Chương 6
Sofia sat down.
The room folded around her.
Not Sofia.
Sof.
Only Claire called her that.
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“I told her she was being dramatic.”
Sofia made a sound that was almost laughter.
Of course he had.
Claire had probably rolled her eyes.
“She said, ‘That’s my brand.’”
Sofia covered her mouth.
Daniel looked at the floor.
“I promised.”
“You promised her.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept it in a safe.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you give it to me?”
“Because when she disappeared, I panicked. Then police found her car. Then her body. Every day I waited made the truth worse.”
“You could have mailed it.”
“I know.”
“You could have left it at our house.”
“I know.”
“You could have given it to police.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know.”
Daniel stopped.
Sofia stared at him.
“What did you do after leaving her?”
“I drove home.”
“Did anyone follow you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you call your father?”
Daniel did not answer.
Evelyn leaned forward.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
She said, “Police will recover your old phone records if they still exist through archived company billing. You understand that.”
He nodded.
Sofia felt cold.
“You called him.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After I left Claire.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That it was over.”
“What does that mean?”
“That I had stopped talking to her.”
“Did you tell him where she was?”
Daniel rubbed one hand over his face.
“I said I had dropped her near the interstate.”
Sofia stared.
“Which interstate?”
He did not answer.
“Which exit?”
“Sofia—”
“Which exit?”
“Twenty-four.”
Claire’s remains had been found four miles from Exit 24.
Sofia stopped breathing.
Hannah whispered, “Oh my God.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“I did not know what happened after that.”
“You told him where she was.”
“I didn’t give him the motel.”
“You told him the exit.”
“Yes.”
“And then Claire died.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever ask your father what he did?”
“Once.”
“What did he say?”
“That I needed to forget the reporter.”
Sofia stood.
This time she did not speak.
She walked into the bathroom and locked the door.
She sat on the closed toilet lid in half a wedding dress and stared at the folded hand towel across from her.
For six years, she had wanted someone to tell her Claire had not died afraid.
That had been the private question she never asked police because she did not want a forensic answer.
Had Claire been afraid?
Had she known?
Had she waited for help?
Had she regretted calling Daniel?
Sofia pressed her fists against her eyes.
Outside the bathroom, nobody knocked.
Eventually she opened the door.
Daniel was standing.
“I’m going.”
“Good.”
He looked at her.
“There’s more.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because there is always more when somebody starts a sentence like that.”
He looked tired enough to be ill.
“The recording on the drive is from Claire.”
“What does she say?”
“I never listened to all of it.”
Sofia laughed once.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the first thirty seconds were enough.”
“What did she say?”
Daniel looked toward Evelyn.
Then back to Sofia.
“She said my father had threatened her.”
Daniel left before sunrise.
Sofia watched from the hotel window as he crossed the sidewalk below and entered a car alone.
The city looked insultingly normal.
A delivery truck blocked one lane. A man in a red jacket walked a small white dog. Two women stood outside a coffee shop laughing at something on a phone.
At seven thirty, the Bellamy’s housekeeping staff began knocking on doors.
At eight, Sofia’s wedding flowers were being divided among nursing homes because the planner did not know what else to do with them.
At nine, a photograph of Evelyn holding the necklace appeared on the front page of a local news website.
By ten, reporters were outside Margaret Bennett’s house.
Sofia turned off her phone.
She spent Sunday at her mother’s kitchen table.
The house had not changed much since Claire died. Margaret had painted the cabinets and replaced the refrigerator, but the drawer beside the stove still stuck when the weather was humid. Sofia spent twenty minutes fixing it with a screwdriver while her mother watched.
“You’re doing that wrong,” Margaret said.
“Dad used to lift the track.”
“Your father also once fixed a toilet with duct tape.”
“It worked.”
“For three days.”
Sofia sat back on the floor.
Her mother was drinking tea she had reheated twice.
“Did Claire ever mention Daniel?”
Margaret’s fingers tightened around the mug.
“No.”
“Cross Meridian?”
“No.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“North Coast Facilities?”
“No.”
Margaret looked offended by the name itself.
“Your sister talked about stories, but not details. She knew I worried.”
“She told me details.”
“Some.”
Sofia looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret sighed.
“Claire protected you more than you think.”
“I was twenty-three.”
“You were finishing nursing school and barely sleeping.”
“So?”
“So she loved having one person in her life who was not asking whether somebody was following her.”
Sofia stared at the screwdriver.
“She told you that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“About a month before she disappeared.”
Sofia’s throat tightened.
“What exactly did she say?”
Margaret looked toward the kitchen window.
“She said, ‘Don’t tell Sof. She still thinks normal life is possible.’”
For a moment Sofia could not speak.
Then she said, “That’s such a Claire thing to say.”
“I know.”
“Condescending.”
“Yes.”
“Arrogant.”
“Yes.”
“I hate that.”
“I know.”
Sofia laughed weakly.
Margaret reached across the table and squeezed her wrist.
After a while Sofia asked, “Did you know Evelyn tried to talk to me Friday?”
Margaret released her.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you let her?”
“I did not stop her.”
“You told her I was overwhelmed.”
“You were.”
“That was my decision.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that like it fixes things.”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“It doesn’t.”
Sofia waited.
Her mother looked down.
May you like
“I thought Evelyn was going to tell you something about Daniel’s business.”
“You didn’t ask?”
