Chương 10
Elena almost laughed again.
The detective did too, barely.
Then Shaw's phone rang.
She stood and moved away.
Elena sat alone.
Through Clara's door, she could hear Mark speaking softly.
The words were indistinct.
Then Clara said something.
A tiny voice.
Elena stood before she realized she was doing it.
The door opened.
Mark appeared.
"She asked for you."
Elena's throat tightened.
The nurse stepped aside.
Inside, Clara looked impossibly small in the hospital bed.
The white blanket from the house had been replaced with a pale blue one.
A pulse-ox sensor glowed red around one toe.
There was a small bandage on her hand where an IV line had been placed.
Clara turned her head when Elena entered.
"Ellie."
Elena covered her mouth.
Mark looked away toward the window.
Elena approached the bed.
"Hi, baby."
Clara reached for her.
The nurse said, "Gentle."
Elena leaned close instead of lifting her.
Clara put one hand against Elena's cheek.
"Down."
"I know."
Clara's lower lip trembled.
"Down bad."
Elena's eyes filled.
"Yeah."
She forced a smile.
"Down was bad."
Mark sat in the chair beside the bed.
He looked worse than he had ten minutes earlier.
Clara pointed toward his loosened tie.
"Daddy broke."
Mark glanced down.
The tie hung crooked.
"No, sweetheart."
He fixed it clumsily.
"Daddy's okay."
Clara considered this.
Then she pointed at Elena's wrist brace.
"Ellie broke."
"Not broken."
Elena touched the brace.
"Just sore."
Clara looked at both of them with grave concentration.
Then she said, "Mama mad."
The room changed.
Mark froze.
Elena felt the nurse become still near the monitor.
Mark leaned forward.
"What did Mama say?"
Elena looked at him.
The nurse intervened immediately.
"Don't question her."
Mark sat back.
"I wasn't."
"You were about to."
He rubbed his mouth with one hand.
"Right."
Clara played with the corner of the blanket.
Mark stared at her fingers.
Elena could see the question pressing against him.
The nurse could too.
"Let her talk if she wants."
Mark nodded.
Nobody spoke.
Clara looked toward the door.
"Mama go?"
Mark's face tightened.
"She's not here right now."
"Home?"
"I don't know."
Clara accepted this more easily than any adult in the room.
She pointed at Elena.
"Ellie home."
Elena's chest ached.
"Not tonight."
Clara frowned.
"Why?"
Elena looked helplessly at Mark.
He gave the smallest shake of his head.
"Because we're having a weird day."
Clara stared at him.
Then she smiled.
"Bird."
Mark blinked.
"What?"
She pointed toward the window.
A pigeon stood on the concrete ledge outside.
It pecked once at the glass.
Clara laughed.
The sound broke something open in Elena.
She sat in the second chair and cried silently into one hand.
Mark reached toward her, stopped, then let his hand fall.
The pigeon flew away.
Clara lost interest immediately.
She yawned.
Within minutes her eyes began to close.
The nurse dimmed the lights.
Mark and Elena stepped into the hallway.
Neither spoke at first.
Mark leaned against the wall.
"She remembers."
Elena knew what he meant.
"Maybe."
"She said Mama was mad."
"That doesn't tell us what she remembers."
He nodded.
His eyes were red.
"I shouldn't have asked."
"No."
"I know."
Elena looked at him.
"You need to stop doing that."
"What?"
"Trying to get the next answer immediately."
He gave her a tired look.
"I've had a difficult afternoon."
"So has everyone."
The words came out harsher than she intended.
Mark stared at her.
Elena looked away.
"Sorry."
"No."
He straightened.
"You're right."
She shook her head.
"I'm not trying to be."
"Still."
Detective Shaw approached them.
Her expression had changed.
The softness from earlier was gone.
"Mr. Mercer, I need you both to hear something."
Mark stood fully upright.
"What happened?"
"We located Bethany Cole."
Elena's pulse quickened.
Shaw continued.
"She agreed to speak with us."
Mark looked confused.
"Who is Bethany?"
"The former nanny."
Recognition came slowly.
"Victoria said she stole from us."
Shaw nodded.
"Ms. Cole denies that."
Elena folded her arms.
"What did she say?"
Shaw looked at Mark first.
"She says she was terminated after confronting your wife about Clara's biological father."
Mark's face went completely still.
The hallway seemed to narrow around him.
"She knew who it was?"
"She claims she did."
"Who?"
Shaw paused.
"We're verifying before I give you a name."
Mark laughed without humor.
"You've become very committed to patience today."
"I'm committed to not destroying people's lives with unverified statements."
His expression changed at that.
He looked away.
Shaw continued.
"There's something else."
Elena watched her.
"Bethany says Victoria did not begin the paternity testing."
Mark looked back.
"Then who did?"
"Bethany says she did."
Elena stared at her.
Shaw's voice remained calm.
"She collected a sample from Clara and one she believed belonged to you."
Mark's jaw tightened.
"Without permission."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she believed Victoria was lying about when Clara was conceived."
Mark's face darkened.
"Based on what?"
"Something she overheard."
Elena thought of Bethany crying in the kitchen six months earlier.
Watch what happens when Clara starts looking like him.
Mark stepped closer to Shaw.
"What did she overhear?"
Shaw held his gaze.
"A conversation between Victoria and a man who had been coming to the house while you were traveling."
Elena felt a cold pressure under her ribs.
Mark's voice dropped.
"What man?"
This time Shaw answered.
"Your brother."
Mark did not react at first.
Elena watched the name move through him without finding anywhere to settle.
"Daniel?"
Detective Shaw nodded once.
Mark stared at her.
"No."
It was not disbelief yet.
It sounded more like refusal.
Shaw let the silence remain.
"My brother hasn't been in Dallas in almost a year."
"Bethany says he was here repeatedly before that."
Mark shook his head.
"Daniel lives in Austin."
"That doesn't make Dallas unreachable."
"He and Victoria barely tolerate each other."
Elena looked at him.
May you like
She had heard Mark say similar things before about people whose lives intersected privately in ways he did not see.
Shaw asked, "How often did your brother visit this house?"
