Chương 8
“Robert?”
“I’m sending it.”
I forwarded the image.
Reeves went quiet.
“What do you see?” I asked.
“Same thing.”
“What does four mean?”
“Don’t know.”
Another message arrived.
This time there was text.
Four means vulnerable.
My stomach turned.
I read it aloud.
Reeves swore softly.
Then another message came.
One means compliant.
Two means resistant.
Three means hostile.
Four means vulnerable.
Five means remove.
The last word sat on the screen like it had weight.
“Remove what?”
“I don’t know,” Reeves said.
“Residents?”
“I said I don’t know.”
“Property?”
“Could be.”
“Contracts?”
“Could be.”
“People?”
“Could be.”
The sender typed again.
The little indicator appeared and disappeared twice.
Then a final message came.
She didn’t invent the system.
Before I could read it aloud, Reeves said, “Send everything.”
I did.
“Who has that number besides you?”
“No one I know of.”
“Did Diana have your personal number?”
“Yes.”
“Wes?”
“Probably from the irrigation work.”
“Keene?”
“HOA directory.”
“So half the neighborhood.”
“Basically.”
“I want you to block it after we preserve these.”
“No.”
“Robert.”
“No.”
“If this person is feeding evidence, investigators can communicate with them through controlled contact.”
“They contacted me.”
“Exactly why you shouldn’t answer.”
“I haven’t.”
“Keep not answering.”
I looked at the last message again.
“She didn’t invent the system.”
“I saw it.”
“That means someone else.”
“Maybe.”
“I hate that word.”
“I’m becoming attached to it.”
“Call me when you know more.”
“Reeves.”
“Yeah?”
“Find Diana before I do.”
His voice hardened.
“That is not a joke.”
“I didn’t mean it as one.”
“Then hear me clearly.”
I waited.
“If you see her, you call us and you stay away.”
I stared at the floor.
“Robert.”
“I heard you.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I’ll call.”
“And stay away?”
I thought about Emma’s bruised side.
“I’ll call.”
Reeves exhaled.
“Go sit with your kid.”
He hung up.
I stayed in the consultation room another minute.
Not because I needed privacy.
Because I needed to become someone Emma could look at without getting scared.
When I went back, she was eating hospital pudding.
She held up the cup.
“It still tastes like plastic.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“How?”
“Consistency.”
She scraped the spoon around the sides.
“Did they find the dog man?”
“Yes.”
“Is he okay?”
“He was locked somewhere he shouldn’t have been.”
“By Mrs. Harrington?”
“That’s what he says.”
Emma took another bite.
“Why does she lock everybody?”
The question was so simple I had no safe version of the answer.
“Some people get used to making rules and forget rules are supposed to protect people too.”
“She doesn’t forget.”
I looked at her.
“She likes it.”
Children sometimes reach conclusions adults circle for years.
“You might be right.”
“She smiles when people get scared.”
That stopped me.
“When did you see that?”
“Today.”
I sat down.
“When?”
“When Mr. Cole said he didn’t want to help.”
“What did Diana do?”
“She smiled.”
“How?”
Emma shrugged.
“Like when teachers know you’re lying.”
“Then what?”
“She told him he could leave if he didn’t need the work.”
I filed the sentence away despite myself.
“What did he do?”
“He looked at his truck.”
“And then?”
“He got the chain.”
I pressed my palms together.
“Did Diana smile at you?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“What did she do?”
“She kept looking at her phone.”
“For messages?”
“I guess.”
“Did she take pictures before or after she chained you?”
“Both.”
“Did anyone call her?”
Emma thought.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you hear what she said?”
“A little.”
I waited.
“She said, ‘I have one now.’”
The skin along my arms tightened.
“Those exact words?”
“I think.”
“What else?”
“She said, ‘No, not Keene.’”
I felt the room tilt slightly.
“Emma, are you sure?”
She frowned at me.
“You said not to ask twice.”
“You’re right.”
“What does Keene mean?”
“It’s the dog man’s last name.”
“Oh.”
She went back to her pudding.
I stood too quickly.
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere.”
“You always say nowhere when you’re going somewhere.”
“I’m calling Captain Reeves.”
“Here?”
I looked at her.
“Here.”
I dialed.
He answered sounding annoyed already.
“What?”
“Emma remembered a phone call.”
“What phone call?”
“Diana received one during the incident.”
I put the phone on speaker.
Reeves changed tone immediately.
“Emma, this is Captain Reeves.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“You eat chili at our house.”
He cleared his throat.
“That is true.”
“You spill cheese.”
“That is unfortunately also true.”
I looked away because I almost smiled.
Reeves said, “Your dad says you heard Mrs. Harrington talking on the phone.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me what you remember, but don’t guess at anything you don’t.”
“She said, ‘I have one now.’”
“Anything else?”
“She said, ‘No, not Keene.’”
Reeves went silent.
Emma licked pudding from the spoon.
“Did she say a name for the person she was talking to?”
“No.”
“Could you hear another voice?”
“No.”
“Did she sound angry?”
Emma considered.
“No.”
“Scared?”
“No.”
“Happy?”
“She sounded normal.”
That bothered me more.
Reeves asked, “Did she say anything about you?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay.”
“She looked at me when she said one.”
Reeves did not respond immediately.
Then he said, “Thank you, Emma.”
“Are you finding Mrs. Harrington?”
“We’re trying.”
“She drives the silver car with the dent.”
I looked at her.
“What dent?”
“Back door.”
“Driver’s side?”
“No, other side.”
Reeves asked, “How do you know?”
“She parked by our mailbox last week.”
My attention sharpened.
“Last week?”
Emma looked at me like I was slow.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were you home?”
“With Mrs. Gable.”
I remembered.
A late county budget meeting.
Mrs. Gable had kept Emma for two hours.
“Did Diana come to the house?”
“No.”
“What did she do?”
“Sat in her car.”
“For how long?”
“Long.”
“Did she talk to anybody?”
“No.”
“Take pictures?”
“I saw the flash once.”
Reeves said, “Robert, stop questioning.”
I shut my mouth.
May you like
“Emma,” he continued, “do you remember what day?”
She squinted toward the ceiling.
