Chapter 5: My Sister Knows
Dara arrived in twenty minutes.
She didn't ask questions on the phone — I'd said *I need you to take Kerensa for the night* and she'd said *I'm already getting my keys.*
She came through the front door, took one look at Kerensa's head, and her face went through three different things before she locked it down.
"Hey, baby," she said softly, holding her arms out.
"You want to come stay with Auntie Dara tonight?
I have that movie you like."
Kerensa looked at me.
I nodded.
She went to Dara without hesitation.
Dara looked at me over Kerensa's shoulder.
"You okay?"
"No."
"Do you need me to stay?"
"No.
Just take her.
Keep her phone away from Meliora if she calls."
Dara's eyes sharpened.
"Owen."
"I'll explain everything tomorrow.
Just go."
She went.
I stood at the door and watched the car until the tail lights disappeared around the corner.
Then I went back inside.
Linda was still at the kitchen table.
She'd made tea — found the kettle and the cups without asking.
She pushed one toward me when I sat down.
"She's safe," I said.
"Good." Linda wrapped both hands around her own cup.
"What are you going to do?"
"I made an appointment.
First thing tomorrow.
Family lawyer — a woman my colleague used last year."
"That was fast."
"I called while Dara was driving over." I looked at the table.
"I should have seen it sooner."
"Don't do that."
"She was afraid of her own mother, Linda.
In her own house.
For four months that you know of."
"You weren't here for those four months.
You were working.
You trusted your wife." She paused.
"That's not the same as failing your daughter."
I didn't answer.
The tea was too hot to drink but I held it anyway.
Meliora came out of the bedroom at half past nine.
She'd changed clothes.
She'd brushed her hair.
She walked into the kitchen like Linda wasn't there and opened the refrigerator.
"I'm hungry," she said.
"Is there anything that doesn't need cooking?"
Linda stood up.
"I'll leave you to it." She picked up her phone from the table — the one with the video on it — and looked at me.
"I'll send you the file tonight.
Keep it somewhere safe."
"Thank you, Linda."
She left through the front door.
Meliora watched her go and then turned back to the refrigerator.
"I want to talk about this rationally," Meliora said.
"When you're calm."
"I'm calm now."
"You called a lawyer, Owen.
That's not calm."
"It's practical."
She took out a block of cheese and set it on the counter.
"I love Kerensa."
"I know you believe that."
She turned around.
"What does that mean?"
"It means," I said carefully, "that loving someone and harming them aren't always opposites.
Sometimes people do both at the same time and only see one of them."
Her jaw tightened.
"I have never harmed that child."
"You told her strangers would take her from me if she cried."
"That was one time—"
"Linda has a video of you holding her wrist until she stopped struggling.
That wasn't one time.
That was a method."
The cheese sat on the counter between us.
She didn't pick up the knife.
"If you take this to a lawyer," she said quietly, "you will regret it."
I looked at her.
"Is that a threat?"
She didn't answer.
She picked up the cheese, put it back in the refrigerator, and walked to the bedroom.
The door clicked shut.
I sat alone in the kitchen for a long time.
Then I picked up my phone and forwarded Linda's video to my own email, my cloud drive, and my sister's number with a message that said: *Keep this safe.
Don't delete it.*
Three seconds later Dara replied: *Already saved.
She's asleep.
She asked if you were okay.*
I typed back: *Tell her yes.*
I put the phone face-down on the table.
Outside, a car went past.
The house was very quiet.
Then my phone buzzed again.
Not Dara this time.
An unknown number.
May you like
One message.
*You should ask her about the money.*
