Chương 4
Rachel kicked it first.
Now Officer Patel was explaining that what came next would be slower than she wanted.
“We’ll need to establish what the items are, who handled them, and whether the tracker data can be recovered properly. The video matters, but it doesn’t identify him by itself.”
“The ring does.”
“The ring connects him to the glove.”
“The glove is in his case.”
“He says you had access to the case.”
“I didn’t.”
“I believe that’s your statement. I’m telling you what he’s going to argue.”
Rachel looked through the booth glass.
Sophie was arranging crackers into a row on Mara’s desk.
“What about what Sophie said?”
“That matters.”
“Then why are you talking like none of this is enough?”
“Because I don’t want to lie to you.”
The answer irritated her.
Then, inconveniently, she appreciated it.
Patel said, “We are not letting him leave with Sophie tonight.”
Rachel’s knees weakened so suddenly she placed one hand against the concrete pillar.
Patel pretended not to notice.
“Okay.”
“We’re also going to ask you to consent to an examination of the bear and your phone. And we’ll need the custody order.”
“I have it.”
“Good.”
“On my phone.”
“Good.”
“He has a copy too.”
“Probably.”
Rachel rubbed the heel of her hand against her forehead.
“What happens to him?”
“That depends on what the investigators establish.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I know.”
For the first time, Patel looked tired.
“He may be detained. He may be interviewed. He may be released pending further investigation. Family court and criminal investigation are different tracks. Your attorney needs to know tonight.”
Rachel’s stomach tightened.
Released.
The word was worse than she expected.
“What if he comes to the apartment?”
“Then you call immediately.”
“What if he doesn’t come to the door? What if he sits outside?”
“Call.”
“What if he uses someone else’s car?”
“Rachel.”
She looked at him.
“You do not have to solve every version of tonight right now.”
She almost laughed.
“That sounds nice.”
“It’s not advice. It’s logistics.”
That made her laugh once, quietly.
Inside the booth, Sophie looked up.
Rachel straightened and gave her a small wave.
Sophie waved back with a cracker.
Julie arrived wearing restaurant clothes and Rachel’s black boots.
For one absurd second Rachel stared at the salt stains.
Julie noticed.
“You’re looking at my feet?”
“I told you not to wear those in rain.”
Julie looked down.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I’m serious about everything tonight.”
“That’s apparently true.”
Then Julie saw the police vehicles.
The sarcasm left her face.
She went directly to Sophie and knelt.
“Hey, Bug.”
Sophie hugged her.
Julie’s eyes closed.
Over Sophie’s shoulder, she looked at Rachel.
The question was clear.
Rachel shook her head once.
Not now.
Ethan was placed in the back of an airport police vehicle at 11:18 P.M.
He was not handcuffed until he resisted surrendering his phone.
Rachel did not see the resistance. Mara blocked Sophie’s view and Rachel stayed beside her.
She heard Ethan’s voice rise once.
“That’s my property.”
Then another officer said something too low to hear.
Metal clicked.
Ethan fell silent.
At 11:31, Rachel’s phone rang.
Ethan’s mother.
Rachel stared at the name.
Julie leaned close.
“Don’t.”
Rachel answered.
“Hello.”
“What have you done?”
Not What happened.
Not Is Sophie okay.
What have you done.
Rachel stepped away from Sophie.
“Linda, I can’t talk right now.”
“He called me from the police station.”
“He’s not at the station yet.”
“He said you attacked his property and made some insane accusation in front of Sophie.”
Rachel looked at the cracked case on the wet floor.
“I kicked a case.”
“You kicked his case.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he was trying to grab it after Sophie told us he put a tracker in her teddy bear.”
Silence.
Then Linda said, “What tracker?”
Rachel almost explained.
She stopped.
There were years of marriage inside that reflex too: presenting evidence carefully enough that Ethan’s family would permit her to be upset.
“You need to ask him.”
“You’re her mother.”
“And he’s your son.”
Linda inhaled.
“You two have been poisoning that child against each other for months.”
Rachel’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“I have never told Sophie to be afraid of him.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You just said—”
“I said both of you have handled this terribly.”
There it was.
The comfortable symmetry.
Rachel glanced toward the booth, where Sophie was showing Julie the broken ceramic frog.
“Linda, I’m hanging up.”
“If you do something that keeps him from his daughter, you don’t get to pretend that’s harmless.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“He said they’d be gone before I woke up.”
This time the silence was different.
Longer.
“What?”
“Sophie said Ethan told her they’d be gone before I woke up.”
Linda’s breath came through the speaker.
Then, very quietly, “She misunderstood him.”
Rachel ended the call.
Julie was watching.
“What did she say?”
“The usual.”
“Want me to call her back?”
“No.”
“I can be extremely unpleasant.”
“I know.”
“Sometimes it’s useful.”
Rachel looked at her sister.
“That might be the nicest thing anyone has said to me tonight.”
Julie’s mouth bent.
“Your standards have collapsed.”
They left the garage after midnight.
Mara walked them to Julie’s car.
The rain had weakened to a fine mist. The concrete ramp shone under sodium lights, and airplanes moved beyond the terminal in slow, distant lines.
Sophie fell asleep before they reached the highway.
Her head tipped toward the window, purple backpack still looped around one arm.
Rachel sat beside her in the back seat.
Julie drove.
Nobody played music.
Halfway home, Julie said, “You can stay with me.”
“My apartment’s closer to school.”
“I don’t care.”
“I have work at seven.”
“You’re not going to work.”
“I have a staffing call.”
“Rachel.”
“We’re short two ramp coordinators tomorrow.”
Julie stared at her in the rearview mirror.
“Your husband may have been planning to take your child.”
“Estranged husband.”
May you like
“Great correction.”
Rachel looked out the window.
