Chương 9
She wore sunglasses despite the cloudy sky.
Ethan remained beside his car.
“Where’s Hannah?” Brittany asked.
“Not here.”
“Does she know you came?”
“Yes.”
Brittany nodded. “Good.”
“What did Mom plan?”
She glanced toward the store entrance. “Can we sit in your car?”
“No.”
“It’s cold.”
“Then talk faster.”
Brittany removed her sunglasses. The skin around her eyes was swollen.
“Mom called me three nights before Noah was born,” she said. “She said Hannah wasn’t ready. She said the nursery was disorganized and you were too tired to notice.”
“You hadn’t seen the nursery in a month.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
Brittany looked down. “She wanted me to help document things after the birth.”
The word document made Ethan’s stomach tighten.
“What things?”
“Missed feedings. Crying. Mess. Anything unsafe.”
“Why?”
“She said you would never ask for help unless there was proof.”
“Help from who?”
“Her.”
“She wanted to take Noah.”
“No. Not permanently.”
“You don’t know that.”
“She said Hannah needed rest and that Noah could stay with her for a few nights.”
“Without Hannah.”
“She said Hannah would agree once she understood how sick she was.”
“Hannah wasn’t sick.”
“She looked sick.”
“She had given birth.”
“I know that now.”
“You keep saying that.”
Brittany flinched.
Ethan looked toward the grocery carts rattling in the wind. A man in a red jacket pushed them together, one by one, without looking at the siblings.
“Were you recording Hannah?” he asked.
Brittany’s silence answered.
“With the baby monitor?”
“Sometimes with my phone.”
“Did Mom tell you to turn the monitor toward the wall?”
“She noticed the light.”
“Did she know clips were stored online?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Where are your recordings?”
“I deleted most of them.”
“Why?”
“Because after the ambulance came, I watched them.”
“And?”
“They didn’t look like what Mom said.”
“What did they look like?”
Brittany rubbed her hands against her cardigan. “Like someone who needed help.”
Ethan stepped closer. “You held her down.”
“I know.”
“You took Noah from her.”
“Mom took him.”
“You held Hannah while she did.”
Brittany’s face twisted. “I know.”
“No, you keep using those words because they sound like accountability without costing you anything.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
“I’m trying.”
“Then stop protecting yourself for one minute.”
Her voice rose. “I called the ambulance.”
A woman returning a cart looked toward them.
Ethan lowered his voice. “After how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have a phone. Check the time.”
“Mom had my phone by then.”
“You said it was in the kitchen.”
“She took it after I recorded Hannah.”
“Why?”
“She said I was making things worse.”
“Why did you tell the police you didn’t know where Hannah’s phone was?”
Brittany looked toward the road.
Ethan waited.
“I brought it to the hospital.”
The cart attendant shoved a line of carts into the metal return. The impact rang through the parking lot.
“Why?” Ethan asked.
“Mom told me to.”
“Why?”
“She said the police would twist the messages.”
“What messages?”
“Between her and me.”
“Hannah’s phone wouldn’t have your messages.”
Brittany looked at him.
Understanding came slowly.
“You used Hannah’s phone,” Ethan said.
“Only once.”
“For what?”
“To send a message to you.”
His skin went cold. “What message?”
“Mom dictated it. We didn’t send it.”
“Show me.”
“I deleted the draft.”
“Police can recover drafts.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
Brittany’s eyes filled. “It said Hannah needed a break and wanted Mom to keep Noah overnight.”
Ethan turned away.
“It wasn’t sent,” Brittany said.
“Because the ambulance came?”
“Because I wouldn’t press send.”
He faced her again.
She continued quickly. “Mom said Hannah would thank us later. She said if Noah stayed with her for one night, Hannah would sleep and everything would settle down. I started typing it. Then Noah stopped crying.”
“And you went to Celia.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do with the phone at the hospital?”
“I put it in my bag. Mom kept asking for it. I gave it to her in the emergency waiting room.”
“Did you see her throw it away?”
“No.”
“Will you tell the police all of this?”
Brittany’s mouth trembled.
“Will you?”
“I already have a lawyer.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“My lawyer says I could be charged.”
“You tied Hannah to a couch.”
“Mom tied her.”
“You held her there.”
“I was scared.”
“So was Hannah.”
“I know.”
Ethan laughed once, without humor. “There it is again.”
Brittany put her sunglasses back on. “Mom pays my rent.”
He stared at her.
“She paid the deposit on my salon. The lease is in a company name. If I change my statement—”
“Hannah and Noah could have died.”
“They didn’t.”
The words seemed to surprise Brittany as much as they surprised him.
She removed the sunglasses again. “I didn’t mean that.”
“But you said it.”
“I’m not like her.”
“No. You’re just still doing what she tells you.”
Brittany’s face hardened. “And you never did?”
That stopped him.
She stepped closer, anger finally giving her something stronger than fear.
“You left Hannah with us after she asked you not to. You read Mom’s messages for years and called them concern. You let her choose your house, your job, your schedule, your health insurance. You laughed when she rearranged Hannah’s kitchen because it was easier than telling her to leave. Don’t stand there and pretend you woke up different because the bruises were dark enough for you to see.”
Ethan looked away.
Brittany’s breathing slowed.
“I’ll talk to the detective again,” she said. “But I need time.”
“Hannah didn’t get time.”
“I know.”
This time he let the words remain.
When Ethan returned to the hotel, Hannah was sitting on the floor beside Noah’s bassinet. A hospital thermometer, a bottle, two diapers, and the discharge instructions were arranged around her.
“What happened?” she asked.
He told her.
May you like
All of it.
When he reached the part about Brittany recording her, Hannah’s face became expressionless.
