Chương 9
“What?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only honest one I have.”
She took the crayon from him.
Later that afternoon, Velez returned from Sophia’s mother’s house with dirt on her shoes and irritation in her voice.
“The blue box is gone,” she said.
Sophia stood. “Gone?”
“Your mother remembers seeing it in the crawl space last Christmas. The floor panel has fresh pry marks.”
Emma was awake on the sofa, listening.
Velez continued. “A neighbor saw a dark sedan outside around seven this morning. Driver matched the broad description of the man from Emma’s school.”
“Colin Price?” Vincent asked.
“We’re still identifying him. The name Damian gave does not match the number used by the car service.”
Sophia wrapped both arms around herself. “What was in the box?”
“Your daughter mentioned papers with a bird symbol. Anything else?”
Sophia shook her head. “Daniel kept old invoices, photographs, tax records. Maybe copies of the service orders.”
“Did Damian know about your mother’s house?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He paid for Daniel’s funeral. The paperwork listed her address.”
Velez nodded to one of the detectives. “We’re arranging a patrol near the school and both residences. Mrs. Carter, you and Emma should not return to the cottage tonight.”
“They can stay here,” Vincent said.
Sophia looked at him.
“It’s secure,” he added.
“The west cameras are broken,” she said.
“Leon has people repairing them.”
“Because Damian delayed it.”
“And now I’m correcting that.”
Her expression held no gratitude.
Good, Vincent thought.
Gratitude would have made him feel generous, and generosity had no place in what he owed her.
Velez asked Sophia to continue her statement at headquarters. Sophia agreed on the condition that Emma remain with Leon and Mrs. Alvarez. Before leaving, she knelt in front of her daughter and tried to explain that she might be gone several hours.
Emma’s face hardened.
“You always say that.”
“I come back.”
“Daddy didn’t.”
Sophia’s breath caught.
Vincent turned toward the window, giving them the privacy of not being watched while still hearing every word.
Sophia said, “I’m coming back.”
“You don’t know.”
“You’re right. I don’t know everything. But I’m telling you what I plan to do.”
Emma’s voice became small. “What if Mr. Damian gets you?”
“He won’t.”
“You said people say things when they’re scared.”
Sophia pressed her forehead to Emma’s.
“I’m scared,” she said. “And I’m still going.”
Emma held her mother’s face between both hands.
Vincent had seen Arya do the same thing to Celeste after nightmares.
The memory came without warning and left him leaning against the window frame.
Sophia stood. Her eyes were wet, but her voice had steadied. “Leon has my number. You can call whenever you want.”
“I don’t want to stay with him.”
She glanced at Vincent.
Emma followed the glance.
“Mr. Moretti,” she clarified.
“I understood,” Vincent said.
Mrs. Alvarez muttered from the doorway, “Nobody wants to stay with him.”
Emma smiled despite herself.
It was the first smile Vincent had seen on her face.
After Sophia left, Vincent took Emma to the second-floor family room because it was the only place in the house with children’s books. Most belonged to Arya. Celeste had donated many after Arya outgrew them, but Vincent had stopped the staff from touching the final shelf.
Emma ran one finger along the spines.
“Were these hers?”
“Yes.”
“Can I read one?”
“Yes.”
“Will you get mad?”
“Probably not.”
She chose a book about a bear that refused to sleep through winter. The cover was creased where Arya had bent it backward.
Emma climbed onto the window seat. Vincent sat in a chair across from her and answered emails while she read silently. Every few minutes, she asked what a word meant. Hibernation. Foraging. Irritable.
When she reached irritable, she pointed at him.
He ignored her.
His phone filled with messages. The board’s independent directors demanded an emergency session. The company’s stock price had dropped nine percent. A television reporter asked whether Vincent was receiving medical care. Another requested comment on rumors that Celeste’s death was being reinvestigated.
Damian sent no messages.
At four, Bennett called.
“Damian has retained criminal counsel,” he said. “He denies the voice is his.”
“Of course.”
“He also claims you fabricated the ledger to stop the fleet sale.”
“Why would I do that?”
“North Vale’s offer values the division below what he promised the board. He says you panicked when you finally read the terms.”
“Did I?”
There was a pause.
“The price is low.”
“How low?”
“Low enough that we should review the process.”
Vincent looked at Emma. She had fallen asleep with the book open against her chest.
“Who owns North Vale?” he asked.
“We traced two holding companies to a trust in Delaware. The trustee will not disclose beneficiaries without process.”
“Find another way.”
“Legally?”
Vincent rubbed his eyes. “Yes, Bennett. Legally.”
“I needed to hear you say it.”
Before dinner, Velez called with the first laboratory update. The recorder was old, likely manufactured eight or nine years earlier. Its memory contained six audio files, three deleted but potentially recoverable. The device showed corrosion but no obvious sign of recent alteration. Full authentication would take time.
“Can I hear the files?” Vincent asked.
“Not yet.”
“One of them contains my wife’s name.”
“All the more reason not to contaminate your memory of events before we interview you.”
“My memory is already contaminated.”
“That may be the first useful thing you’ve said to me.”
She scheduled his formal interview for the next morning.
Sophia returned after dark.
She looked smaller when she came through the front doors. Her cardigan was buttoned incorrectly, one side hanging lower than the other. Emma ran to her. Sophia dropped to her knees and held the child with both arms.
Vincent stood near the staircase, unsure whether to leave.
Sophia looked over Emma’s shoulder. “They asked about you.”
“What did you say?”
“That you frightened me.”
May you like
Emma pulled back. “He didn’t do anything.”
Sophia brushed hair from her face. “People can frighten you without doing anything.”
