For the rest of Sunday, I kept waiting for some explanation that made Laura\u2019s phone call less damning.<\/p>\n
None came.<\/p>\n
Maybe she called Derek for an unrelated reason.<\/p>\n
Maybe she had known him socially through Brent\u2019s dealerships.<\/p>\n
Maybe she needed help with something ordinary at midnight on the same night someone using a truck associated with him drove behind my garage and stole evidence connected to a crash she desperately wanted hidden.<\/p>\n
The mind is remarkably creative when the alternative is accepting that someone you once trusted has crossed a line you cannot uncross.<\/p>\n
Denise came by after lunch.<\/p>\n
I told her what Ramirez had found.<\/p>\n
She did not offer me any comforting possibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you know about Derek?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMechanic. Then foreman. Eventually went to Harlow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRelationship with Laura?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNone that I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRelationship with Brent?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery close professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould he commit burglary for him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have thought so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t the same answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Derek at the dealership.<\/p>\n
He had been twelve years older than me, divorced twice, always behind on money. Excellent technician. Terrible gambler.<\/p>\n
Once he sold half his tool collection to cover debts, then borrowed company equipment until payday.<\/p>\n
When Harlow Automotive hired him, everyone said Brent had rescued him.<\/p>\n
People rarely forget who rescued them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your concern?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Denise looked toward the living room.<\/p>\n
The boys were building a road for toy cars using books and couch cushions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is that we\u2019re treating Brent as the center of everything because he\u2019s the obvious villain in your history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe drove the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Rick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe covered up the crash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying Laura may not simply be someone Brent manipulated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words irritated me because some part of me had still been thinking exactly that.<\/p>\n
Laura lied because Brent pressured her.<\/p>\n
Laura threatened me because she was afraid of him.<\/p>\n
Laura tried to flee because she panicked.<\/p>\n
Every version left a small piece of the woman I had married intact.<\/p>\n
Denise saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou loved her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPast tense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPast tense doesn\u2019t erase eleven years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what she\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked away.<\/p>\n
The boys crashed two toy cars together and Noah supplied an explosion sound far larger than the impact deserved.<\/p>\n
Denise lowered her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cCraig, your responsibility is not to decide which version of Laura hurts less.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew that.<\/p>\n
Still, hearing it made something sink inside me.<\/p>\n
Monday morning I brought Rick and Noah to the garage before school.<\/p>\n
Not because I wanted them there.<\/p>\n
Because Rick asked.<\/p>\n
The broken window had been replaced temporarily with plexiglass.<\/p>\n
Marcus had swept again.<\/p>\n
The office still looked wrong.<\/p>\n
Someone had entered a place the boys associated with me and torn through it.<\/p>\n
Rick stood in the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they break stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMostly papers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the crash?\u201d<\/p>\n
I crouched beside him.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice are figuring that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it Brent?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He studied my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom knows Derek.\u201d<\/p>\n
My spine stiffened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek comes to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
I kept my voice neutral.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor work?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do they talk about?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cCars. Stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was he there last?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus had been walking past us.<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
I asked Rick carefully, \u201cDo you remember why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked at the Mercedes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas Brent there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced at Marcus.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Derek do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe opened the front and looked under it. Mom kept saying, \u2018Can you fix it here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it needed too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Brent was going to be mad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did Brent come home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom and Brent yelled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout the car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick lowered his voice although nobody else was near.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrent said Mom should\u2019ve waited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything stopped.<\/p>\n
I looked directly at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaited for what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRick, who was driving?\u201d<\/p>\n
He blinked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came instantly.<\/p>\n
No uncertainty.<\/p>\n
I let out a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
But something in the phrasing would not leave me.<\/p>\n
Brent said Mom should\u2019ve waited.<\/p>\n
Waited for what?<\/p>\n
We dropped the boys at school.<\/p>\n
At nine fifteen, Detective Ramirez arrived.<\/p>\n
She already knew about Rick seeing Derek at the lake house because the child interviewer had noted it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think Brent meant by \u2018waited\u2019?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Laura have moved the car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould she have called Derek before Brent knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I rubbed my forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she was organizing the cover-up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she being charged?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we have enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer frustrated me.<\/p>\n
Ramirez saw that too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I charge too soon and the prosecutor can\u2019t hold it, I help nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Laura gets supervised visits and goes home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Brent?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis attorney advised him not to answer questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is his right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whenever Ramirez said that, my body prepared for impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Delgado remembered more about the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
The owner of the silver Accord had stepped onto his porch after hearing the crash.<\/p>\n
At first he saw only the rear of the Mercedes reversing.<\/p>\n
But a second person had gotten out briefly.<\/p>\n
\u201cA passenger?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe couldn\u2019t identify the person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMan or woman?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thinks woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pictured the crash.<\/p>\n
Brent behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
Laura beside him.<\/p>\n
Rick and Noah in back.<\/p>\n
The Mercedes striking the mailbox and Accord.<\/p>\n
Laura getting out.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cTo look at the damage?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck Noah?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she got back in?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramirez opened her notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelgado also remembers her bending near the parked Accord.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was she doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That afternoon, police searched the lake property under warrant.<\/p>\n
I did not hear about it from Ramirez.<\/p>\n
Laura called me.<\/p>\n
I answered because the custody order allowed communication concerning the boys.<\/p>\n
She was crying.<\/p>\n
Not controlled crying.<\/p>\n
The messy, breathless kind I remembered from funerals and the night Rick was hospitalized with pneumonia as a baby.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease make them stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
My first instinct was still to comfort her.<\/p>\n
That disgusted me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re tearing the house apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took computers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTalk to your attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCraig, listen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrent is blaming me.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
I sat down behind my desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crash?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car. Derek. Your shop.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
She rushed into the silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t tell Derek to break in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you call him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt midnight?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrent.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Again she offered the version easiest for me to believe.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said if the police got that data, he was finished. He said I had to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you called Derek.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked him if there was any way to delete something from your computer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared through the office window at Marcus working on a pickup.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you hear yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t tell him to steal it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you think he would do at midnight?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou called a mechanic who works for Brent and asked him how to erase crash evidence from my computer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou keep saying that like panic erases decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know what Brent is like when he gets angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The old reflex rose again.<\/p>\n
Protect Laura.<\/p>\n
Believe Laura.<\/p>\n
Separate the woman I married from the woman standing inside consequences.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered Rick saying Brent told him silence was his responsibility.<\/p>\n
I remembered Noah\u2019s split booster seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had choices before the crash was ever hidden.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could\u2019ve called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would\u2019ve known.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could\u2019ve taken Noah to the emergency room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did not know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI checked him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
She started crying harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
For several seconds neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Then she said something I did not expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t supposed to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat wasn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her breathing changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean we weren\u2019t supposed to be on that road.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat straighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
She stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you on Lakeshore Drive?\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went dead.<\/p>\n
I immediately called Ramirez.<\/p>\n
She answered on the second ring.<\/p>\n
I told her everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t contact Laura again unless it concerns the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen document it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you check where they came from?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are.\u201d<\/p>\n
I heard papers moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I was about to call you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the lake-house search we found a damaged cellphone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnknown yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does it matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was in the garage near where the Mercedes had been stored.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould be old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her tone told me it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recovered the memory card.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s video.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShort clips from the party that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pictured adults drinking, children downstairs, Brent\u2019s bottle.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it show him drinking?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relief and anger mixed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat proves Rick\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCraig.\u201d<\/p>\n
She interrupted gently.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne clip was recorded outside the party house around one thirty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mercedes is visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrent gets in?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramirez paused long enough for dread to become certainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura gets into the driver\u2019s seat.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could hear my pulse.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched the clip myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Rick said Brent was driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may still have been driving when the crash occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood, unable to remain seated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does the video show after Laura gets in?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrent approaches the passenger side.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she started driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen at some point they switched.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Laura\u2019s sentence.<\/p>\n
We weren\u2019t supposed to be on that road.<\/p>\n
I remembered Brent telling her she should have waited.<\/p>\n
Something had happened between the party house and the crash.<\/p>\n
Something neither of them had told police.<\/p>\n
And for the first time since the Mercedes arrived, I realized the lie about the deer might not even be the largest secret hidden inside that night.<\/p>\n
For the rest of Sunday, I kept waiting for some explanation that made Laura\u2019s phone call less damning. None came. Maybe she called Derek for an unrelated reason. Maybe she … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-sory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1106,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions\/1106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}