Chương 10
Priya’s expression softened.
“You don’t have to enjoy the process for it to matter.”
Claire looked at Nathan.
He was staring at the wall.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t do that.”
He looked at her.
“I remember that night.”
“So?”
“You were crying.”
Claire stiffened.
Priya waited.
Nathan continued carefully.
“You said you wanted to leave.”
“For two days.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell her?”
He looked away.
Claire stood.
“Did you tell your mother?”
“Yes.”
The room went still.
“When?”
“The next morning.”
“Why?”
“I was scared.”
“Of me?”
“For you.”
“Do not use that sentence.”
He flinched.
“I didn’t know what was normal. You hadn’t slept. You said you wanted to disappear.”
“I wanted a hotel.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
“I knew what you said. I didn’t know what you meant.”
Claire felt heat rise in her face.
“So you called your mother.”
“Yes.”
“And told her I wanted to leave.”
“I told her you were exhausted and I didn’t know how to help.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I told her what you said.”
Claire picked up her bag.
Priya said, “Claire.”
“I’m done today.”
She left.
Nathan did not follow.
For once, he got that part right.
Claire drove to Megan’s rental house because she did not want to go home.
She sat in the driveway for ten minutes before going inside.
Megan opened the door wearing a face mask and holding a bowl of cereal.
“You look homicidal.”
“Great.”
“Come in.”
Claire handed her Rose.
“I need to hate my husband for an hour.”
“Only an hour?”
“Start the clock.”
Megan took the baby.
Claire sat at the kitchen table.
“He told Evelyn I wanted to disappear.”
Megan stopped.
“When?”
“Before all this.”
“Why?”
“Because I said I wanted to go to a hotel for two days.”
Megan frowned.
“That sounds like you.”
“Thank you.”
“No, I mean you say dramatic things when you’re tired.”
“I said I wanted room service.”
“Also sounds like you.”
Claire put her forehead on the table.
Megan sat across from her.
“Do you think he told her because he wanted her to take Rose?”
“No.”
“Do you think he was scared?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he should have talked to you instead?”
“Yes.”
“Then hate the right thing.”
Claire lifted her head.
“When did you become useful?”
“Tuesday.”
Claire laughed despite herself.
Later she drove home.
Nathan was in the kitchen fixing the stuck drawer.
Of course.
He had removed the whole drawer and set it on a towel.
Claire stood in the doorway.
“You’re doing that now?”
He looked up.
“It was bothering me.”
“For three months?”
“Yes.”
She walked to the island.
He sat back on his heels.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“No, I mean specifically. I made your worst night into information for someone else because I was afraid to admit I didn’t know how to help you.”
Claire folded her arms.
He continued.
“I thought my mother knew things because she sounded certain.”
That landed.
Evelyn always sounded certain.
Nathan looked at the drawer slide.
“I have confused certainty with competence my whole life.”
Claire sat.
“She used what you told her.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to have to answer questions about it.”
“Yes.”
“I may hate you again during that.”
“That seems fair.”
“Don’t say fair.”
“Right.”
He picked up the screwdriver.
Claire watched him work.
After a minute she said, “You’re putting the rail on backward.”
Nathan stopped.
Looked.
Swore softly.
Claire laughed.
He started over.
At the hearing, Evelyn wore navy instead of burgundy.
Claire noticed because she had spent years watching Evelyn dress for rooms she intended to control.
Burgundy meant command.
Navy meant credibility.
Evelyn’s hair was perfect.
Her face was thinner.
She did not look at Rose.
Claire appreciated that.
The hearing was not the criminal trial. It dealt partly with protective restrictions and evidence preservation while the larger case proceeded. Still, Claire had to testify.
She described the hospital.
The forms.
The ticket.
Her passport.
The recorder.
The joke about disappearing to a hotel.
Evelyn’s attorney asked whether Claire had ever said she wanted to leave the house.
“Yes.”
Whether she had accepted Evelyn’s help.
“Yes.”
Whether she had allowed Evelyn to schedule medical appointments.
“Yes.”
Whether she had told Evelyn she was exhausted.
“Yes.”
The questions were not cruel.
That made them harder.
Then the attorney asked, “Mrs. Mercer, did my client ever threaten to physically harm you?”
“No.”
“Did she ever threaten to harm your daughter?”
“No.”
“Did she ever attempt to take your daughter from your arms?”
“No.”
“Did she force you into a vehicle?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you, on the morning in question, that you had no choice but to travel?”
Claire thought.
“No.”
The attorney nodded.
“Thank you.”
Priya had warned Claire not to chase the implication.
The prosecutor handled it instead.
“Mrs. Mercer, if Evelyn had told you that morning there was a one-way airline ticket in your maiden name inside the suitcase, what would you have done?”
“I would not have gone.”
“If she had told you she had your passport?”
“I would have demanded it back.”
“If she had told you the paperwork in the hospital was going to be used as evidence of temporary custody?”
“I would not have signed.”
“If she had told you she had discussed how to keep your husband from taking the baby back after boarding?”
Claire looked at Evelyn.
“I would have called the police myself.”
Evelyn’s eyes met hers.
For the first time since the kitchen, Claire saw no authority there.
Only consequence.
Nathan testified next.
He admitted everything.
The authorization.
His call to Evelyn after Claire’s sleepless night.
His failure to tell Claire about his suspicions immediately.
The defense attorney tried to use the omissions against him.
Nathan did not resist.
“Yes,” he said. “I should have told my wife.”
May you like
“Yes, I gave my mother access I should not have given her.”
“Yes, I was afraid.”
