Chapter 8 - The Things He Called Protection
The medication had not been prescribed to Graham. The pharmacy records showed that Natalie’s refill history had been manipulated. Two prescriptions had been collected by someone using Graham’s identification. He had not drugged her every night.
That would have been easier to prove and easier to understand. He had done it when he needed her quiet. When he needed her to miss an appointment. When he needed a photograph of her sleeping beside an unfinished glass of wine.
At the station, Graham refused to speak without counsel. Natalie sat in an interview room with Tessa, Detective Reed, and Sienna. Piper was with Denise Alvarez in a private office down the hall.
“You don’t have to stay,” Tessa told Sienna.
“I do.”
“You are a witness and a suspect.”
“I know.”
Reed placed a stack of documents on the table.
“The loan against the house is real. So is the forged signature. Graham transferred the money through three accounts.”
“Where did it go?”
Natalie asked.
“Some went to the debt. Some went to a private investigator. Some went to an attorney.”
“Mara Voss.”
Reed nodded.
“She specializes in high-conflict custody cases.”
Tessa looked at Natalie.
“He was preparing before the recordings began.”
Omar joined them by video from a secure terminal.
“I recovered another file from the thermostat server.”
He played it. Graham’s voice filled the room.
“She’ll fight if you push her.”
Sienna answered, “Then don’t push her.”
“I need her to believe the idea was hers.”
“What idea?”
“That she should take a break. Leave the house. Give me temporary custody.”
“She won’t agree.”
“Everyone agrees eventually.”
The recording continued.
“What about Piper?”
“Piper will adjust.”
Sienna said, “She loves her mother.”
“Love is not a legal category.”
Natalie pressed her fingers against her mouth. Omar paused the file.
“There’s a time gap of thirty-eight seconds.”
“Can you recover it?”
Reed asked.
“Maybe.”
He worked while the others waited. At last, the missing audio played. Graham’s voice was quieter.
“If Natalie remembers the fire, she’ll destroy everything.”
Sienna replied, “She was a child.”
“She was a witness.”
“To your father.”
“To all of us.”
There was a long silence.
Then Graham said, “I married her because I thought she would forget.”
Natalie felt something inside her go still. Sienna looked at her.
“I didn’t know that.”
Graham continued on the recording.
“For years, she remembered only pieces. I gave her a life that was easier to believe.”
“You loved her,” Sienna said.
“I did.”
“That doesn’t make this right.”
“It makes it necessary.”
The file ended. Reed turned off the monitor. Natalie stared at the blank screen.
“Did he marry me to control me?”
Tessa answered carefully.
“He may have loved you and still chosen to control you. Those things can exist together. That is what makes it dangerous.”
The door opened. Denise stepped inside.
“Piper wants her mother.”
Natalie rose. Before leaving, she looked at Sienna.
“You said Graham told you the records would clear Della.”
“He had copies.”
“Where are they?”
Sienna shook her head.
“I never found them.”
Omar spoke from the monitor.
“Actually, I may have.”
He displayed a file path. The files had been stored inside the smart-home system under an innocuous label: HOME_AUDIO_ARCHIVE. There were hundreds of recordings, going back twenty-one years. Natalie saw the earliest date.
June 14, 1998. The night of the fire. Omar opened the file. For several seconds there was only static.
Then a child’s voice whispered, “Please open the door.”
Wren.
A man answered, “You need to learn what happens when you disobey.”
The recording ended with a metallic click. Reed looked at Natalie.
“That is enough to reopen the criminal investigation.”
Natalie could barely speak.
“Who installed the system?”
Omar checked the record.
“Leonard Pierce.”
The next file began automatically.
Claire’s voice said, “Natalie saw you.”
Leonard answered, “Then make sure she never remembers.”
May you like
A third voice entered. Graham, age twelve.
“I’ll tell her she did it.”
