Chương 7
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No,” Reyes said. “It isn’t.”
Laura swallowed.
“What would you do?”
“I don’t answer that question.”
“Of course.”
“If you choose to meet him, don’t go alone.”
Caroline offered to come.
Laura refused.
Instead she asked Evan.
He said no immediately.
Then changed his mind ten minutes later.
They drove in silence.
At a red light, Evan said, “I hate him.”
Laura looked at the signal.
“No, you don’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s only been two days.”
“So?”
“Hate that fast is usually fear.”
Evan stared out the window.
“You always explain everybody.”
It sounded like Mia.
Laura tightened her hands on the wheel.
“Apparently.”
The house looked normal.
That offended her.
Porch light on.
Sprinklers clicking across the lawn.
A package on the step.
One of Mia’s white sneakers still near the entry table from where it had been kicked off during the emergency.
Daniel opened the door before they knocked.
He looked older.
Not dramatically.
Just badly slept.
He saw Evan and disappointment crossed his face.
“I said Laura.”
“I’m not coming in alone.”
Daniel stepped aside.
The kitchen had been partially processed.
Several items were gone.
Evidence tape marked a lower cabinet.
The broken plate was gone, but faint white marks remained in the grout.
Daniel had not cleaned them.
He noticed Laura looking.
“They told me not to.”
“Good.”
“Laura.”
“What?”
“You sound like them.”
“Maybe answer like someone worth trusting.”
Evan stayed near the doorway.
Daniel looked at him.
“You’ve done enough.”
Evan’s face reddened.
“Don’t.”
“Both of you,” Laura said.
Daniel sat at the kitchen table.
Laura remained standing.
“You said you could explain the folder.”
Daniel rubbed one hand over his mouth.
“Mia has been having episodes.”
“We know.”
“No. You know what she told you.”
“What does that mean?”
“She told me she was blacking out.”
Laura looked at him.
“When?”
“Not fully blacking out. Losing time.”
“Mia didn’t say that.”
“Because she’s scared.”
“Of what?”
“That something is wrong with her.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to understand it first.”
Laura laughed without humor.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because every time something happens with the kids, you panic.”
“I panic?”
“You go straight to catastrophe.”
Evan made a sound.
Daniel looked at him.
“You’re not part of this conversation.”
“I am when you put stuff in her food.”
Daniel stood.
“I put an antacid in her food.”
“Sit down,” Laura said.
Daniel stared at her.
Then sat.
“What did the notebook say?” she asked.
He looked toward the hallway.
“What notebook?”
Evan said, “The one with Mia’s name.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“You went through my desk?”
“I saw it.”
“You had no business—”
“Answer me.”
Laura’s voice stopped him.
Daniel looked back at her.
“I was tracking her episodes.”
“Why secretly?”
“I wasn’t secretly doing anything.”
“You wrote down what happened after meals.”
“Yes.”
“Why meals?”
“Because that’s when it happened.”
“Did you tell her doctor?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted enough information first.”
“Enough for what?”
“To know whether it was real.”
Laura stared at him.
Daniel realized too late what he had said.
“Whether what was real?”
“Whether there was a pattern.”
“No. You said whether it was real.”
“I meant the pattern.”
“Mia was collapsing and you were trying to decide whether it was real?”
“She has anxiety.”
“That doesn’t make symptoms imaginary.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
Daniel pushed his chair back.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
Laura felt something sharpen.
“Explain that.”
“You’re making it emotional.”
“Our daughter was hospitalized.”
“And I’m trying to solve the problem.”
“By secretly drugging her?”
“I did not drug her.”
Evan said, “You crushed something.”
“Tums.”
“Where’s the bottle?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Police took it.”
Laura frowned.
“They told me they didn’t find one.”
“They took half the cabinet.”
“Which bottle?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember the brand?”
“No.”
“You buy the same antacids every month.”
Daniel stood again.
“Do you hear how ridiculous this is?”
“Yes,” Laura said.
He stared at her.
She continued.
“It’s ridiculous that a man who alphabetizes spices doesn’t remember what antacid he crushed into his daughter’s dinner.”
Silence.
Evan looked at his mother.
Daniel’s face changed.
Not guilt.
Calculation.
Laura recognized it now.
She wondered how many times she had mistaken calculation for patience.
“Tell me what was in the food,” she said.
Daniel’s shoulders dropped.
“You won’t believe me.”
“Try.”
He looked at Evan.
“Leave.”
“No.”
“Evan.”
“Say it in front of him.”
Daniel sat slowly.
“It was hydroxyzine.”
Laura stopped breathing for a moment.
Evan whispered, “What?”
Daniel held up a hand.
“She had taken it before.”
“Eight months ago,” Laura said.
“It was prescribed to her.”
“You put it in her food without telling her.”
“A small amount.”
“How much?”
“Half a tablet.”
“Why?”
“She hadn’t slept properly in days.”
“That medication was discontinued.”
“She discontinued it.”
“Because it made her feel awful.”
“It was still prescribed.”
“It was not yours to give secretly.”
“I know.”
The first admission startled Laura.
Daniel looked down.
“I know that.”
Evan said, “Why did you tell the cops it was antacid?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“Because everything happened too fast.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I panicked.”
“You looked pretty calm.”
“People panic differently.”
Laura almost admired the sentence.
It was true.
That made it dangerous.
“How many times?” she asked.
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“How many times did you put hydroxyzine in her food?”
He did not answer.
“How many?”
“Maybe three.”
Evan cursed.
Laura barely heard him.
“Three?”
“Not full doses.”
“You tracked her reaction.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I was trying to see if it helped.”
The room changed.
Laura had expected malice.
Poisoning.
Maybe something monstrous she could name.
Instead she found something almost worse because it had grown out of ordinary parental language.
Help.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
Daniel rubbed his hands together.
“She was getting worse.”
“So you experimented on her?”
May you like
“No.”
“You secretly gave her medication and recorded what happened afterward.”
