Chương 12
Nora watched the reflection of her sister’s face in the glass.
“I wanted to push her too,” Nora said.
Maya did not turn. “You weren’t there.”
“I’ve met her mother.”
That earned the smallest twitch at the corner of Maya’s mouth.
Nora continued. “You’re still grounded.”
“For how long?”
“Until I stop wanting to push people.”
“That could be years.”
“Then choose your friends carefully.”
Maya leaned her head against the window. After a moment, she asked, “Did Cade push someone?”
Nora looked at her. “Why?”
“He has those scars.”
“He said he broke a man’s jaw when he was nineteen.”
“Why?”
“To help his mother.”
“Did it work?”
“Not immediately.”
Maya considered that.
“Is he bad?”
Nora watched wet streets pass beyond the glass.
“I don’t know.”
“You said he was dangerous.”
“I said what he did was dangerous.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“No.”
“Do you like him?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly enough to make Maya look over.
Nora corrected herself. “I don’t trust him.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“You’re grounded from questions.”
“That’s not a thing.”
“It is now.”
The first full hearing was postponed because the guardian ad litem requested more time.
Then it was postponed again when Harker withdrew as Miriam’s attorney.
He claimed a conflict had developed. Mr. Patel suspected the conflict involved the payment to Owen and Harker’s potential financial interest in the medical claim.
Miriam hired someone else.
Sofia Moreno provided certified copies of Lillian’s messages and testified about chain of custody. Cade was scheduled for a deposition.
Nora did not see him for nineteen days.
She noticed his absence at Rosie’s before she admitted she was noticing.
The corner booth remained empty beneath the burned-out light. Rosie refused to replace the fixture because an electrician had quoted two hundred dollars.
“It makes the booth look haunted,” Maya said one evening while waiting for Nora’s shift to end.
“It is haunted.”
“By Booth Guy?”
“By unpaid invoices.”
A customer at the counter glanced at them.
Maya lowered her voice. “Is he coming back?”
“He said he wouldn’t.”
“You told him not to.”
“Yes.”
Maya stirred whipped cream into a hot chocolate until it turned gray. “Mom told him to watch us.”
“She told him to watch the people around us.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
“It kind of is.”
Nora placed a slice of pie in the display case. “He crossed a line.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
“Did he hurt us?”
Nora looked at her sister.
Maya added, “I’m not saying he didn’t. I’m asking.”
“He scared me into thinking marriage was the only way to keep you.”
“Did you believe him?”
“For about ten seconds.”
“That’s bad.”
“Yes.”
“But then you didn’t marry him.”
“No.”
“And he still gave us the evidence.”
“Yes.”
Maya scraped her spoon against the mug. “Owen would have taken the evidence.”
Nora had no answer.
At the deposition, Cade wore a dark blue suit and no tie.
Nora attended because Mr. Patel thought she should hear what he said before deciding whether to rely on him at the final hearing.
Miriam’s new attorney questioned him for three hours.
Cade admitted that Lillian had never signed a formal contract.
He admitted using investigators to observe Harker, Miriam, and later Owen.
He admitted obtaining financial information through a lender’s compliance officer who had previously worked for his company.
He denied paying anyone for protected records.
He admitted sitting in Rosie’s Diner regularly after Lillian’s death.
“Why?” the attorney asked.
“To observe Nora’s routine and identify contact from known parties.”
“Every week for nine months?”
“Yes.”
“Did you develop a personal interest in Ms. Callahan?”
“Yes.”
Nora stared at the legal pad in front of her.
The attorney glanced toward her. “Romantic interest?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I can’t assign a date.”
“Before or after Ms. Callahan’s mother died?”
Cade’s expression hardened. “After.”
“Did you tell Ms. Callahan?”
“No.”
“Did you ask her on a date?”
“No.”
“Did you speak with her socially?”
“No.”
“But you obtained enough private information to prepare a marriage-license application.”
“Yes.”
“Did Ms. Callahan authorize you to do that?”
“No.”
“Did she consent to marry you?”
“No.”
“Yet you presented yourself as her future husband.”
“Yes.”
Miriam’s attorney leaned back.
“Mr. Moreno, would you describe your conduct as rational?”
Cade looked at Nora.
“No.”
The attorney seemed disappointed.
“Obsessive?”
“At times.”
“Controlling?”
“Yes.”
Mr. Patel shifted beside Nora.
Cade continued before the next question. “Those descriptions do not invalidate the evidence concerning Ms. Vale. They describe my conduct toward Nora, for which she owes me nothing.”
Nora’s pencil stopped.
The attorney tried to make him elaborate. Cade refused to soften or excuse himself. He answered each question with the same precision he had used in the diner, but without performing certainty.
During a break, Nora found him alone near a vending machine.
He bought a package of crackers. The machine trapped it against the glass.
He pressed the selection again.
A second package fell and remained lodged on top of the first.
Nora watched from several feet away.
“You could shake it,” she said.
“That would be theft.”
“You admitted unauthorized surveillance an hour ago.”
“I contain contradictions.”
She almost laughed.
Cade inserted more money.
A third package freed all three.
He picked them up and offered one to her.
“No.”
He nodded and put it back.
Nora crossed her arms. “Why did you say controlling?”
“Because it was accurate.”
“You could have said misguided.”
“That would have been comfortable.”
“You don’t seem concerned with comfort.”
“I filled out marriage paperwork for a woman who didn’t know my name. I was very concerned with my own comfort.”
She frowned.
“I built a situation where I could act,” he said, “instead of risking a conversation where you could reject me.”
“That is not comfort.”
May you like
“It is control. For me, they’ve often been the same.”
People passed at the end of the hallway. A court reporter laughed at something on her phone. Somewhere, a copier began producing pages in steady mechanical bursts.
