice before Ortiz asked.
“You did not send this?”
Twice.
Daniel's face hardened.
“She did.”
Ortiz said, “Maybe.”
Daniel looked ready to throw something.
“Maybe?”
“Someone with access to the phone may have sent it.”
“Her.”
“Possibly.”
“You must be exhausting at dinner.”
Ortiz ignored him.
He continued.
“There is another message from Mason.”
He read.
“‘Understood.’”
Then nothing for four days.
After that came appointment logistics.
Normal.
Almost too normal.
Mason had backed away.
Or pretended to.
I heard his funeral-home voice again.
I told you the formula would work.
Nobody suspected anything.
That did not sound like a man trying to save me.
I rasped.
“Why.”
Ortiz leaned down.
“Why what?”
I tried again.
“Why help.”
Daniel understood.
“Why would Mason warn him if Mason was involved?”
No one answered.
That was the question that changed everything.
Until then, the story had been simple enough to survive my limited language.
Olivia and Mason poisoned me.
They wanted my money.
They planned the cremation.
But the messages did not fit.
Either Mason had tried to warn me before joining Olivia later, or the warnings were part of something else.
Ortiz said, “People's roles can change.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You think Mason tried to stop her and then helped her?”
“I think we do not know yet.”
Dr. Patel said, “Could he have been warning Ethan for self-protection?”
Ortiz nodded.
“Could have been documenting concern.”
“Creating a paper trail?”
“Possibly.”
Rachel said, “Or he really was afraid.”
Ortiz looked at her.
“Also possible.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“This is getting worse.”
My finger moved once.
He looked at me.
“Yeah.”
Karen's phone rang.
She answered quietly near the window.
Her expression tightened.
“Understood.”
She ended the call.
“Olivia is asking to leave.”
Daniel stood.
“No.”
Karen said, “Security cannot physically prevent her without direction from law enforcement.”
Ortiz checked his phone.
“She can leave.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You're joking.”
“No.”
“She can go home and clean everything.”
“Officers are working on securing the residence.”
“Working on it.”
“Yes.”
“That phrase should be illegal.”
Ortiz stepped into the hallway and made another call.
We listened to his half of it.
“Yes.”
“No.”
May you like
“Keep eyes on her.”
“Do not stop her unless she commits an offense or we develop grounds.”
