Chương 4
“I need to speak with Noah Bennett.”
“Are you his parent?”
“No.”
She waited.
Daniel hated that he had no answer that sounded reasonable.
“I’m his friend’s father.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“That’s a little vague.”
“It’s about Emma Mercer.”
The name changed everything.
The secretary stopped typing.
“You’re Emma’s father?”
“Yes.”
She looked down.
“I’m sorry about what happened.”
Daniel noticed the careful way she said it.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
Careful.
“You know what happened?”
“Everyone knows.”
“No.”
His voice became sharper than he intended.
“Everyone knows there was a crash.”
The secretary looked uncomfortable.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“I’m trying to understand what happened before that.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“Noah hasn’t been here today.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“No.”
“Did he say anything?”
The secretary hesitated.
That was enough.
Daniel leaned forward.
“What?”
“I don’t know if I should be telling you this.”
“Neither do I.”
She looked at him for a long second.
Then she pulled up a student attendance screen.
“Noah came in yesterday morning.”
Daniel waited.
“He left before lunch.”
“Why?”
“He signed out.”
“For what reason?”
The secretary looked at the screen again.
“Medical appointment.”
Daniel frowned.
“Did he have one?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you check?”
“I can’t give you student information.”
The answer was automatic.
The kind of answer people gave because rules were easier than choices.
Daniel understood that.
He just hated it.
“Can you tell me if someone picked him up?”
The secretary looked away.
“No.”
He thanked her because he did not know what else to do.
Outside, the wind pushed dry leaves across the sidewalk.
Daniel stood beside his car and stared at the school doors.
The world kept giving him pieces.
Never enough to understand.
Only enough to worry.
His phone rang.
Detective Ortiz.
“Where are you?”
“School.”
“Why?”
“Because Noah Bennett knows something.”
A pause.
“You spoke to him?”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
The way she said his name told him she was already tired.
“I’m not doing anything illegal.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I was thinking you’re a father who is scared.”
The words bothered him because they sounded too close to the truth.
Ortiz continued.
“We found Noah’s vehicle.”
Daniel gripped his phone tighter.
“Where?”
“Behind an abandoned warehouse near Mill Creek.”
“Was he there?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We found his backpack.”
Daniel looked toward the road.
“What was inside?”
“That’s the problem.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I can’t discuss evidence with you.”
“Detective.”
“Daniel.”
Her voice became firmer.
“Your daughter is a witness, possibly a victim, and you are emotionally involved.”
“I’m her father.”
“I know.”
The softness returned.
“That’s exactly why I’m telling you not to make a decision you can’t undo.”
Daniel looked through the windshield at the empty passenger seat.
The coffee cup sat there untouched.
“You found his backpack.”
“Yes.”
“And you still don’t know where he is.”
“No.”
“Then somebody needs to find him.”
“We are.”
The call ended, but Daniel stayed there for another minute.
He hated that she was right.
He hated even more that being right did not make him feel better.
When he arrived back at the hospital, Laura was sitting beside Emma’s bed.
Daniel stopped in the doorway.
He had not expected to see her.
For months, Laura had been careful about boundaries.
Drop-offs.
Pickups.
Short conversations about schedules.
They had become experts at discussing their daughter without discussing themselves.
She looked up.
Her hair was pulled back loosely, and she wore the same gray sweater she had worn the night before.
“You called me after the accident,” she said.
Daniel nodded.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
The answer was immediate.
Almost offended.
That hurt because there had been a time when they both would have said that without needing to prove it.
Laura looked at Emma.
“She woke up twice.”
“How is she?”
“She keeps asking if Noah is okay.”
Daniel stopped.
“Why?”
Laura looked at him.
“You didn’t tell me about Noah.”
“Because I didn’t know about Noah.”
“Daniel.”
“I’m serious.”
He walked closer.
“She’s been seeing him for months.”
Laura looked down.
“Yeah.”
The single word changed the room.
Daniel stared at her.
“You knew?”
“Not everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Emma talks to me.”
The accusation landed exactly where she intended.
Daniel looked away.
“I talk to her.”
“About homework.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No.”
Laura’s voice softened.
“It isn’t.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“I’m not trying to fight with you.”
“Then what are you trying to do?”
“Understand why our daughter was scared to tell either of us the truth.”
Daniel wanted to defend himself.
He had a hundred reasons.
The divorce.
Work.
Stress.
Everything that had happened.
But standing there, with Emma asleep between them, those reasons felt smaller.
Laura looked toward the hallway.
“She told me Noah was helping her with something.”
“What something?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“She stopped answering.”
Daniel felt a familiar frustration rise.
Everyone had pieces.
Everyone knew something.
Except him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Laura looked at him.
“Because she asked me not to.”
“You kept this from me?”
“I kept her confidence.”
“She almost died.”
Laura flinched.
The words hung there.
Daniel immediately regretted them.
But he could not take them back.
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
That somehow felt worse.
Later that afternoon, Emma asked for both of them to leave the room except Daniel.
Laura looked surprised.
So did he.
When the door closed, Emma stared at her hands.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
Daniel sat down.
“I’m listening.”
She took a slow breath.
“Noah didn’t cause the crash.”
Daniel waited.
“Then who did?”
Emma looked at him.
And for the first time since the accident, he saw something in her expression that was not fear.
Guilt.
“He was trying to stop me from telling you.”
Daniel felt the room shift.
May you like
“Tell me what?”
Emma’s fingers twisted together.
