Chương 9
“It’s not.”
“It feels like one.”
Claire looked at him.
Her bruises had yellowed at the edges. She wore no makeup.
“I need you to be my husband,” she said. “Not the guy checking whether I’ve had enough water every forty minutes.”
Ethan looked down at the sandwich.
“I don’t know what that means right now.”
“Neither do I.”
She took it from him.
“That’s kind of the point.”
They ate by the window.
For five minutes they talked about whether Owen should go back to school Monday.
It was the first conversation they had had in days that did not include police, pills, Ryan or money.
They disagreed.
Claire wanted him home another day.
Ethan thought routine might help.
Neither convinced the other.
It felt strangely good.
Then Rachel returned.
“We found something.”
The payment authorization records showed Ethan’s electronic approval on seven Northline transfers.
He stared at the screen.
“I did not approve those.”
Rachel asked, “Who had access to your credentials?”
“Nobody.”
Donna looked uncomfortable.
Ethan saw it.
“What?”
“You kept the password on the desk.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You wrote it under your keyboard.”
“That was years ago.”
“You changed it?”
He stopped.
Claire looked at him.
Ethan rubbed his face.
“Maybe not.”
Rachel asked, “Did Ryan have physical access to your office?”
“Every day.”
“Did your mother?”
“Sometimes.”
Claire said nothing.
That silence irritated him.
“What?”
She looked at him.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“Thinking what?”
“That I’m an idiot.”
Claire took a breath.
“I think you trusted people who expected to be trusted.”
“That’s a very polite way to say idiot.”
“Okay.”
A tiny pause.
“You were an idiot.”
Donna coughed to hide a laugh.
Even Rachel smiled.
Ethan did too.
It lasted seconds.
Then he looked again at his own name approving money he had never authorized.
The laugh disappeared.
Police interviewed Claire formally the following week.
They did not interview Ethan with her.
Owen met with a child advocacy specialist in a separate setting. Ethan and Claire were instructed not to ask him what he said afterward.
That was harder than either expected.
Owen came out holding a dinosaur sticker.
“How was it?” Ethan asked.
Claire looked at him sharply.
Ethan corrected himself.
“Did you like the sticker?”
Owen nodded.
In the car, he said, “Can we get pancakes?”
It was eleven in the morning.
They got pancakes.
Owen poured too much syrup and then complained they were too sweet.
Claire laughed.
Ethan watched her laugh and felt guilt rise so quickly it almost ruined the moment.
He looked away.
She noticed.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Turn everything good into evidence that something bad happened.”
He stared at the coffee cup.
“I’m working on it.”
“I know.”
Owen looked between them.
“Can I have your bacon?”
Ethan pushed the plate over.
Life, apparently, had no respect for timing.
Two days later, Ryan made his first move outside the criminal case.
Three employees received a message from him.
Ethan learned because one of them, Luis Hernandez, came into the shop holding his phone.
“You should see this.”
The message did not accuse Claire directly of lying.
It was smarter than that.
Ryan wrote that he was dealing with a “private family matter,” that misinformation was circulating, and that decisions were being made about Mercer Residential while emotions were high.
He asked employees not to make assumptions.
At the end he wrote:
Dad built this company on loyalty. I hope that still means something.
Ethan read it twice.
Luis watched him.
“What do you want us to do?”
Ethan put the phone down.
“Work.”
Luis frowned.
“That’s it?”
“What else?”
“I don’t know. People are talking.”
“About what?”
“The cops. Money.”
Ethan looked toward the warehouse.
“How many know about the money?”
Luis shrugged.
“Enough.”
Of course.
A contractor they used had called Ryan.
Ryan had talked.
Maybe Margaret had too.
Modern secrets were not secrets. They were delays.
Ethan gathered the twelve employees at three that afternoon.
He hated meetings.
His father had hated them too and usually ended each one by saying some version of, We’re wasting daylight.
Ethan stood beside a stack of drywall.
“There are financial records being reviewed.”
Faces changed.
He continued before anyone could interrupt.
“I’m not going to tell you everything’s fine because I don’t know that yet.”
Someone shifted.
“We can make payroll this week.”
That produced visible relief.
“After that, I’ll tell you what I actually know when I know it. Not rumors. Not family versions.”
Luis raised a hand halfway.
“Is Ryan coming back?”
Ethan looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
That answer surprised them.
They expected anger.
Maybe certainty.
Ethan had spent his life providing both.
One employee, Darren, said, “He says you’re freezing him out.”
“He’s currently under court restrictions related to an incident at my house.”
“Yeah, but did he steal?”
Ethan felt the entire group waiting.
“I don’t know enough to say that as a fact.”
Darren frowned.
“He says Claire’s making it look worse because you two were fighting.”
Ethan’s body went still.
Luis muttered, “Man.”
Darren raised both hands.
“I’m telling you what I heard.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Claire and I argue about the dishwasher, money, my hours and whether our son eats too much sugar.”
A few people smiled nervously.
“We were not separated. She did not fabricate her injuries. Beyond that, I’m not discussing my wife in this shop.”
Darren nodded.
The meeting ended badly.
Which Ethan later decided meant it had probably been real.
Three people stayed behind with questions he could not answer.
One wanted to know whether their health insurance was safe.
One asked about overtime.
Luis wanted to know if he should take another job offer he had received.
Ethan told him he would understand if he did.
Luis looked annoyed.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“What did you ask?”
“Should I?”
Ethan stared.
He wanted to say no.
May you like
He needed Luis.
Instead he said, “If they’re offering more stability and your family needs it, you should consider it.”
