Chương 5
“I didn’t.”
“Then you went into another room and called a corporate lawyer?”
“Robert isn’t a lawyer.”
“That makes it better?”
“No.”
She turned away.
Nathan spoke behind her.
“I panicked.”
Grace laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
“You panicked very efficiently.”
“I’m not proud of it.”
“You told a man who has spent fifteen years managing your family’s reputation that I’m pregnant by someone else.”
“I told him the pregnancy might not affect the succession provisions because I intended to remain the child’s parent.”
She turned back.
“You intended?”
His expression closed.
“I’m explaining what I said.”
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
“Yesterday morning you said you didn’t know what the rest was.”
“I didn’t.”
“But you knew enough to protect the company.”
He flinched.
That satisfied something mean in her.
She hated that satisfaction as soon as she felt it.
Nathan took a breath.
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“You nearly died twelve hours ago.”
“And somehow the thing that hurts right now is still this.”
Nathan looked at her for a long time.
“Okay.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m not going to tell you which part you’re allowed to be hurt by.”
Grace sat back down because standing had become exhausting.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
The refrigerator hummed.
A delivery truck stopped outside.
Someone across the street dragged a trash bin up a driveway.
Life continued with insulting competence.
Nathan finally said, “I’m sorry.”
Grace did not answer.
“I should have told you I called him.”
“Yes.”
“I shouldn’t have called him at all.”
She looked at the table.
“Yes.”
“And if he leaked it, I’ll deal with that.”
“No.”
Nathan frowned.
“No?”
“We will deal with it. You don’t get to become my bodyguard every time you feel guilty.”
He leaned back.
“That sounded like counseling.”
“I hate that I paid someone to teach me that sentence.”
He laughed once.
Grace did too.
Then neither knew what to do with the fact that they had laughed.
Three days later, Detective Ortiz called.
The forensic team had examined the gate.
The mechanism was old but functional.
The decorative section could not swing outward on its own unless both the upper latch and the concealed brass release were disengaged.
The upper latch had been left unsecured.
The brass release had been pulled.
“Can you tell who pulled it?” Grace asked.
“Not from the mechanism alone.”
“Fingerprints?”
“Several.”
“Evelyn’s?”
Ortiz paused.
“It’s her house.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“Right.”
“There’s more.”
A security camera in the foyer had captured part of the balcony. The angle did not show the release itself. It showed Evelyn’s right arm move behind the railing immediately before the gate opened.
It also showed Grace grabbing her sleeve.
Then Evelyn’s arm pulling back.
The camera had no audio.
“Why not?”
“Privacy setting. The home system records video in common areas without sound.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
He was sitting across from her at the table.
The same table.
They had begun to hate it.
Ortiz said, “We also interviewed the housekeeper.”
“Maya.”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she saw Mrs. Blackwood touch the railing before it opened.”
“Touch it?”
“That’s the language she used.”
Grace felt something sink.
“Did she hear what Evelyn said to me?”
“She heard voices. Not the words.”
Nathan leaned toward the phone.
“Why is she minimizing it?”
Ortiz heard him.
“She’s scared.”
“Of my mother?”
“I’m not going to characterize a witness’s state of mind for you.”
Nathan sat back.
Ortiz continued.
“There was a maintenance note from six weeks ago about looseness in the upper latch.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
He closed his eyes.
“So Evelyn can say it was an accident.”
“She can say whatever she wants.”
“Is that enough?”
“For what?”
“To arrest her.”
Ortiz paused.
“We’re still investigating.”
Grace thanked her.
After the call, Nathan stood and walked to the sink.
He had stopped wearing the sling that morning despite instructions.
Grace had stopped telling him to put it back on.
“You’re angry at Maya,” she said.
“No.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m angry at everyone.”
“That includes Maya.”
He turned on the faucet even though there were no dishes.
“She saw it.”
“She works for your mother.”
“So?”
“So your mother controls her paycheck, her housing, her health insurance, and whether she has a job next week.”
“Maya has savings.”
Grace stared at him.
Nathan shut off the water.
“Okay. That was stupid.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve known her for eight years.”
“You’ve known her as someone who brings coffee into rooms you own.”
His face hardened.
“I don’t own every room.”
Grace raised an eyebrow.
He looked down.
“Fine.”
She got up carefully.
“I’m going to lie down.”
“Grace.”
“What?”
“I am trying.”
“I know.”
“That sounded like you don’t believe me.”
“It sounded like I’m tired.”
He stepped toward her.
She waited.
“I’ll call Maya.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because right now a call from you sounds like the owner’s son asking a frightened employee to help put his mother in prison.”
Nathan’s face went still.
“Then what do I do?”
“Nothing.”
He looked genuinely lost.
Grace almost felt sorry for him.
“Sometimes nothing is the thing you’re supposed to do.”
He hated that answer.
She could tell.
He did it anyway.
Two days later, Maya called Grace.
Not Nathan.
Grace was lying on the couch with a pillow wedged under her side. A home blood-pressure cuff sat on the coffee table because the obstetrician had asked her to monitor herself after two elevated readings.
Maya’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Can I come see you?”
Grace sat up.
“Of course.”
“Is Mr. Miller there?”
“Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“He’s at the office.”
A pause.
“Okay.”
“Do you want him not to be here?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Grace said, “Okay.”
Maya arrived forty minutes later carrying a grocery bag.
May you like
Inside were soup, crackers, oranges, and a loaf of bread.
“You didn’t have to bring anything.”
