Chapter 2 - The Man Elodie Was Afraid to NameElodie became very interested in the sleeve of her sweater.
That frightened Maribel more than an immediate answer would have.
“Ellie.”
Her daughter looked up.
“I'm not mad.”
“I know.”
“Did somebody come here Tuesday?”
Silence.
Maribel sat beside her.
Jonah was asleep upstairs after a pediatrician examined him and confirmed there was no serious injury from the slap.
Maribel still couldn't think about that without feeling sick.
She had spent the past three months trusting her mother in this house.
Trusting Constance to feed Jonah.
Pick Elodie up from school.
Stay with them while Maribel worked twelve-hour hospital shifts.
How many times had Constance turned off that camera?
How many things hadn't Elodie told her?
Maribel softened her voice.
“You're not protecting anyone by keeping a secret that scares you.”
Elodie whispered,
“Grandma said you'd lose your job.”
“What?”
“If I made problems.”
Maribel closed her eyes.
Of course.
Constance knew exactly what to use.
Maribel's schedule was already fragile.
She had missed shifts after Luke moved out.
She worried constantly about money, childcare, and whether the hospital would eventually decide a nurse with two young children was too unreliable.
Constance had turned that anxiety into a weapon.
“Your job is not to protect my job.”
Elodie looked confused.
“Your job is to be ten.”
That made her eyes fill.
Maribel took her hand.
“Who came Tuesday?”
Elodie whispered,
“Uncle Damian.”
Maribel stopped breathing.
Damian Hale was her older half-brother.
Forty-one.
Financial consultant.
Perfect suits.
Perfect manners.
Their mother's favorite child, though Constance denied having one.
Maribel hadn't seen Damian in almost a month.
“Are you sure?”
Elodie nodded.
“What did he do?”
“He told me Grandma asked him to pick up papers.”
“What papers?”
“I don't know.”
“Where did he go?”
“Grandma's room first.”
Constance had been staying in the guest bedroom.
“Then?”
“My room.”
Maribel's heartbeat changed.
“Your room?”
Elodie nodded.
“He said he lost his phone.”
“In your room?”
“I asked him that.”
“What did he say?”
“That I was being disrespectful.”
Maribel almost laughed.
That sounded like Damian.
“What was he looking for?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he touch anything?”
“My drawers.”
“Your backpack?”
“Yes.”
“Your toys?”
Elodie hesitated.
“The music box.”
Maribel frowned.
“What music box?”
“Grandpa's.”
Maribel felt cold.
Her father, Raymond Hale, had given Elodie a small wooden music box before he died two years earlier.
She had forgotten about it.
Raymond had loved Elodie fiercely.
The last Christmas before his death, he'd spent hours repairing the little antique box because Elodie liked the painted birds on the lid.
“Did Damian take it?”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
“He got mad because it wouldn't open.”
Maribel stared.
The box had a decorative brass latch.
She didn't remember it having a lock.
“Then what?”
“Jonah woke up.”
“Was Grandma home?”
“No.”
“Who was watching you?”
“Mrs. Chen next door was supposed to come after three-thirty.”
Maribel stood.
“What?”
Elodie flinched.
Maribel forced herself to sit again.
“Sorry. I'm not angry at you.”
“Grandma said Uncle Damian would only be here ten minutes.”
That wasn't the arrangement.
Constance was supposed to leave at 2:45 for the dentist.
Mrs. Chen was supposed to arrive before three.
Maribel had texted Constance to confirm.
Constance answered:
Already handled. Don't worry.
Apparently “handled” meant leaving her ten-year-old and one-year-old with Damian.
Except Mrs. Chen told Maribel later that Constance canceled her.
Said Damian would babysit.
Maribel had never been told.
“Did Uncle Damian turn off the camera?”
Elodie nodded slowly.
“How do you know?”
“I saw him touch the router.”
“What did he say?”
“That the internet was being weird.”
“Did it come back after he left?”
“No.”
“Who turned it back on?”
“Grandma when she came home.”
Maribel's stomach dropped.
So Constance knew.
The outages weren't accidents.
Mother and son were coordinating them.
But why?
She opened the smart-lock application.
Every entry was logged.
Tuesday, 3:16 p.m.
Guest code used.
Not Damian's normal code.
Maribel tapped the entry.
CODE 0714.
Her hands stopped.
July 14.
Elodie's birthday.
Luke had created that code years earlier because it was easy to remember.
Maribel deleted it after their separation.
Or thought she had.
“How did Damian get Dad's old code?” Elodie asked.
Maribel didn't know.
Her phone buzzed.
Damian.
As if he'd sensed his name.
She answered.
“Hey, Mari.”
His voice was casual.
“Rough night, huh? Mom called me.”
Maribel's jaw tightened.
“She called you from the police station?”
“She's not under arrest.”
“Yet.”
Damian sighed.
“Let's not make this bigger than it needs to be.”
“She slapped Jonah.”
“I heard.”
“You sound strangely calm.”
“I'm trying to help.”
Maribel looked at Elodie.
“Were you in my house Tuesday?”
A pause.
Tiny.
But there.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Mom asked me to grab tax documents.”
“You searched Elodie's room.”
Silence.
“That what she told you?”
“Did you?”
“I looked for my phone.”
“In her drawers?”
Another pause.
“Maribel, kids misunderstand things.”
There it was.
Same tactic.
Children misunderstand.
Adults reinterpret.
Maribel lowered her voice.
“Why did you turn off the camera?”
Damian laughed.
“I didn't.”
“The router disconnected at 3:17. Your door code was used at 3:16.”
Nothing.
Then:
“Maybe Mom's internet is failing.”
“It isn't Mom's internet.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Damian. I don't.”
He changed tone.
Softer.
Concerned.
“Don't let Luke get into your head again.”
Maribel froze.
“I didn't mention Luke.”
“You don't have to. Every time something happens, he makes you suspicious of family.”
“Luke doesn't know about this.”
Damian exhaled.
“Good.”
The word came too quickly.
Maribel stared at the dark kitchen.
“Why is that good?”
“No reason.”
“Damian.”
“I have an early meeting.”
“Why were you looking for Dad's music box?”
He stopped breathing.
Maribel heard it.
Then Damian said,
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
And hung up.
Elodie had been listening.
“Mom?”
“What?”
“I didn't tell you the weirdest part.”
Maribel slowly turned.
Elodie swallowed.
“When Uncle Damian couldn't open Grandpa's music box…”
May you like
She looked toward the stairs.
“…he said Grandma was going to kill him if he didn't find the blue envelope.”
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