Chương 3
“At thirty-five weeks, outcomes are generally very good,” the doctor said. “But we don’t take chances.”
Elena nodded as though the doctor were discussing weather.
Adrian asked six questions. The last one was whether stress could worsen the contractions.
“It can contribute,” the doctor said. “Right now, the best thing is rest.”
Detective Cho closed her notebook. “I’ll speak with you again when you’re stable.”
At the doorway, Adrian asked, “Are you arresting her?”
“Not based on one interview.”
“There were witnesses. There are cameras.”
“We’ll review what exists.”
“She tried to kill my wife.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Detective Cho did not react to the volume of his voice. “I understand you’re frightened and angry. I’m going to investigate what happened. That requires evidence I can preserve, witnesses I can interview separately, and a clear record. Calling it something before we establish the facts will not help your wife.”
Adrian looked ready to argue.
Elena said his name.
He stopped.
When the detective left, silence settled over the room. A cart squeaked past in the corridor. Somewhere nearby, a man laughed too loudly at something on television.
Adrian sat again but did not take Elena’s hand.
“You found money missing from Noah’s trust.”
“Moved, not necessarily missing.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“I tried.”
“You told me there was a tuition problem. I fixed it.”
“You called your mother. She fixed the bill. That wasn’t the problem.”
He stood so suddenly the chair legs dragged across the floor.
“You hired a lawyer behind my back.”
“I asked a lawyer to read records your office wouldn’t explain.”
“My office?”
“Your family office.”
“You think I knew?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you come to me?”
Elena stared at him. Her body had begun to tremble again, not from cold this time.
“Because I knew this would happen.”
He went still.
“You would make it about whether I trusted you,” she said. “You would call her. She would deny it. You would spend three hours trying to keep everyone calm. Then the papers would disappear.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“It is exactly what happened the last time she transferred money out of the foundation.”
“That was an accounting correction.”
“You don’t know that.”
His face closed.
The contraction began low and moved through her back. Elena gripped the blanket.
Adrian’s anger vanished. He reached for the call button.
“Don’t,” she said through her teeth. “It’s easing.”
He waited, watching her.
When it passed, he sat carefully.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She looked toward the monitor.
“For which part?”
He rubbed both hands over his face. “I don’t know yet.”
Noah came in after sunset.
Lucia had found him a gray hospital sweatshirt from the gift shop because his white polo shirt had been soaked where Adrian lifted him after climbing out of the pool. The sleeves covered his hands. He walked close to Lucia, though he usually resented being treated like a younger child.
His eyes went first to Elena’s belly and then to the machines.
“Is the baby coming?”
“Not tonight, we hope,” Elena said.
“Did she drink pool water?”
“A little.”
“Is that bad?”
“It tastes bad.”
His mouth moved as though he might smile. He did not.
Adrian held out a hand. Noah crossed the room and stood between his father’s knees. Adrian pressed his face briefly into the boy’s hair.
Noah looked at Elena over Adrian’s shoulder.
“I told Dad.”
“I heard you.”
“I was loud.”
“You needed to be.”
He stepped away from Adrian. His attention moved to the bruise forming on Elena’s arm.
“Grandma said you slipped.”
No one answered immediately.
Lucia adjusted the strap of her purse. Adrian looked at her. She lowered her eyes.
“What did you see?” he asked Noah.
Elena said, “Not now.”
“He needs to tell us.”
“He needs to know I’m alive.”
Noah’s face crumpled at the word alive. He climbed onto the chair beside Elena’s bed and leaned forward until his forehead rested against the blanket near her knee.
“I thought you went all the way down,” he whispered.
Elena placed a hand on his head. His hair was still warm from the sun.
“I came back up.”
“Dad got you.”
“He did.”
Noah’s shoulders shook once.
Adrian crouched beside him. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I didn’t jump in.”
“You’re seven.”
“I can swim.”
“You did exactly what you were supposed to do. You called me.”
Noah wiped his face with one sleeve. “Grandma didn’t call anybody.”
The room changed around that sentence.
Lucia turned toward the door.
Adrian looked at her again. “What did you see?”
Lucia’s fingers tightened on her purse strap. “Mr. Marlow, please. The police said they will speak with us.”
“I’m asking you.”
“And I’m asking you not to.”
Her voice was soft, but it did not shake. She had worked for the family for eleven years. She had organized Rachel’s funeral reception, taught Noah to tie his shoes, and once told Victoria that serving soup in July was ridiculous. Elena had never heard her sound afraid.
Adrian stood.
“Lucia—”
“Elena needs quiet,” she said. “Noah needs dinner. Mateo is waiting downstairs.”
Elena watched her. “Did Victoria tell you not to talk?”
Lucia closed her eyes for half a second.
“No,” she said.
It was the first lie Elena had ever heard her tell.
At midnight, the security company called Adrian.
The pool cameras had stopped recording at 1:07 that afternoon, more than two hours before Elena fell. The system had not malfunctioned. Someone with administrator access had placed the exterior cameras into privacy mode.
Only three people had that access: Adrian, Victoria, and the estate manager.
The estate manager was in Chicago.
Adrian put the call on speaker so Elena could hear.
“Who activated it?” he asked.
The representative hesitated. “The system records the user profile, but the account permits shared credentials. The action was made through Mrs. Marlow’s profile.”
“From what device?”
“A tablet registered to the residence.”
May you like
Victoria’s tablet.
“Can you preserve the log?”
