Chương 10
“Daniel.”
“My daughter was attacked.”
“I know.”
“No, you know it as a sentence.”
Hollis went quiet.
Daniel regretted the cruelty as soon as he heard it, but he did not apologize.
He was placed on temporary administrative leave the following day.
The university also obtained a no-trespass order barring him from Bradley property after Jonah reported the hallway confrontation. Jonah had not requested the order; Bradley had cited safety concerns.
Daniel read the notice in Mercy General’s cafeteria while eating scrambled eggs that had formed a rubbery skin.
Karen sat across from him.
“You did this,” she said.
“I know.”
“That may be the first time you’ve said that without adding a defense.”
“I’m tired.”
“Maybe stay tired.”
He pushed the tray away.
Lily was discharged nine days after the attack.
She moved into Daniel’s house because the dorm required stairs and offered no private nursing assistance. Karen extended her stay. The three of them entered an arrangement none had chosen.
Daniel converted his downstairs study into a bedroom. He removed military plaques, boxed field manuals, and moved a heavy desk into the garage. Lily watched from the doorway, leaning on Karen’s arm.
Her tablet spoke from its mount.
“THE ROOM LOOKED BETTER BEFORE.”
Daniel set down a box. “You said the chair smelled like old men.”
“IT DID.”
“I threw it away.”
“THE SMELL REMAINS.”
Karen laughed.
The first week at home revolved around medication schedules, liquid meals, ice packs, follow-up appointments, and the small humiliations of needing help. Lily could not shower alone. She could not sleep flat. She woke from nightmares and refused to describe them.
Daniel kept a notebook of every dose until Lily typed, “I AM NOT A CONVOY.”
He stopped writing in front of her and continued on his phone.
One afternoon, he found her standing in the kitchen, trying to open a jar of broth concentrate with one hand.
“You should have called me.”
The tablet sat on the counter, out of reach. Lily glared.
Daniel took the jar, opened it, and began mixing the broth.
She knocked twice on the counter.
“What?”
She pointed toward the chair where the tablet rested.
He brought it.
“YOU DID NOT ASK.”
“Ask what?”
“IF I WANTED HELP.”
“You couldn’t open it.”
“THAT WAS NOT THE QUESTION.”
Daniel set the spoon down.
“Did you want help?”
“YES.”
“Good.”
“BUT ASK.”
He turned back to the broth.
Behind him, the tablet said, “YOU ARE VERY BAD AT THIS.”
“I’m aware.”
That evening, Detective Soto arrived carrying copies of photographs and a folder she kept turned facedown.
She interviewed Lily at the dining table. A victim advocate and speech therapist joined by video. Daniel and Karen waited in the living room, close enough to hear the tablet’s artificial voice but not the questions.
The interview lasted ninety minutes.
Afterward, Soto asked to speak with Daniel privately.
They stepped onto the back porch. Winter had begun pressing into the air. Daniel’s neighbor was trying to coax a wet dog through a gate.
“Lily identified Grant Ellison as the man who struck her,” Soto said.
Daniel’s hand closed around the porch railing.
“She is certain?”
“She described him before we showed any photograph. She identified his voice, clothing, and a scar near his right eyebrow.”
“Why didn’t she tell us earlier?”
“She was afraid.”
“Of Grant?”
“Of everyone. She believed campus security had helped him and didn’t know who else was involved.”
“What happened?”
Soto opened the folder.
“Rusk texted her from a prepaid number and told her security had recovered video showing unauthorized access to the lab data room. He asked her to meet at Carver because he said the information was sensitive.”
Daniel stared past her at the dog, which had planted all four feet in mud.
“Grant was waiting?”
“Yes. Rusk told Lily to hand over her phone and any copied files. Grant said she had stolen proprietary information. She refused. He grabbed her hood. She fought and tore Rusk’s temporary access badge from his jacket.”
“The badge was in her pocket.”
“She put it there during the struggle. She said she wanted proof Rusk had been present.”
Even then, Daniel thought. Even while frightened, Lily had gathered evidence.
“Grant took the phone,” Soto continued. “Lily shouted that she would testify. He struck her with a heavy flashlight.”
Daniel’s fingers dug into the railing.
“How many times?”
“Daniel.”
“How many?”
“She lost count.”
The neighbor finally lifted the dog and carried it through the gate. The animal looked offended.
“Why is Grant free?” Daniel asked.
“We executed search warrants at his home and the laboratory this morning.”
“And?”
“He was gone.”
Daniel turned.
“His wife says he left before dawn. His car was found at the airport.”
“He fled.”
“We issued a warrant.”
“Did he take Lily’s phone?”
“We don’t know.”
“Does he have family somewhere?”
“We’re checking.”
“He knows she identified him.”
“The search warrant is public once executed. He may assume she did.”
Daniel moved toward the door.
Soto stepped in front of him.
“I’m barred from campus, not the entire country.”
“You are going inside and staying with your daughter.”
“He could come here.”
“We have patrol coverage nearby.”
“That is not protection.”
“It is more protection than you leaving her to hunt a man with a warrant.”
Daniel lowered his voice. “You think I want to kill him.”
“I think you don’t know what you want until you see him.”
He looked through the glass door. Lily sat at the dining table with Karen, adjusting the tablet’s voice settings. The device said “ALUMINUM” three times in different accents.
“I want him alive,” Daniel said.
Soto watched him.
“I want him to answer,” he added.
“That is not the same thing.”
“I know.”
Grant Ellison did not leave the country.
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Airport video showed him entering a parking garage and exiting through a stairwell ten minutes later. Investigators believed the abandoned car was intended to delay them.
The search of his home recovered financial records, two unregistered prepaid phones, and a suitcase containing cash. The laboratory search found evidence that test files had been deleted, but backups were incomplete. Several raw data folders had been replaced by empty directories.
