Chương 7
Then he closed the door.
He did not sleep.
At 2:07 in the morning, after reading every archived message twice, Daniel found the first thing that did not fit Elise’s version.
Rachel had not asked for sixty thousand dollars.
She had asked for twelve.
The sixty-thousand-dollar figure came from Elise in a message to a financial adviser three days later, describing Rachel as “in escalating financial distress.”
Daniel kept reading.
At 3:11, he found another inconsistency.
Elise had told him Rachel initiated the idea of leaving the car behind.
The messages showed otherwise.
Elise: If you want a clean break, you cannot keep using the same car.
Rachel: I can sell it.
Elise: Daniel can trace the sale if he chooses.
Rachel: Why would he if he agreed?
There was no reply.
Two days later:
Rachel: I left the car.
Elise: Where?
Rachel: Harbor Point.
Elise: That was reckless.
Rachel: I panicked.
Elise: Did anyone see you?
Rachel: I don’t know.
Daniel set the phone down.
He walked into the kitchen and drank water from a glass because his hands needed something to do.
The catering staff had left one tray of miniature lemon tarts in the refrigerator.
A note on top said, MR. WARD—PLEASE FREEZE OR DISCARD BY FRIDAY.
Daniel stared at it.
Then, because grief and betrayal apparently did not remove hunger from the human body, he ate one standing over the sink.
It tasted too sweet.
At 4:30 he found the messages that made him sit on the kitchen floor.
They were from the day the search began.
Rachel: There are police at the harbor.
Elise: Where are you?
Rachel: Bus station.
Elise: Do not go back.
Rachel: They think I jumped.
Elise: Stay where you are.
Rachel: I didn’t mean this.
Elise: Going back now will make everything worse.
Rachel: Daniel will think I’m dead.
Elise: You don’t know that.
Rachel: Tell him.
There was no answer from Elise for forty-three minutes.
Rachel: Tell him I’m alive.
Elise: Get on the bus.
Rachel: Elise.
Elise: If you go back, the custody fight starts tomorrow. You will lose. You know that.
Rachel: Tell him.
Elise: I will handle Daniel.
Rachel: Promise.
Elise: Yes.
Daniel stared at the word.
Promise.
He sat on the tile until his legs went numb.
At six, Lucy wandered into the kitchen wearing one of his dress shirts over her pajamas.
She stopped when she saw him on the floor.
“Why are you sitting there?”
“I’m making excellent decisions.”
She looked at the empty tart wrapper.
“Did you eat dessert for breakfast?”
“Technically it was before breakfast.”
She considered this.
“Can I?”
“No.”
“That’s rude.”
“Correct.”
She climbed onto a stool.
Her hair had come loose from the pigtails, one side flattened from sleep.
“Is Mom still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
She accepted the answer with the strange adaptability of children, then asked for cereal.
Daniel poured it.
She ate three bites.
“Did she get old?”
He almost choked on his coffee.
“A little.”
“Did she get gray hair?”
“A little.”
“Are you old?”
“Apparently.”
“Is Elise coming back?”
Daniel set the coffee down.
“Not today.”
“Because she lied?”
“Yes.”
Lucy moved one oat square around the milk.
“Mom lied too.”
Daniel pulled out the stool beside her.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to ask her.”
“Can I ask her?”
“Yes.”
“Will she tell the truth?”
“I don’t know.”
Lucy frowned at the cereal.
“I don’t like today.”
“It just started.”
“I can already tell.”
Noah came in ten minutes later wearing the same shirt as the night before.
He had not brushed his hair.
“Are we going?”
“After breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’re eating.”
“Dad.”
“You can be furious and eat toast at the same time.”
Noah opened the bread drawer with unnecessary force.
Daniel checked the new address online.
The bungalow was real. It belonged to a woman named Margaret Levin, seventy-two, according to public property records. Daniel had no idea who she was. The number associated with the property did not match any number he knew.
At 7:18, the detective assigned to Rachel’s old case called.
Her name was Dana Brooks.
Daniel stepped into the pantry so the children would not hear every word.
He explained the photograph, the messages, the money, and the fake email.
Brooks was quiet for a long time.
“Do you have the originals?”
“I have copies.”
“Keep them. Don’t alter anything.”
“I won’t.”
“Do you know if Ms. Ward—”
“She uses Mercer.”
“Elise Mercer. Do you know if she still has the devices used for those communications?”
“Probably.”
“That may matter.”
“Is Rachel in trouble?”
“For leaving?”
“Yes.”
“That depends on facts I don’t have.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Can you check the address?”
“I can make some calls. But if Rachel is an adult and not in danger, she has a right not to speak with you.”
“I know.”
He said it automatically.
Then he pictured Elise saying the same thing.
Brooks continued.
“If you go there, don’t bring a confrontation to somebody’s front porch.”
“I’m bringing the children.”
Silence.
“You may want to reconsider that.”
“They know she’s alive.”
“That doesn’t mean they need to be present for whatever comes next.”
Daniel looked through the pantry door.
Noah was buttering toast for Lucy because she had put too much cereal in her bowl and declared it soggy.
“What would you do?”
“I don’t answer that question for people.”
“Convenient.”
“It keeps me employed.”
Despite himself, Daniel smiled.
Brooks said, “I’d confirm she’s there first.”
“How?”
“I’m working on it.”
Twenty minutes later, she called back.
A patrol officer had made contact at the address.
Rachel was there.
Alive.
She had declined medical assistance and declined to speak with police beyond confirming her identity.
She knew Daniel might come.
Brooks said, “She asked me to tell you one thing.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“What?”
“She said not to bring Elise.”
Noah was watching from the kitchen doorway.
Daniel ended the call.
May you like
“She’s there,” he said.
Noah’s face went blank.
