Chapter 4 - WHAT NORA KNEW
“Did you take it?” I asked.
Caleb shook his head. “When I got here, it was gone.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Nora asked me not to. She said she was gathering proof and didn’t want to scare you.”
I almost laughed. I had been scared for eight months. I’d just been afraid of the wrong things.
Caleb told Ruiz that Nora had been helping Ava Mercer’s father. Nora worked as a school counselor. Ava had been one of her students before the custody fight, and she had told Nora that a woman kept coming into her bedroom at night.
“Nora thought Ava’s mother was coaching her to lie about her dad,” Caleb said. “Then she found a camera hidden in Ava’s room.”
“The footage on this card,” Ruiz said.
Caleb nodded. “Nora borrowed it. She wanted to show the court what was happening in that house.”
“Why put the same camera in Emma’s room?”
“I don’t know. That’s when she stopped telling me things.”
He looked at me. “I should have pushed harder.”
I wanted to blame him. I wanted somebody to blame who was still standing in front of me.
Ruiz’s phone buzzed. She listened, said, “Keep him there,” and stepped into the hall.
When she returned, her expression was sharp.
“The lab found a transmitter inside the bird. Someone paired it with an account that received its location this morning.”
“Whose account?”
“We’re working on the registration.”
Outside, Diane started her car.
Ruiz moved to the window. “Was she waiting for someone?”
I didn’t know. Diane backed out of the driveway, but instead of turning toward home, she pulled to the curb across the street. A gray SUV rolled up behind her. She got out and leaned into its passenger window.
Caleb held Emma while Ruiz photographed the vehicle.
The SUV drove away. Diane returned to her car, saw us watching, and left without another word.
That night, Emma slept in my room. I sat beside her until her breathing grew steady, then opened Nora’s old email account on my laptop. Her inbox had been empty when I checked it after the funeral. I had never thought to look in drafts.
There was one unsent message, dated the morning of her crash.
The subject line read: IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME.
I opened it.
May you like
“Ethan,” she had written, “Diane knows I found Ava. Do not let her take Emma anywhere. I’m going to meet Ava’s father tonight. When I get back, I’ll explain everything.”
Nora hadn’t made it back.
