Chương 12
He said yes.
At their house, he checked every lock twice.
Then a third time.
Sophie watched.
“You said twice is enough.”
He stopped.
Rachel had teased him about checking locks.
“Tonight gets three.”
“Okay.”
He made pasta.
Burned the sauce.
Ordered pizza.
Sophie ate on the living-room floor.
For half an hour they watched a wildlife documentary about octopuses.
Daniel learned that an octopus had three hearts.
Sophie said that seemed excessive.
He agreed.
The doorbell rang.
Both froze.
Daniel checked the camera.
Victoria stood outside.
He almost left her there.
Then Sophie said, “She saved me.”
Daniel opened the door.
Victoria held a cardboard box.
“No umbrella?” he asked.
“It isn’t raining.”
He almost smiled.
She noticed.
Neither acknowledged it.
“What’s in the box?”
“Things I should have given you years ago.”
Daniel let her inside.
Sophie remained on the floor.
Victoria looked at her.
“Hello, Sophie.”
“Hi.”
A pause.
“Are you mad I kicked you?”
Victoria considered.
“No.”
“I bit you too.”
“Yes.”
“Sorry.”
“You were frightened.”
Sophie nodded.
“I still shouldn't bite.”
“No.”
Daniel looked between them.
“Great. We’ve resolved biting.”
Sophie returned to the octopus.
Victoria placed the box on the dining table.
Inside were letters.
Linda’s letters.
Some to Victoria.
Some never sent.
Daniel sat.
He read one.
Then another.
His mother’s voice returned in fragments.
Jack is charming again, which usually means we’re in trouble.
Danny refuses to eat peas unless I call them green baseballs. I don't understand why that works.
I am afraid I have waited too long.
Daniel stopped.
Victoria stood near the window.
“Why keep these?”
“I couldn't throw them away.”
“Why not give them to me?”
“Cowardice.”
He looked at her.
Again, no excuse.
It made anger difficult without making forgiveness easier.
“Did you love her?”
Victoria's eyes lifted.
“As a friend.”
Daniel waited.
Victoria looked back toward the window.
“Maybe more than I understood then.”
That was all.
Enough.
Sophie had fallen asleep before the documentary ended.
Daniel carried her upstairs.
When he returned, Victoria was reading one of Linda’s letters.
“Martin knows you were with her that night.”
“Yes.”
“He thinks you know who killed her.”
“Yes.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“Does he believe you?”
“No.”
Daniel sat opposite her.
“Who broke into Melissa’s house?”
“I don't know.”
“Who knew about Rachel’s laptop?”
Victoria thought.
“Rachel. Melissa. Me.”
“Martin?”
“Possibly.”
“Anyone else?”
“Her oncologist may have seen it. Nurses. You.”
Daniel frowned.
“I didn’t know Melissa had it.”
“No. But you used it once.”
“When?”
“At the hospital.”
He remembered.
Rachel’s laptop had died. He used an older one from home to answer messages.
“Was anything on it then?”
“I don’t know.”
Victoria folded her hands.
“Daniel, there is something else.”
He waited.
“Rachel had been communicating with Martin during her final month.”
His anger came instantly.
“What?”
“She didn’t tell me until the end.”
“Why?”
“She thought she could convince him to give up whatever original records he still held.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“What did he want?”
“To meet Sophie.”
Daniel stood.
“No.”
“She refused.”
“Why would he want to meet my daughter?”
“He said he wanted to see whether Jack had left anything good behind.”
Daniel stared.
“That is not normal.”
“No.”
“And Rachel kept talking to him?”
“She was trying to keep him calm.”
“Why didn't she tell police?”
“He had not made a direct threat.”
“That doesn't matter.”
“It mattered to her.”
Daniel paced.
“She was dying and negotiating with a man obsessed with my family.”
“Yes.”
“And you let her?”
Victoria’s face changed.
“Do not make the mistake of imagining Rachel was someone I could let do anything.”
Daniel stopped.
That was true.
Painfully true.
Victoria continued.
“She believed Martin’s anger was partly justified.”
“Toward my father.”
“Yes.”
“Not toward Sophie.”
“No.”
“She was trying to separate the two.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel sat.
“Did she succeed?”
Victoria looked at him.
“I thought so.”
The next break came from something embarrassingly ordinary.
A parking invoice.
Ruiz called the following afternoon.
The hotel’s automated garage system had recorded every license plate entering during the charity event.
Martin had not driven in.
He arrived on foot.
But another vehicle entered seventeen minutes before Sophie was approached.
Registered to a company Daniel recognized.
Densmore Holdings.
Paul.
Daniel stared at his phone.
“No.”
“Do not call him.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“Good.”
He had been.
Ruiz continued.
“Paul says his son borrowed the vehicle.”
“Does he have a son?”
“Yes. Evan Densmore. Thirty-two.”
Daniel knew Evan.
Everyone did.
Evan had worked at Carter Development for nine months before Daniel fired him for approving payments to a subcontractor owned by a friend.
Paul had never forgiven Daniel completely.
Neither had Evan.
“Where is he?”
“His attorney says he’ll come in tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“He has rights.”
Daniel walked to the window.
“What does this have to do with Martin?”
“We’re figuring that out.”
Daniel remembered the board meeting.
Paul pushing hardest for him to step aside.
That did not prove anything.
It meant something.
Maybe.
He called Rebecca instead.
“Pull every record involving Evan Densmore.”
“Why?”
“Police found something.”
“What?”
“I can’t say yet.”
A pause.
“Daniel, you're on leave.”
“I know.”
“Then don't direct an internal investigation.”
He almost snapped at her.
Stopped.
“What can I legally do?”
“Tell me what police authorized you to disclose.”
So he did.
Rebecca took over.
That night, Paul called.
Daniel did not answer.
Paul called again.
Then sent a message.
You think Evan took Sophie. He didn’t.
Daniel forwarded it to Ruiz.
Then he sat on his hands.
Literally.
Sophie walked in.
“Why are you sitting like that?”
“To stop myself doing something stupid.”
“Does it work?”
“Not usually.”
She considered.
“Can I have ice cream?”
“No.”
“See? It works.”
He laughed.
For thirty seconds, the world was small enough to survive.
The next morning Evan Densmore did not appear for his interview.
His attorney could not reach him.
His apartment was empty.
May you like
His phone was off.
The vehicle recorded at the hotel was found at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
