Chương 13
“Approximately four months ago.”
Four months.
The same period in which Michael had been asking Sarah about inheritance.
“Why?”
Brooks looked at me.
“We don’t know yet.”
“Did Lane know why?”
“He claims Michael suspected you were having an affair.”
I laughed.
The sound came out ugly.
“Of course.”
Hale watched me.
“Was there any affair?”
“No.”
“Anyone Michael could plausibly believe you were involved with?”
“No.”
“Coworker?”
“No.”
“Friend?”
“No.”
Brooks said, “That explanation may simply justify surveillance.”
I looked at the floor.
“What did Lane photograph at my doctor’s office?”
“Mostly arrivals and departures.”
“Was he tracking appointments?”
“Yes.”
A sick feeling settled in my stomach.
“He knew my schedule.”
“That appears likely.”
“He knew how pregnant I was.”
“Yes.”
“He knew when I was close to delivery.”
Brooks said nothing.
“He knew how much longer they had.”
Hale’s pen stopped moving.
I stood again, slower this time.
“Michael wasn’t just planning a murder.”
My voice barely sounded like mine.
“He was planning around Noah’s birth.”
Brooks met my eyes.
“That is one possibility.”
“No.”
I pressed one hand against the bedrail.
“Sarah said he asked what happened if I died before the baby was born.”
“Yes.”
“He hires someone to track my appointments.”
“Yes.”
“He watches the due date.”
“We’re examining that.”
“He knew the window was closing.”
Neither detective contradicted me.
I sat again.
My legs had begun trembling.
“Did Lane ever follow Michael?”
“No.”
“Ashley?”
“Not that we found.”
“Only me.”
“Yes.”
“Did Lane know about the mountain?”
Hale looked at Brooks.
She gave a small nod.
“He says no.”
“Do you believe him?”
“We believe he wants us to believe him.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s cooperating.”
“Because he’s innocent?”
“Because he’s scared.”
That answer sounded familiar.
Human beings became helpful when the danger moved toward them.
“What did Michael ask him to do specifically?”
Brooks opened another page.
“Document your movements.”
“Anything else?”
“Find out whether you were meeting anyone privately.”
“That’s his affair story.”
“Yes.”
“Did Lane ever tell him I wasn’t?”
“Repeatedly.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Lane reported no evidence of an affair.”
“And Michael kept paying him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why continue?”
Brooks’s gaze stayed steady.
“That is a question we’re asking too.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Emily stepped inside.
“Sorry.”
She looked at me.
“NICU called.”
My heart jumped.
“What happened?”
“Nothing bad.”
She immediately raised both hands.
“Noah finished another full bottle.”
The relief was so powerful it made me dizzy.
“Really?”
“Thirty-two milliliters.”
I smiled.
Hale looked down at his notes.
Brooks looked toward the window.
For one quiet second, nobody in the room talked about murder.
“Can I go see him?”
Emily nodded.
“In about ten minutes.”
She left.
I sat back.
Brooks studied me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That means something with you.”
“You changed.”
“In ten seconds?”
“Yes.”
I looked toward the door Emily had closed.
“That’s my son.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I rubbed my thumb over the bedsheet.
“Every time something about Michael happens, it fills the entire room.”
Brooks listened.
“Then Noah does one normal baby thing, and Michael gets smaller.”
“That seems healthy.”
“It feels selfish.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m happy while he’s still free.”
Brooks shook her head.
“That is not a debt you owe the investigation.”
I did not answer.
She stood.
“We’re leaving for now.”
“Because of Noah?”
“Because there’s nothing useful you can do tonight.”
“Who says?”
“I do.”
I almost argued.
Then Hale spoke.
“She’s right.”
I looked at him.
“You’ve known me twenty minutes.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re already taking her side?”
“I work with her.”
“That explains poor judgment.”
Brooks gave me a dry look.
“Good night, Claire.”
They left.
Ten minutes later, I was upstairs holding Noah.
He drank seven milliliters for me and then fell asleep with the bottle still touching his lip.
I had never been so proud of someone for failing to finish dinner.
The nurse helped settle him against my chest.
His tiny weight made the world quieter.
I whispered nonsense to him.
Something about the ridiculous wallpaper in the NICU family room.
Something about how I would never make him hike unless he wanted to.
Something about pancakes.
I did not mention his father.
When I returned downstairs, the night nurse had turned off the overhead light.
Only a lamp near the bed remained on.
I slept for almost three hours.
At 2:06 a.m., someone touched my shoulder.
I woke with my heart racing.
Brooks stood beside the bed.
Her coat was still on.
“What happened?”
“We accessed the concealed phone.”
I pushed myself upright.
“And?”
“It belonged to Michael.”
The words settled slowly.
“How do you know?”
“Account traces, saved credentials, network history, and photographs.”
“Photographs of what?”
Brooks pulled the chair close.
“Mostly nothing important.”
“Lena.”
“There are selfies.”
I blinked.
“On a murder phone?”
“People are people.”
A strange laugh almost escaped me.
“Did he send the message?”
“Forensics recovered the conversation.”
My mouth went dry.
“Read it.”
Brooks took out a sheet of paper.
She did not dramatize it.
She simply began.
Ashley had written, “Forecast still bad Saturday.”
Michael had answered, “Good.”
Ashley had written, “She’s huge now, are you sure she’ll even go?”
My stomach tightened.
Michael had answered, “She will if I tell her it matters to me.”
I closed my eyes.
He had.
He had told me he wanted one last weekend alone before Noah arrived.
I had almost refused because my back hurt.
Then Michael touched my stomach and said we needed to remember how to be us before becoming parents.
I had kissed him for saying it.
Brooks continued.
Ashley had written, “What if someone sees?”
Michael answered, “Trail will clear when weather turns.”
Then came the line I already knew.
Tomorrow, make sure she goes over where nobody can reach her.
Ashley replied, “And if she survives the fall?”
There was a long pause in Brooks’s reading.
I opened my eyes.
May you like
“What did he say?”
She looked directly at me.
