Chương 2
She had changed the guest-room furniture because the mattress Claire chose was “too soft for recovery.”
She had dismissed Claire’s request to spend the first two weeks after the birth at their own house because contractors were still fixing a burst pipe in the downstairs ceiling.
Temporary, Daniel had promised.
Just until the repairs were finished.
Margaret’s mansion had seemed like the easiest option.
There were extra bedrooms. Staff during the day. A huge kitchen. A driver if Claire needed help getting to appointments. Margaret lived alone except for a housekeeper who left by six.
Daniel had called it practical.
Claire had called it too much.
He had won.
Now his wife had a handprint rising on her face.
Daniel dialed 911.
Margaret’s voice sharpened.
“Do not do this.”
He kept his eyes on her as the call connected.
The dispatcher answered.
Daniel gave the address.
Margaret picked up her wine.
“Mom.”
She paused.
“Put it down.”
“What, you think I’m going to throw it?”
“I don’t know what you’re going to do.”
That landed.
Margaret’s expression changed slowly, as though Daniel had stepped through some invisible line between them.
He had disappointed her before. He had defied her occasionally. He had moved out at twenty-three, refused the law school she preferred, married Claire in a small church instead of the cathedral Margaret wanted.
But he had never looked at her as though she might be dangerous.
Margaret set the glass down.
This time gently.
By the time the first patrol car came through the gates, Claire was sitting at the far end of the living room with both hands around a glass of water she had not touched.
Daniel stood near her holding Noah.
Margaret remained in the kitchen.
She had called her attorney.
Daniel could tell because he heard the name Richard twice.
Of course Richard.
Richard Ames had handled Margaret’s business disputes, property disputes, estate revisions, and one memorable fight with a neighbor about a line of cypress trees.
Daniel had known him since college.
The thought of Richard entering this made something cold settle in his stomach.
Two officers came inside.
A man in his forties and a younger woman.
The male officer began speaking to Daniel while the woman approached Claire.
Margaret interrupted before anyone had asked her a question.
“My attorney is on his way.”
The male officer nodded.
“That’s fine, ma’am.”
“I’d prefer to wait.”
“You can.”
“I’m not answering questions.”
“That’s also fine.”
Margaret seemed faintly irritated that he was not intimidated.
Daniel explained what he had seen.
The officer asked to see the phone.
Daniel handed it over.
The officer watched the short recording twice.
Then he asked, “Is there more?”
“It cuts there.”
“Do you own the security system?”
“My mother owns the house. I have administrator access.”
Margaret spoke from the kitchen.
“He had administrator access.”
The officer looked at her.
She said nothing else.
Daniel turned.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret picked up her phone.
“Ask your police officer.”
“Mom.”
Her attorney arrived twenty-three minutes later.
Richard entered without hurrying, wearing a gray suit and carrying no briefcase. He looked older than Daniel remembered, though perhaps the afternoon had simply changed how Daniel looked at people.
Richard saw Claire’s face first.
His eyes paused there.
Then they moved to Margaret.
Something unspoken passed between them.
Daniel noticed that too.
Margaret had always complained that Claire noticed too much.
Now Daniel wondered how often he had noticed too little.
The female officer took Claire into the dining room.
Daniel watched them disappear through the doorway.
He wanted to go with her.
The male officer stopped him.
“Let her speak alone.”
Daniel nodded.
Noah made a faint snuffling sound against his chest.
Richard approached.
“Daniel.”
“Not now.”
“I’m not here to fight with you.”
“You’re her lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“So you’re here to fight with me.”
Richard glanced toward the officer.
“Your mother believes this situation is being misunderstood.”
“My wife’s face is swollen.”
“I can see that.”
“She says my mother hit her.”
“I heard.”
“And the camera—”
“I would strongly suggest you stop discussing evidence casually in a room full of people.”
Daniel almost laughed.
It was such a Richard sentence.
Precise. Correct. Completely bloodless.
“You knew,” Daniel said.
Richard’s expression remained still.
“Knew what?”
Daniel searched his face.
He did not know why he had asked.
Something about Richard’s arrival. Something about Margaret calling him before the police even reached the gate. Something about the easy way Margaret had said Claire was unstable.
Not angry.
Unstable.
A prepared word.
Richard lowered his voice.
“You’re holding a nine-day-old child in the middle of an extremely emotional event. Keep your attention where it belongs.”
Daniel looked down at Noah.
The baby’s mouth opened in sleep.
A tiny fist pressed against the blanket.
For one disorienting second Daniel wanted his mother.
Not the woman ten yards away with an attorney beside her.
His mother from twenty-five years earlier, standing in a school office after he split his chin on a playground bench. The woman who had pushed through everyone, knelt in front of him and said, Let me see you.
The memory came so suddenly that he almost hated himself for it.
He looked back at Margaret.
She was watching him.
She must have known that face.
She had known all his faces first.
Claire emerged from the dining room forty minutes later.
Her eyes were swollen but dry.
The female officer asked whether she wanted medical attention.
Claire said no.
Then she looked at Noah.
“Actually, I want him checked.”
Daniel nodded immediately.
Margaret stepped away from the counter.
“He’s fine.”
Claire turned toward her.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
It was the strongest her voice had sounded since Daniel came into the kitchen.
Margaret’s lips pressed together.
The officers asked Claire whether she had somewhere else to stay that night.
Daniel answered before she did.
“Yes.”
Claire looked at him.
May you like
They did not.
Their house was technically livable upstairs, but the kitchen ceiling had been opened after water damage, contractors had plastic barriers through the first floor, and there were industrial fans running.
