Chương 4
Richard stared.
“The hospital where?”
“Danbury.”
“That’s impossible. We called every hospital.”
“You called looking for Elena Vale.”
Richard did not understand.
Elena turned toward Victoria.
“She had my bag.”
Richard looked at Victoria.
“Why?”
Victoria’s voice came out almost inaudible.
“I found it.”
“Where?”
“At the crash.”
“You were there.”
Silence.
Richard’s face seemed to drain of color.
“You were at the crash.”
Victoria pushed away from the drinks cart.
“I called 911.”
“You told me you were home.”
“I panicked.”
“Why would you panic if you found an accident?”
Victoria said nothing.
Richard’s voice rose for the first time.
“Why?”
Mara touched his arm.
“Sir.”
He stepped away from her automatically.
Victoria’s breath trembled.
“Because I knew how it would look.”
Elena gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“There it is.”
Richard turned back to Elena.
“Why didn’t the hospital know who you were?”
“I didn’t have identification. Celia’s wallet was in my jacket pocket because she’d asked me to hold it when we stopped for gas.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“And the dead woman?”
“Had my coat, my bracelet, and my phone.”
The train seemed suddenly too warm.
Richard pulled at the neck of his cream cashmere sweater.
“The bracelet.”
Elena nodded.
“The silver one Mom gave me.”
Richard sat.
At the funeral he had been shown a clear plastic evidence bag containing a blackened silver bracelet.
He had identified it.
So had Victoria.
“That wasn’t enough for the medical examiner,” he said.
“No.”
Elena’s gaze moved to Victoria.
“She identified Celia as me.”
Richard’s head turned slowly.
Victoria’s lips parted.
“She was burned badly,” Elena said. “Her face was injured. Celia and I were the same height. Same build. They had my phone. My jewelry. My coat. Victoria told them it was me.”
“No,” Victoria said.
Elena continued.
“You told them I had a dental bridge.”
Richard frowned.
Elena touched the back of one upper tooth.
“I didn’t.”
Victoria looked at her.
“That mistake should have stopped the identification. Instead you told them my dentist had retired and the records were delayed.”
Richard’s stare sharpened.
“How do you know that?”
“Naomi got the old case file.”
Victoria’s fear returned.
This time she could not hide it.
Elena said, “The identification was provisional for two days. Then you signed the release for cremation.”
Richard recoiled as though she had struck him.
“I signed what they put in front of me.”
“I know.”
“I was told it was you.”
“I know.”
Richard looked at Victoria.
“I was told you had made the identification.”
Victoria’s eyes filled.
She blinked the tears away angrily.
“You were in pieces. Somebody had to do it.”
“You identified the wrong woman.”
“I thought it was her.”
Elena leaned forward despite Kemp telling her not to.
“No, you didn’t.”
Victoria looked at her.
Elena’s voice dropped.
“You came to my hospital room.”
Richard went motionless.
Mara looked between them.
Elena’s breathing had become shallow.
“Two days after the crash. I had a concussion. Three broken ribs. My left shoulder was dislocated. They had me registered as Cecilia Hart because her wallet was with me and I was confused when I came in.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“You were conscious?”
“On and off.”
“And Victoria found you.”
“Yes.”
Richard turned to his older daughter.
“You found her.”
Victoria did not answer.
“Say it.”
Her eyes moved to Elena.
“I found her.”
The lounge went silent except for the storm.
Richard stood.
For a moment Mara thought he might hit Victoria.
Instead he walked to the window.
He placed both hands against the brass rail beneath it and stared into the black mountains.
Twelve years collapsed into one ugly fact.
He had buried one daughter while the other knew she was alive.
Behind him Elena said, “She told me Celia was dead.”
Victoria whispered, “She was.”
“She told me I had caused it.”
Richard turned.
Victoria’s face twisted.
“You were fighting in the car.”
“No.”
“You were distracting her.”
“No.”
“You told me you grabbed the wheel.”
Elena stared at her.
“You told me that.”
Richard looked from one to the other.
Elena pressed the ice to her forehead.
“My memory was broken. I had pieces, not a sequence. Victoria told me the police thought I was driving. She said Celia’s parents wanted charges. She said you were trying to keep me out of prison but you couldn’t do it if I came home.”
“That is not true,” Richard said.
“I know that now.”
“Why did you believe her?”
The question came out harsher than he intended.
Elena flinched.
Richard closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at him for several seconds.
“Because I was twenty,” she said. “Because my best friend was dead. Because I couldn’t remember the crash. Because I woke up with somebody else’s name on my wristband and Victoria sitting beside my bed telling me you were furious.”
Richard’s face changed.
“She said you blamed me.”
“I never—”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I know now.”
He turned away again.
The distinction was unbearable.
Elena went on.
“She said she could get me somewhere safe while your lawyers handled things. She had a friend drive me to a motel in Pennsylvania when the hospital discharged me. I had a sling, eighty dollars, and Celia’s old backpack.”
Mara said softly, “You left the hospital without contacting your father?”
Elena looked at her.
“Victoria brought discharge clothes. She told the staff my family situation was unsafe.”
Victoria said, “You said you didn’t want to go home.”
“I had a head injury.”
“You knew who you were.”
“Sometimes.”
“Elena—”
“Stop correcting my memory.”
Victoria froze.
The words landed differently from the accusations.
For the first time, Victoria seemed ashamed.
Richard said, “What happened at the motel?”
Elena rubbed her thumb over the edge of her phone.
“She came the next morning with cash and a prepaid phone. She said Dad had decided I needed to disappear for a while.”
May you like
Richard whispered, “Jesus Christ.”
“She said if anybody found out the dead woman was Celia, I’d be arrested for her death and for leaving the scene.”
