“Did you know she planned to use my house?”
“No.”
“Did you know she took forty-five thousand dollars?”
His eyes filled.
“I knew she wanted to borrow against the account.”
“Did you sign anyway?”
David’s silence answered before his words did.
“I thought we would repay it.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
The Christmas lights reflected red and gold across the darkness beneath her lids.
When she opened them, David was still standing there, but he looked younger than forty-one. He looked like the boy who had once waited beside her hospital bed when his father died, holding a paper cup of water with both hands because he was afraid of spilling it.
She had spent years protecting that boy from consequences.
She understood, at last, that she had protected him from becoming honest.
“You betrayed me,” she said.
David’s chin trembled.
“I know.”
Jessica grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t let her do this to us.”
He pulled away.
She stared at him as though he had struck her.
“You said we were a team.”
“I thought we were.”
“You promised we would have this house.”
“I never promised you that.”
“You promised me everything would be fixed.”
David looked toward Eleanor.
“No. I promised you I would find a way. That was the problem.”
Mark stepped closer to Eleanor.
“Mom, you don’t have to stay in this room.”
“Yes, I do,” she said.
She took the bank records from the console and held them against her chest.
“I have spent six days wondering whether I was imagining things. I have spent months wondering whether I was being pushed out because I had become difficult. I will not leave while they decide what happened to me.”
Jessica’s eyes narrowed.
“You always wanted control.”
“No,” Eleanor said. “I wanted the truth.”
Martin’s phone rang.
This time, he answered.
“Martin Hale.”
He listened for several seconds, then looked at Eleanor.
“The bank has frozen the transfer. The remaining funds are secured. The investigator has also confirmed that the authorization was submitted from an address associated with Jessica’s laptop.”
