Chapter 4 - What Helen Put in the Glass
By morning, Oliver's temperature had stabilized.
Emily had not slept.
Nathan and Helen remained at the hospital because police were still determining whether there was enough evidence for arrests.
The broken vial was being tested.
The restaurant was temporarily sealed around the private dining wing.
At 8:17 a.m., Officer Reyes returned.
He carried no notebook this time.
"Can we talk outside?"
Emily looked at Oliver.
A nurse was sitting with him.
"One minute."
In the hallway, Reyes spoke quietly.
"Preliminary test from the vial."
Emily waited.
"It contained clonazepam."
She knew the word.
"A sedative?"
"Yes."
"Why would Helen have that?"
"We're checking prescriptions."
Emily felt sick.
"Oliver said it wasn't for Nathan."
Reyes nodded.
"He said she mentioned you."
Emily thought about the altered reservation.
The empty chair.
Had Helen expected her to be there?
Maybe the plan had changed.
"Could she have planned to put it in my drink?"
"That's one possibility."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
Emily laughed once without humor.
"I can give you several reasons she hates me."
"Hate isn't usually enough for someone to drug another person."
"With Helen?"
Reyes watched her.
Emily folded her arms.
"She blamed me when Nathan moved out."
"Why?"
"Because I questioned missing money."
"How much?"
"Almost forty thousand from our account."
"And what did your husband say?"
"Investment."
"In what?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
Reyes looked toward Nathan's room.
"That's becoming interesting."
"Why?"
"We ran Meridian Shield."
"And?"
"On paper, it's a security company."
"On paper?"
"It has almost no legitimate operations."
Emily frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It bills companies for surveillance consulting, encrypted storage, internal investigations."
"Does Nathan actually do that?"
"We don't know yet."
"Who owns it?"
Reyes hesitated.
"Your mother-in-law."
Emily stared.
"Helen?"
"Sixty percent."
She laughed again.
This time it came from disbelief.
"Helen tells everyone she lives off Richard's pension."
Richard Moore, Nathan's father, had died five years earlier.
He had been a respected accountant.
A quiet man.
Emily had liked him.
Unlike Helen, Richard rarely judged anyone.
He had loved Oliver.
"He left her money," Emily said.
"Apparently more than money."
"What does that mean?"
Reyes looked toward the elevator.
"Detectives are coming from financial crimes."
Emily stared at him.
"Because my son was left outside?"
"Because the bottle, the cameras, and your husband's companies may connect to something bigger."
Before she could ask more, shouting erupted down the hall.
Helen.
"No!"
Two detectives stood outside her room.
Officer Han was placing handcuffs around Helen's wrists.
Emily stopped breathing.
Nathan appeared in the doorway.
"Mom!"
Helen looked at Emily.
Pure hatred filled her face.
"This is your fault."
Emily stepped closer.
"No."
She glanced through the glass at Oliver.
"This is yours."
Helen was taken away.
Nathan was not.
That bothered Emily.
He had known about the cameras.
He had allowed Oliver to be punished.
He admitted he knew Oliver was outside.
Yet he remained free.
Reyes saw her expression.
"We don't have enough to charge him yet."
"He left his son in freezing weather."
"He claims your mother-in-law told him Oliver had been brought back inside."
"That's a lie."
"We need evidence."
Emily looked toward Nathan.
"Then find it."
Nathan heard.
He walked toward her.
"Emily, please."
She raised one hand.
"Don't."
"I didn't know how cold he was."
"You knew he was outside."
"For a few minutes."
"You didn't even check."
"I was dealing with Mom."
"Oliver is your son."
Nathan lowered his voice.
"You don't understand what happened."
"Then explain it."
He glanced toward the officers.
"I can't."
Emily stared.
"Can't?"
"Not here."
"Why?"
Nathan stepped closer.
"Because you and Oliver aren't the only ones in danger."
The anger inside Emily paused.
"What are you talking about?"
Nathan's face was gray.
"For the next few days, don't go home."
"What?"
"Stay somewhere else."
"Nathan."
"Take Oliver and disappear."
She grabbed his sleeve.
"What did you do?"
He looked at her.
For perhaps the first time in their twelve-year relationship, she saw genuine terror.
"I found something in Dad's files after he died."
"What?"
"I thought it was money."
His eyes moved toward Helen being escorted into the elevator.
"It wasn't."
The doors closed behind her.
Nathan whispered, "And my mother has spent five years making sure nobody knows Oliver saw part of it."
Emily's skin prickled.
"What could Oliver possibly have seen?"
Nathan looked directly at her.
"Not last night."
May you like
He swallowed.
"Three years ago."
