Chapter 3 - WHAT SHE KEPT
Claire silenced the ringing through the fabric.
“That's mine.”
Maya held out her hand.
“Then show us.”
For three years, Graham had heard her say yes, of course, no trouble.
He had never heard that tone.
It made him realize how little he knew about the woman standing in his foyer.
Claire pulled out two phones.
“I picked hers up when I found the bracelet.
I didn't want her deleting anything.”
Ellis asked her to place Maya's phone on the console.
“Did you open it?”
“No.”
Maya took it after the officer nodded.
There were seven missed calls from her sister, Rosa.
She typed a message with trembling thumbs.
I'm safe.
Please come get me.
Graham saw only the first two words before he turned away.
They hurt more than an accusation would have.
Ellis asked to speak with Owen somewhere quieter, with Graham nearby and Claire out of hearing.
Graham took the boy into the breakfast room.
“What happened before the police came?” Ellis asked.
Owen picked at a loose thread on his sleeve.
“I came down for my dinosaur.
Mom was by Maya's bag.”
“What did you see?”
“She had the bracelet.
She put it in the pocket with the zipper.”
“Did anyone tell you what to say about that?”
Owen shook his head.
Then he stopped.
“Mom told me not to tell.”
Graham pressed his feet against the floor.
He kept his voice steady.
“What did she say?”
Owen glanced toward the doorway.
“She said Maya would go away anyway.
And if I made trouble, Luke and me would have to go away, too.”
Ellis let the silence sit.
Owen began to cry without making any sound.
Graham pulled a chair closer.
“You are not in trouble for telling what happened.”
“Even if Mom cries?”
“Even then.”
When they returned to the foyer, Maya was putting on her coat.
Rosa's car had pulled into the driveway.
Graham offered to pay for a lawyer.
“Rosa knows someone,” Maya said.
“At least let me drive you—”
“No.”
She bent toward the twins, careful not to promise she would be back tomorrow.
“You listen to each other.
And nobody has to be brave every minute.”
Luke slipped a paper dinosaur into her coat pocket.
After she left, Graham found Claire in the kitchen.
“You frightened our son.”
“She has them wrapped around her finger.”
“Why did you want her gone?”
Claire slid a printed page across the island.
May you like
“Don't pretend this was only my decision.”
At the bottom of Maya's termination notice was Graham's own signature.
