Chương 5
A habit Claire knew.
He did it when preparing to lie.
Or when preparing to tell the truth about something embarrassing.
She had never needed to distinguish between the two before.
“I didn’t know they were coming today.”
“I assumed.”
“I didn’t know there was an investigation.”
Claire said nothing.
“I knew there had been questions.”
“What questions?”
“Accounting questions.”
“From whom?”
“Outside auditors. Banks. I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Claire, there are nineteen companies.”
“Twenty-three.”
He looked at her.
She wished she could take the correction back.
He lowered his eyes.
“Right.”
“Why did you ask what I told them?”
Evan inhaled.
“Because you knew her.”
“Mara?”
“At the wedding. The way she looked at you.”
“You saw that?”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“So you knew her.”
Claire folded her hands over the blanket.
“We work in the same office.”
His face went still.
“You said you worked financial enforcement.”
“I do.”
“You said corporate fraud.”
“I said financial fraud.”
He shook his head slowly.
“You let me think—”
“I let you think I reviewed outside cases involving healthcare contractors and procurement fraud, which I have.”
“You never said organized fraud.”
“You never asked what unit.”
“That is insane.”
“No. What is insane is your mother telling me my premature baby could wait because a first dance mattered more.”
His mouth closed.
Claire’s voice remained even.
“Don’t use my job to escape what happened today.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m trying to understand whether my wife has been investigating me.”
“No.”
He stared at her.
“I reported a conflict. I was removed from the matter. Mara’s team investigated.”
“How long?”
“Eleven months.”
Evan stood.
He walked three steps toward the window, then back.
“Eleven months.”
“Yes.”
“And you slept beside me.”
“Yes.”
“You came to Thanksgiving.”
“Yes.”
“You sat in my mother’s house while investigators were—”
“I did not collect evidence from your family. I did not question people for investigative purposes. I did not search your devices. I did not access records I wasn’t permitted to access.”
“But you knew.”
“I knew there was an investigation.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“I was legally and professionally prohibited from telling you.”
He laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“So our marriage was what? Collateral?”
Claire flinched.
He saw it.
Good.
Let him see.
“Our marriage existed before the investigation.”
“Does it exist now?”
Claire looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
The answer stopped him.
His anger drained.
For a second, he simply looked tired.
“I signed documents.”
“Yes.”
“You know that.”
“I know investigators identified your signatures.”
“They put things in front of me.”
“Who?”
“My mother. Gerald. Finance.”
“Gerald Pike?”
He stopped.
Claire had heard the name at dinner.
A controller who had worked for the family for twenty-two years.
“You know Gerald.”
“I’ve met him.”
“You know exactly who I mean.”
“I do.”
Evan sat again.
“I signed things.”
“What things?”
“I don’t know all of them.”
“Then tell Mara that.”
“You think I should talk without a lawyer?”
“No.”
He blinked.
“Really?”
“I think you should have counsel.”
“You say that like I’m a stranger.”
“I say it like someone who understands investigations.”
A contraction tightened.
Claire closed her eyes.
Evan stood instinctively.
His hand moved toward her.
Then stopped.
“Can I—”
“No.”
He withdrew it.
She breathed until the contraction passed.
When she opened her eyes, Evan was crying.
Quietly.
No dramatic collapse.
Just tears he seemed irritated to have.
Claire had seen him cry once before, at his father’s funeral.
He had hidden in the garage because Victoria had told him family had arrived.
Now he wiped his face with the heel of his hand.
“I should’ve called the ambulance.”
Claire looked at him.
“Yes.”
“I knew that.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
He looked down.
The monitor continued beeping.
“My mother.”
Claire waited.
“She was looking at me.”
“That’s your explanation?”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“It’s the pathetic part.”
Claire said nothing.
“She’s spent my whole life teaching us there’s a right moment for disaster.”
He stared at his hands.
“Dad drank too much? Not before investors arrived. Celeste got arrested in college? Not until after the charity luncheon. My uncle died the morning of the harvest dinner and we didn’t tell half the guests until dessert because Mom said people had traveled.”
Claire’s skin went cold.
“You never told me that.”
“I didn’t think it was strange.”
“It is.”
“I know that now.”
“No. You know it now because it hurt you.”
He looked up.
“That’s not fair.”
“No.”
She felt suddenly exhausted.
“It isn’t.”
His expression shifted.
Claire rarely admitted unfairness in the middle of an argument.
Evan knew that.
She continued.
“But today you watched me ask for medical help, and you looked at a camera.”
His face tightened.
“That part is fair.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“I believe you.”
He seemed surprised.
She added, “That doesn’t make it enough.”
Evan nodded slowly.
Another knock came.
Dr. Patel entered.
She checked the monitor and examined Claire.
Labor had not progressed significantly.
For now.
They would admit her overnight.
Continue observation.
Give medication.
Watch the baby.
Evan listened carefully.
Asked two sensible questions.
Claire hated that too.
People were easier when they were entirely terrible.
Before leaving, he stood beside the bed.
“I’m getting a lawyer.”
“Good.”
“I’m going to tell them what I know.”
“Tell your lawyer.”
“I want you to know I didn’t—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“If you tell me anything about the case, I may have to report it. I don’t want to become a witness against you because you needed emotional relief.”
His face hardened.
“That’s cold.”
“It’s protection.”
“For who?”
“Both of us.”
He almost said something.
Didn’t.
At the door he looked back.
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
“When I legally could.”
“That could’ve been after charges.”
“Yes.”
He nodded once.
Then left.
May you like
Their son stayed inside for six more days.
Six strange, suspended days.
