Chương 9
“Yes.”
The answer came automatically.
Then Mara looked at Benton.
“Can she?”
“We can arrange for you to meet her inside the secured area if that makes you more comfortable.”
Karen shook her head.
“No.”
Benton turned.
“No?”
“If someone knows the flight, they may know who’s picking her up.”
“That’s possible.”
“Then don’t bring the mother into it.”
Mara’s irritation flared.
“Her name is Evelyn.”
Karen blinked.
“What?”
“My mother.”
Mara stared at her.
“You keep turning everybody into a role.”
“The daughter.”
“The widow.”
“The mother.”
“Her name is Evelyn.”
Karen looked away.
Officer Ruiz lowered her notebook slightly.
Mara continued.
“Daniel’s dead.”
“He doesn’t get to be the whistleblower every second.”
“He was also the man who forgot to move the laundry to the dryer and then blamed the washing machine.”
Louise said, “It did beep weird.”
Mara looked at her.
“It beeped because the cycle ended.”
Louise considered this.
“Oh.”
The absurd exchange loosened something in Mara’s chest.
Benton gave them a few seconds.
Then he said, “We have a private interview room near the concourse.”
Karen stiffened.
“Am I being detained?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not going into an interview room.”
“Why?”
“Because I have counsel.”
“Call them.”
Karen’s mouth tightened.
Mara watched the old defensiveness come back.
“Your lawyer is in Phoenix,” she said.
Karen glanced at her.
“I have more than one.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“It is.”
Louise whispered, “Mom.”
“What?”
“You’re being mean.”
Mara looked at her daughter.
Louise was right.
The fact irritated her.
“Sorry.”
Karen surprised her by saying, “She’s also right.”
Mara looked up.
Karen rubbed her forehead.
“I’m paying for two attorneys because I no longer trust anyone to tell me which problem is the dangerous one.”
Benton nodded toward the door.
“You can call either of them from the room.”
Karen hesitated.
“What about my connection?”
“You’ll miss it.”
Karen closed her eyes.
“Of course I will.”
Mara almost felt sorry for her.
Then she remembered the bathroom.
Almost.
They left the aircraft together.
The airport beyond the jet bridge was louder than Mara expected.
Rolling suitcases rattled over tile.
Announcements overlapped.
A coffee grinder screamed somewhere beyond the gate.
People moved around them without knowing that Daniel Mercer had died on a wet road five months earlier or that a brass key with his daughter’s name on it now sat inside Mara’s fist.
Mara found the indifference comforting.
For the first time all day, the world was bigger than what had happened to her.
Officer Ruiz walked slightly ahead.
Benton stayed beside Karen.
Louise held Mara’s cardigan with one hand and her tablet with the other.
Noah slept against Mara’s chest again.
They passed the gate podium.
A woman in a gray blazer stood near the windows holding a phone.
Karen saw her.
Her stride faltered.
Mara noticed.
“So did she.”
The woman lowered the phone.
Benton followed Karen’s gaze.
“Do you know her?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Karen did not answer.
The woman turned and walked away.
Benton immediately said something into his radio.
Ruiz changed direction.
She did not run.
The woman in the blazer disappeared into the flow of passengers.
Karen whispered, “That’s what I mean.”
Mara looked at her.
“You don’t know who she is.”
“No.”
“Then maybe she was waiting for someone.”
“Maybe.”
They kept walking.
Mara forced herself not to turn around.
The private room was plain and windowless, with beige walls, a round table, six chairs, and a stack of airport brochures nobody would ever read voluntarily.
Noah woke when Mara sat down.
He made a soft, offended sound.
Mara began digging through the diaper bag.
Louise climbed into the chair beside her.
“Do you want me to hold the wipes?”
“No.”
Louise looked hurt.
Mara stopped.
“Yes.”
Louise held the wipes.
Mara changed Noah on a portable pad across two chairs while Karen stood near the wall speaking quietly into her phone.
There was something deeply strange about discussing dead-man releases while cleaning an infant’s thighs.
Noah kicked his legs happily.
Mara looked at him.
“You have terrible timing.”
He smiled.
Louise smiled too.
“That means he likes you.”
“He should.”
“I feed him.”
“You feed him.”
“You change him.”
“You sing the same three songs until I want to leave the house.”
Louise giggled.
Mara felt the sound in her throat.
Daniel had loved that laugh.
She refused to let the memory become pain this time.
It belonged to Louise first.
Karen ended her call.
“My attorney wants me to stop talking.”
Mara fastened Noah’s onesie.
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
Karen looked at her.
“It is.”
Benton sat across from them.
“Did your attorney advise you to leave?”
“No.”
“Did they advise you to contact federal investigators?”
Karen’s jaw tightened.
“They advised me to contact the attorney Daniel had been working with.”
Mara stopped folding the changing pad.
“Do you have his number?”
“Yes.”
“Call him.”
Karen looked at her.
“He may not speak to you.”
“He can tell me that himself.”
Karen hesitated.
Mara saw it.
“You don’t want me talking to him.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then call.”
Karen unlocked her phone.
Officer Benton said, “Before you do, I’d prefer that we document the threatening message.”
Karen nodded.
She forwarded the screenshot to an address Ruiz provided.
Then she opened another contact.
There was no name visible, only initials.
Mara noticed.
“Why initials?”
“Because I got paranoid.”
“That makes two of us.”
Karen pressed call.
The attorney answered on the fourth ring.
Karen put the phone on speaker.
“This is Karen Bell.”
A man’s voice responded.
“I know.”
Karen looked at Mara.
“I’m with Mara Mercer.”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Silence.
Mara’s heartbeat changed.
The man finally said, “Where are you?”
Karen looked at Benton.
“Denver International.”
“Are you alone?”
“No.”
“Who else is present?”
“Airport police.”
Another pause.
Then, “Put Mrs. Mercer on.”
Karen placed the phone on the table.
Mara leaned toward it.
“This is Mara.”
May you like
“My name is Aaron Price.”
His voice was controlled but tired.
