Chương 13
“It was.”
Lily was awake.
The old phone was gone. In its place sat a plastic cup of apple juice, a stack of legal documents, and the wrong paperback mystery.
Daniel entered with Nora behind him.
Lily looked at the blood on his collar.
“What happened?”
“Wall.”
Nora said, “A wall shot at him.”
Daniel glanced back.
“Transparency,” Nora said.
Lily tried to smile and winced.
Daniel sat beside the bed.
“They arrested Sutter,” he said.
“I heard.”
“They arrested Brandon’s mother too.”
“I heard.”
“The three boys remain in custody.”
“I know.”
He looked at the legal documents. “What are those?”
“Hospital forms. Detective Bell’s victim statement. A lawyer’s card.”
“Which lawyer?”
“One she recommended.”
Nora said, “Independent victims’ counsel. Not connected to the hospital or university.”
Daniel nodded.
Lily watched him. “Did you tell them everything?”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Enough for them to charge me.”
Her eyes closed briefly.
Nora stepped toward the door. “I’ll be outside.”
When she left, Daniel and Lily listened to the hospital.
Wheels rolled along the corridor. Someone laughed near the nurses’ station. A meal cart rattled over a threshold. The monitor beside Lily gave its patient, repetitive beep.
Daniel rested his hands on his knees.
“I thought I could separate you from what I was,” he said.
“You couldn’t.”
“No.”
“Did Mom forgive you?”
“Sometimes.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It is the only true one.”
Lily looked at the ceiling. “I’m angry at her.”
“She was afraid.”
“She stayed.”
“Yes.”
“She let me grow up with you.”
“Yes.”
Lily’s eyes moved toward him. “Was that a mistake?”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“I don’t know.”
She turned away.
He accepted the pain of it without defending himself.
After a while, she said, “I don’t think it was.”
Daniel looked down at his hands.
“But I don’t know either,” she added.
“That’s fair.”
“I hate when you say that.”
“I know.”
“You say it when you can’t fix something.”
“Yes.”
A nurse entered to check Lily’s medication. Daniel stood aside. The nurse asked Lily to rate her pain, adjusted the IV, and complained that someone had taken every working pen from the station.
Daniel handed her one from his coat.
She clicked it twice. “This one barely works.”
“It belonged to a federal agent.”
“That explains it.”
When the nurse left, Lily said, “Was that a joke?”
“No.”
“You’re getting worse at lying.”
“That would be useful.”
She looked at the whiteboard.
“Will you go to prison?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Years?”
“Yes.”
Her breathing grew shallow.
Daniel moved toward her, then stopped when she lifted a hand.
“I’m not asking you to comfort me,” she said.
He remained where he was.
“I’m trying to understand what tomorrow looks like.”
“Tomorrow, doctors examine your jaw again. The university contacts your attorney. Police continue the case. I meet prosecutors.”
“And after that?”
“I may be released while they investigate. I may be detained.”
“You’ll run if they release you?”
“No.”
“How do I know?”
“You don’t.”
She looked at him for a long time.
“Promise.”
Daniel had avoided promises after Evelyn died. He believed they converted uncertainty into betrayal.
Lily waited.
“I promise I will not run.”
She nodded once.
He sat again.
At noon, federal agents arrested Marcus Vale in the hospital parking garage.
Daniel learned when Leah returned with an amended interview schedule. Marcus faced charges for illegal access to financial systems, obstruction, and crimes documented in the ledger. His attorney secured release pending a detention hearing because Marcus had voluntarily delivered the second component.
He did not call Daniel.
Three days later, Lily left Mercy General through a service entrance.
She wore loose clothes Nora purchased because the sweatshirt had remained in evidence. A scarf covered part of the head bandage. Daniel walked beside her while two officers kept reporters away from the vehicle.
Questions followed them across the loading area.
“Lily, did your father order the attack?”
“Mr. Walker, are you The Ghost?”
“Did St. Aldwyn conceal evidence?”
“Will you testify against Graham Sutter?”
Daniel opened the rear door of the unmarked sedan.
Lily stopped.
The reporters leaned against the barrier.
She turned toward them.
Daniel said quietly, “You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
Her jaw brace made speaking painful, and her lawyer had advised silence. Lily looked at the cameras anyway.
“I was attacked,” she said carefully. “The men accused of hurting me are responsible for their choices. My father is responsible for his. I will not be used to excuse any of them.”
The loading area went still.
Then the questions multiplied.
Lily got into the car.
Daniel closed the door and walked around to the other side.
Inside, she pressed a cold pack to her face.
“That was unwise,” he said.
“I learned from you.”
“You learned the wrong things quickly.”
“Maybe you taught them well.”
He looked out the window.
She leaned back against the seat. “Was it bad?”
“No.”
“Was it good?”
“It was yours.”
That answer satisfied her enough to close her eyes.
They did not return home.
Federal marshals placed Lily in a protected apartment while prosecutors assessed threats connected to the ledger. Daniel stayed in a separate unit downstairs under electronic monitoring. Agents searched both apartments before they entered. The furniture was government issue: brown couch, square table, lamps designed by someone who distrusted color.
Lily complained about the mattress.
Daniel adjusted the bedframe twice and discovered the noise came from a loose vent cover.
He repaired that too.
“You know you’re allowed to leave some things broken,” Lily said from the doorway.
“No.”
She returned to the couch.
Recovery arrived in irritating increments. Swelling decreased. Bruises turned yellow, then faded. The head bandage came off. Doctors loosened the jaw support enough for soft food. Lily discovered she hated tomato soup after eating it four days in a row.
May you like
She slept badly.
Some nights Daniel heard her pacing above him. He did not go upstairs because the marshals had forbidden unapproved contact between units after ten. He sat beneath the sound and counted her steps.
