Chương 11
"He's here."
"I know."
"He looks furious."
"Has he gone inside?"
"No."
"The locksmith changed the front cylinder first."
My knees almost gave way.
Then Elena whispered, "He's walking around back."
Through my phone, I heard Grant shout my name into the empty house.
Once.
Then again.
Elena said, "Mara, he's trying the back door."
Marcus grabbed his coat.
"Call the police."
My hand closed around the phone.
For the first time since the open call, I stopped worrying about whether Grant would know that I knew.
"Do it," I told Elena.
"Call them now."
Elena did not hesitate.
"I’m calling."
I heard her move away from the phone, then the distant sound of Grant pounding once against the back door.
Marcus was already halfway into the hallway.
"Stay with Caleb."
"I’m not staying here."
"Then call him while we drive."
Priya caught my arm before I followed.
"You do not confront Grant while he is angry."
"I’m going home."
"That is not the same thing."
Her grip was light, but she did not let go until I looked at her.
"I mean it."
"I know."
Outside, the afternoon had turned bright and almost offensively beautiful.
Marcus unlocked his car while I called Caleb again.
He answered immediately.
"We’re in your room."
"Door locked?"
"Yes."
"Where are the twins?"
"June is under your bed."
In the background, June protested, "I can hear you."
Maisie said, "She said hiding is smarter."
"Stay where you are," I told them.
A heavy thud sounded faintly through Caleb’s phone.
My heart stopped.
"What was that?"
"I don’t know."
"Is he inside?"
"No."
Caleb’s voice had gone thin.
"He’s yelling."
"What is he saying?"
"Your name."
Marcus pulled into traffic hard enough that my shoulder hit the door.
Then Grant’s voice came through the phone, muffled by walls but unmistakable.
"Mara!"
Caleb whispered, "He sounds really mad."
"I know."
"Why?"
I pressed the phone so tightly against my ear that it hurt.
"Because I told him no."
The car went silent except for the engine.
Caleb did not answer for a moment.
Then he said, "Good."
I closed my eyes.
Sirens became audible through his phone before we could hear them ourselves.
Elena had called quickly.
Marcus slowed as we approached the turn toward my road.
"Police are there."
"I see."
Two patrol vehicles were parked near the stone wall by the driveway.
The locksmith’s white van sat crookedly beside them.
Elena stood near the barn with both arms wrapped around herself.
Grant was beside his Mercedes talking to an officer.
He was not handcuffed.
He was not being dragged away.
He looked like a man having an argument he expected to win.
That disappointed some ugly part of me.
Marcus must have sensed it.
"Reality," he said quietly.
"I know."
"No cinematic ending."
"I said I know."
We parked at the edge of the drive.
Grant saw me before I had fully opened the passenger door.
His face changed.
Relief came first.
Then anger swallowed it.
"Mara."
One officer stepped slightly between us.
Grant lifted both hands.
"I’m not doing anything."
The officer said, "Then keep your distance."
"This is my home too."
"No," I said.
Grant stared at me.
The officer glanced between us.
I continued.
"It’s my house."
Grant’s jaw worked once.
"I live here."
"Sometimes."
"I have clothes here."
"You can collect them later."
His eyes flicked to Marcus.
Something bitter entered his expression.
"Of course."
Marcus stayed beside the car.
He did not speak.
Grant pointed at him anyway.
"This is him."
The officer said, "Sir."
"He poisoned her against me."
"No one poisoned me."
Grant looked back at me.
"You disappeared this morning."
"I went to my attorney."
"Two days before our wedding."
"Yes."
"Because of a piece of paper?"
I almost answered too quickly.
Then I saw Colleen’s car turning into the drive.
Of course she was coming.
Grant saw it too and swore under his breath.
"I told her not to come."
That was the first thing he said that I believed.
Colleen stopped badly, one tire half on the grass.
She climbed out wearing white trousers and a coral sweater, looking less composed than I had ever seen her.
"What is going on?"
Grant closed his eyes.
"Mom."
She saw the police.
Then me.
Then Marcus.
Her face emptied.
For one brief second, she knew.
Not what I had done.
What I had heard.
The recognition passed between us so clearly that I almost felt relieved.
"Mara," she said.
I said nothing.
She recovered fast.
"Grant called me and said you locked him out."
"I did."
"Before your wedding?"
"Yes."
"This is insane."
One of the officers shifted his weight.
Colleen noticed him and lowered her voice.
"We should discuss this privately."
Grant said, "Mom, stop."
"I’m trying to help."
"You’re not."
That surprised her.
It surprised me too.
She turned on him.
"Then perhaps you can explain why police are standing outside the house you are supposed to move into permanently tomorrow."
"Saturday," I said automatically.
Everyone looked at me.
I almost laughed.
Nobody else did.
The front door opened above the stone steps.
Caleb stood there.
My heart jumped into my throat.
"Go back inside."
He ignored me.
The twins appeared behind him.
June had apparently decided hiding was overrated.
Grant looked toward them.
His entire posture changed.
"Hey, guys."
Caleb’s expression hardened.
"Don’t."
Grant stopped.
That single word seemed to hurt him more than anything I had said.
"Caleb."
"I said don’t."
One officer turned toward the children.
"Are you all okay?"
"We’re fine," Caleb said.
Then he looked at Grant.
"You scared June."
June objected from behind him.
"I was strategically concerned."
Despite everything, Elena made a strangled sound that might have been a laugh.
Grant rubbed both hands over his face.
"I wasn’t trying to scare anybody."
"You were pounding on the door," Caleb said.
"I thought Mara was here."
"She wasn’t."
May you like
"I know that now."
"Then why didn’t you leave?"
