CHAPTER 6 – THE MISSING PHONE
Daniel had owned an old phone when Dad died.
I remembered it.
Cheap.
Black.
Cracked screen.
Dad had bought it because Daniel liked recording bird sounds during walks.
The night Dad died, Daniel had brought that phone to the hospital.
He had accidentally left it in Dad's room.
When he returned, it was gone.
Mom told us a janitor probably threw it away.
Daniel never believed her.
“Marcus took it?”
Daniel nodded.
“How do you know?”
“Saw pocket.”
Ortiz leaned forward.
“You saw Marcus put your phone in his pocket?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
Daniel stared at his hands.
“Mom said police put autistic people in jail when they lie.”
I closed my eyes.
For four years, she had been controlling him with fear.
Ortiz looked furious.
But she kept her voice calm.
“That wasn't true.”
Daniel nodded.
“I know now.”
Police obtained a warrant for Marcus's apartment.
They found dozens of phones.
Old patient files.
Prescription bottles.
Hospital badges.
But Daniel's phone wasn't there.
Marcus was arrested for possession of controlled substances and unlawful retention of medical records.
Mom hired him an attorney.
That answered another question.
She wasn't his victim.
She was still protecting him.
Two days later, I visited her.
She sat across from me in an interview room at the police station.
“You've destroyed this family.”
Those were her first words.
I stared at her.
“Daniel has bruises shaped like Marcus's hands.”
“He needed discipline.”
“He needed safety.”
“He needed structure.”
“You wanted his money.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You always were your father's favorite.”
There it was.
Not grief.
Jealousy.
Twenty years old and rotten.
“Did you kill Dad?”
Mom smiled.
It was small.
Almost pitying.
“You think life works like television.”
“I think you knew Marcus before Dad died.”
Her smile vanished.
“I think Dad discovered what you were doing.”
Silence.
“And I think you needed him quiet.”
She leaned forward.
“You should stop digging.”
“Why?”
“Because your father had secrets too.”
I almost laughed.
“That's your defense?”
“No.”
She looked through the glass behind me.
“It's a warning.”
Before I could answer, Ortiz opened the door.
“Rachel.”
Something was wrong.
“What?”
“We found Daniel's old phone.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
Ortiz looked through the glass at Mom.
“Inside your mother's safe.”
Mom didn't move.
But I saw her fingers curl into fists.
May you like
Ortiz continued.
“And someone tried to erase everything on it yesterday.”
