Chapter 12 - SEEING DANIEL
Noah asked to see his father three days later. His counselor helped us prepare. The meeting would be supervised. Noah could leave whenever he wanted.
I drove him there with Captain in his lap. Halfway through the trip, he asked me to turn around. I pulled into a parking lot and waited. After a few minutes, he asked me to keep driving.
Daniel was already seated when we entered. He stood, then sat again when Noah stopped at the doorway.
“Hey, Ace.”
Noah held Captain tighter. “Don’t call me that.”
Daniel nodded. “Okay.”
We sat across the room. June stayed near the door.
Noah had written his questions on a piece of notebook paper. His hand shook as he unfolded it.
“Did Mom want me?”
“Yes,” Daniel said immediately. “She always wanted you.”
“Then why did you take me?”
Daniel glanced at me. I kept my face still.
“I was angry and scared,” he said. “I let Ben convince me your mom was taking you away. I should have asked her. I should never have taken you from school.”
Noah looked at the page. “Why didn’t you bring me back?”
“At first I was afraid of getting caught. Later, Ben hid you from me. I kept looking, but I should have asked for help.”
“You said you were going to.”
“I did. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
Noah folded the paper.
For a moment I thought he might run to Daniel. Instead, he said, “Ben told me people leave because there’s something wrong with me.”
Daniel’s face crumpled. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“You both left me with him.”
The room went silent.
Daniel didn’t argue. “We did,” he said. “I failed you.”
Noah got up and walked to me. “Can we go?”
“Of course.”
Outside, he took a deep breath. He didn’t cry until we reached the car.
On the drive home, Lily called to ask whether Noah wanted to help make pizza. He said yes. Then he watched rain trail across the window.
“I thought seeing him would fix something,” he said.
“It may take more than one conversation.”
“I don’t know if I want another.”
“You get to take your time.”
My phone rang when we pulled into our driveway. Lewis told me Ben had agreed to give a full account of the night Daniel was hurt. In exchange, he wanted investigators to check a place they had missed.
May you like
“What place?” I asked.
“The riverbank,” she said. “He says there’s something buried near where they left the car.”
