Chapter 3 - HER HUSBAND DOESN’T BELIEVE HERCeleste Arden arrived five minutes later.
She entered the security office wearing a silver evening gown and an expression of maternal alarm.
“Nora.”
She crossed the room and embraced her daughter-in-law.
“What happened?”
Nora explained.
Celeste listened.
Her hand remained gently on Nora’s arm.
When Nora finished, Celeste looked toward Derek with perfect disgust.
“How horrifying.”
For the first time that night, Nora felt herself relax.
Then Celeste added:
“But perhaps we should avoid assumptions until security understands exactly what occurred.”
Warren looked at her.
“What assumption?”
Celeste turned.
“That he intended something indecent.”
“He raised a camera over an occupied restroom stall.”
“So we’ve been told.”
Nora stiffened.
Celeste immediately touched her arm.
“I’m not questioning you, sweetheart.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No.”
Her tone remained soothing.
“I’m saying there may be context.”
Warren laughed without humor.
“Context.”
Celeste ignored him.
Derek had changed his story.
He now claimed he worked as a freelance facilities contractor.
He said he entered because he had been told a stall lock was broken.
The camera?
He was supposedly photographing hardware.
Liam checked hotel records.
No work order existed.
Derek shrugged.
“Maybe I got the wrong floor.”
Warren asked:
“And the message telling you to get the shot before she returned to Ethan?”
Derek smiled thinly.
“You have a screenshot?”
The deleted conversation had not yet been recovered.
No.
Warren did not.
Ethan paced.
He looked angry.
But Nora could not tell at whom.
“Ethan.”
He stopped.
“Do you believe me?”
His face changed.
“Nora.”
“That’s not complicated.”
“I believe something happened.”
She stared.
“Something?”
“Nobody is saying you’re lying.”
“Then say you believe me.”
Celeste interrupted gently.
“Everyone’s upset.”
Warren turned on her.
“She asked her husband a question.”
Celeste’s eyes hardened.
“This is family business.”
Warren stepped closer.
“She is my family.”
Nora closed her eyes.
This.
Exactly this.
The two worlds colliding.
The controlling father she had escaped.
The powerful family she had married into.
She looked at Ethan.
“Did you know someone was following me?”
His silence lasted one second too long.
Warren saw.
Nora saw too.
“What?”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“You hesitated.”
“I’m exhausted.”
“Ethan.”
“I didn’t know Derek.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Celeste stepped forward.
“Nora, perhaps tonight is not the time.”
Nora turned sharply.
“When would be?”
Celeste’s face remained calm.
Warren watched both of them.
Then looked at Ethan.
“You recognize his name?”
“No.”
“His face?”
“No.”
“Then why did you look worried before your wife even said she had seen him previously?”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Stop interrogating me.”
“Answer.”
“Dad,” Nora said.
Warren stopped.
That single word still worked.
Even after three years.
Nora looked at Ethan.
“Please.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I heard Mom mention a security consultant a few weeks ago.”
Celeste became still.
Nora looked at her.
“What security consultant?”
Celeste smiled faintly.
“Corporate risk.”
“For what?”
“Routine reputation monitoring.”
Nora’s stomach tightened.
“Was I being monitored?”
“No.”
Ethan said quickly:
“Mom.”
Celeste looked at him.
That was answer enough.
Nora stepped away.
“You knew.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I didn’t know anyone was following you.”
“But you knew she had hired someone.”
“I knew she was reviewing potential risks.”
“What risks?”
Celeste finally answered.
“Your recent behavior.”
Silence.
Nora stared.
“My behavior.”
“You’ve been stressed.”
Warren’s face became unreadable.
Celeste continued.
“You’ve been taking medication.”
“For migraines.”
“I know.”
“You’ve been suspicious.”
“Apparently for good reason.”
“Nora.”
Celeste’s voice softened.
“I worry you may be interpreting ordinary things as threats.”
Nora felt suddenly cold.
She looked at Ethan.
“Tell her to stop.”
He did not.
“Ethan.”
He looked down.
Not completely.
Just enough.
The same kind of cowardice that disguised itself as hesitation.
Warren moved toward his daughter.
Nora held up a hand.
“No.”
He stopped.
She looked at her husband.
“Do you believe that man followed me?”
Ethan swallowed.
“I believe you’re scared.”
Nora stared at him.
That was not the question.
Behind her, Warren spoke quietly.
“A man followed your wife into a women’s restroom, and your first instinct is to explain why she might have misunderstood.”
Ethan looked up.
Warren’s expression turned cold.
“That tells me more than Derek has.”
Nora grabbed her clutch.
She walked toward the door.
Ethan called:
“Where are you going?”
She stopped.
For a second, she almost said home.
But she no longer knew what that word meant.
Then she looked at Warren.
The father she had spent three years refusing to call.
“Do you still live on Wisconsin Avenue?”
Warren’s face changed.
“Yes.”
Nora nodded.
“I need somewhere to sleep.”
Ethan stared.
“Nora.”
She looked at him.
May you like
“You had a chance to believe me.”
Then she left with the one man in the room who had.
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