Chương 13
It escaped harder than she intended.
Priya smiled.
“I know.”
“My entire life is collapsing and you need me to pee in a cup.”
“Medicine is glamorous.”
Lena lowered her phone.
“Do you want help?”
“With peeing?”
“With walking.”
Mara looked at her.
“I can walk.”
“Okay.”
“I’m not ninety.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You looked like you were about to carry me.”
“I was not.”
“You absolutely were.”
Tessa watched the exchange with the faint expression of someone deliberately allowing normality back into the room.
Mara swung her legs over the bed.
The moment her right foot touched the floor, pain traveled up her hip.
She stopped.
Lena’s hands lifted reflexively.
Mara glared at her.
“I’m still not carrying you.”
“Good.”
Priya brought a wheelchair.
“You can be twenty-eight and use a chair.”
“I’m twenty-nine.”
“That changes everything.”
Mara sat.
The ordinary annoyance of being wheeled ten yards to a bathroom helped more than breathing exercises had.
Priya waited outside while Mara managed the sample.
She saw herself in the mirror above the sink and stopped.
The bruise under her eye looked darker beneath the fluorescent light.
She touched it once.
Daniel had kissed that cheek yesterday morning.
He had asked if she wanted eggs.
She had said no.
He had made them anyway.
Mara lowered her hand.
On the back of the bathroom door, a laminated sign listed warning signs of abuse.
Controlling money.
Monitoring communication.
Restricting movement.
Threatening children.
Preventing medical care.
Strangulation.
Mara read the list from top to bottom.
Six months ago she would have argued with half of it.
He doesn’t control money, he just manages bills.
He doesn’t monitor me, we share passwords.
He doesn’t isolate me, he just thinks Lena interferes.
He doesn’t threaten the baby, he worries about custody.
She had become talented at translating violence into marriage.
The skill suddenly seemed useless.
When she returned to the room, Lena had ended her call.
“They’re changing the lock.”
“When?”
“Maintenance is on the way.”
“Did they check whether anyone was already there?”
Lena’s face changed.
“No.”
“Call a neighbor.”
“I don’t really know my neighbors.”
“You know the woman across the hall.”
“I know her cat’s name.”
“That counts.”
“What’s her number?”
Mara stared at her.
Lena stared back.
Neither of them had it.
Tessa said, “Call the building office and ask them not to enter alone if there’s any sign someone is inside.”
Lena did.
The property manager sounded annoyed enough that Mara could hear him through the phone from across the room.
Then Lena said, “My sister’s husband may have unauthorized access to my apartment.”
The irritation on the other end disappeared.
Lena listened.
“Thank you.”
She hung up.
“They’re sending two maintenance workers with the manager.”
Mara nodded.
It was sensible.
It still felt inadequate.
Daniel could have entered and left already.
He could have taken the USB drive if it had been there.
It was not.
Lena had it in her tote.
Mara looked at the bag.
“Where’s your laptop?”
“At home.”
Mara’s stomach dropped.
“The recordings are on it.”
“Yes.”
“Is it password protected?”
“Yes.”
“What password?”
Lena’s expression told her immediately.
“Don’t.”
“What password?”
“My birthday.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Lena.”
“I know.”
“Daniel knows your birthday.”
“Everyone knows my birthday.”
“That’s why you don’t use it as a password.”
“I am receiving cybersecurity advice from someone who shared Netflix credentials with her husband for six years.”
Mara opened her eyes.
Despite everything, that almost earned another laugh.
“Change it remotely.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“It’s a local login.”
Tessa leaned forward.
“Can he get anything important without the password?”
“Maybe not.”
“Maybe?”
Lena rubbed both hands over her face.
“I don’t know.”
Mara felt anger rise because anger was easier than fear.
“You said you saved everything.”
“I did.”
“You saved it onto a laptop he might be able to access.”
“I didn’t know he was going to your hospital and then possibly my apartment in the same hour.”
“You knew he was dangerous.”
Lena flinched.
The second the words left Mara’s mouth, she regretted them.
Lena lowered her hands.
“I knew after I heard the recording.”
Mara looked away.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
Tessa remained silent.
Mara expected her to mediate.
She did not.
The absence forced the sisters to sit inside the ugliness.
Lena picked at the edge of her office badge.
“I should have made a better backup.”
“You made two.”
“One is in my bag.”
“That’s enough.”
“I don’t know if it is.”
“Neither do I.”
Lena nodded.
The fight ended without resolution.
That felt more honest than an embrace.
Mara’s phone vibrated.
All three women looked at it.
The screen displayed an unknown number.
Mara let it ring twice.
Then three times.
Tessa said, “You don’t have to answer.”
Mara picked it up anyway.
“Hello?”
For a moment, there was only background noise.
Then Daniel said, “You blocked me.”
Mara’s entire body stiffened.
Lena stood.
Tessa raised one hand toward her.
Mara put the call on speaker.
“I didn’t block you.”
“You stopped sharing your location.”
“That’s not blocking.”
“You know what I mean.”
His voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
“Where are you calling from?”
Daniel ignored the question.
“Is Lena there?”
Mara looked at her sister.
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Lena’s jaw tightened.
Mara kept her gaze on Tessa.
“What do you want?”
“I want to talk to my wife.”
“You are.”
“Privately.”
“No.”
A pause.
“Mara.”
“No.”
“You have people filling your head with things right now.”
Lena made an incredulous sound.
Tessa touched one finger to her lips.
Daniel heard it.
“Is that Lena?”
Mara did not answer.
“Put me off speaker.”
“No.”
His breath changed.
Only slightly.
Mara recognized it anyway.
“You’re humiliating me.”
The words were almost whispered.
Mara looked at the monitor.
“No one made you call.”
“I am trying to save our marriage.”
“By calling from a number I don’t know?”
May you like
Another pause.
“It’s a work phone.”
