Chương 7
He had noticed things.
He had just chosen easier explanations.
“We were already having problems,” he said.
Ortiz did not respond.
She did not need to.
Daniel continued.
“I thought she was hiding things from me because she wanted to leave.”
“Maybe she was.”
The answer surprised him.
Ortiz looked at the screen.
“Two things can be true at the same time.”
Daniel understood what she meant.
Laura could have been unhappy with him.
Laura could have been scared of something else.
A marriage falling apart did not mean every other problem disappeared.
After leaving the station, Daniel drove directly to the hospital.
He did not call Laura.
He did not call anyone.
He needed a few minutes where nobody needed answers from him.
When he reached Emma’s room, she was awake watching television with the volume turned low.
She immediately looked at his face.
“What happened?”
Daniel sat down.
“You knew Noah looked at the camera.”
Her expression changed.
Only for a moment.
But it was enough.
“How?”
“The security footage.”
Emma looked away.
“You saw it.”
“Yes.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“Don’t shut down.”
She pressed her lips together.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
She looked frustrated.
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“The truth.”
“I’ve been trying.”
“Then help me understand.”
Emma stared at the blanket.
“He knew there were cameras.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought it mattered.”
“To what?”
She hesitated.
“To proving someone was watching our house.”
Daniel felt cold.
“Someone was watching our house?”
Emma nodded slowly.
“Not every day.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Noah checked.”
“Checked what?”
“Patterns.”
Daniel frowned.
“He was watching the cameras?”
“No.”
Emma shook her head.
“He was looking at things around the neighborhood.”
“What things?”
“People.”
“Emma.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Her eyes filled with frustration.
“He thought Mom’s accident wasn’t random.”
Daniel stayed quiet.
“He thought someone had been following her before it happened.”
“Why?”
“Because of what was in the file.”
“What file?”
Emma looked toward the door.
A nurse passed outside.
When she was gone, Emma lowered her voice.
“The file was from Mom’s old laptop.”
Daniel felt his stomach drop.
“Where did Noah get your mother’s laptop?”
“He didn’t.”
“Then who did?”
Emma swallowed.
“I did.”
The answer confused him.
“What?”
“After Mom moved out, she left some things in the basement.”
Daniel stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wasn’t supposed to have them.”
“What things?”
“An old laptop.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Emma.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
His voice was sharper than he intended.
“You found your mother’s old computer and gave it to a boy from school?”
“I didn’t give it to him.”
“Then what happened?”
“He knew how to recover files.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I asked him.”
The room went quiet.
“You asked him to search your mother’s computer?”
Emma nodded.
“Because I found something before.”
“What?”
“A folder.”
“What was inside?”
She looked down.
“Pictures.”
“Of what?”
“Mom.”
“That doesn’t sound strange.”
“Not pictures of Mom.”
Daniel waited.
“Pictures of our house.”
The words landed slowly.
“What?”
“Pictures taken from outside.”
Daniel felt the muscles in his shoulders tighten.
“When?”
“Before she left.”
“Who took them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Emma.”
“I don’t know.”
Her voice broke.
“But Noah thought the file could tell us.”
Daniel stood and walked toward the window.
Cars moved through the hospital parking lot.
People carried bags.
Someone pushed a stroller.
A man held a bouquet of flowers.
The normal world again.
Always the normal world.
“How long have you known about this?”
Emma did not answer.
Daniel turned back.
“How long?”
“Six weeks.”
The disappointment came before the anger.
That scared him.
Because anger was easier.
“Six weeks?”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“When I knew if it was real.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That was not your decision to make.”
“I know.”
“No, Emma.”
His voice dropped.
“That was the decision of a child who thought she had to protect the adults.”
Her face changed.
A tear moved down her cheek.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Daniel looked away.
And that was the part that hurt the most.
Because she had not been trying to hide from him.
She had been trying to carry something for him.
His phone vibrated.
Unknown number again.
He almost ignored it.
Then Emma saw the screen.
Her face lost color.
“Don’t answer.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?”
She whispered,
“Because that’s the number Noah used when he called me before the crash.”
Daniel stared at the phone in his hand.
For a moment, the room felt smaller than it was.
The walls seemed closer.
The sounds from the hallway disappeared behind the steady pounding of his own heartbeat.
“Noah called you from this number?”
Emma nodded.
“Once.”
“When?”
“The night before the crash.”
Daniel looked at the screen again.
The unknown number sat there like a door he did not want to open.
“What did he say?”
Emma hesitated.
“He said he found something.”
“About your mother?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“He sounded scared.”
“Scared of what?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Emma, I need you to stop protecting people who are not here.”
Her face tightened.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“No.”
The answer came faster than before.
She wiped her cheek.
“You think Noah is the problem because he disappeared.”
“Can you blame me?”
“No.”
The honesty caught him off guard.
“But he disappeared because he was scared.”
“Of who?”
Emma looked at the phone.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel took a breath.
“Answer the call.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“If it’s Noah, I need to talk to him.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
“He won’t answer.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“Because I tried.”
The words stopped him.
“You called him?”
She nodded.
“After the crash.”
“How many times?”
“Eight.”
Daniel looked away.
May you like
Eight times.
A sixteen-year-old girl sitting in a hospital bed, injured and terrified, trying to reach the person who might have answers.
