Chapter 2
Marcus tried to leave.
That told me more than anything he could have said.
He took two steps toward the hospital doors before Dr. Bennett moved into his path.
"Sir, I think you should remain here."
Marcus straightened his jacket.
"I'm not under arrest."
"No," Dr. Bennett answered. "But this family is dealing with a death investigation."
I lifted my phone.
"And this man has been sending messages pretending to be me."
Marcus turned.
"Nia, you're making this sound worse than it is."
"Worse?"
My voice cracked.
"My daughter begged me to come. You told her I wasn't coming."
He glanced at the nurse.
"Can we please talk privately?"
"No."
"Nia."
"Everybody is going to hear what you did."
A hospital security officer approached.
Marcus suddenly changed his expression.
He looked wounded.
Concerned.
Almost offended.
"She's in shock," he told the officer. "Her daughter just died. She's confused."
I stared at him.
For three years, that voice had made me doubt myself.
Whenever money disappeared, I had misunderstood.
Whenever he stayed out all night, I was imagining things.
Whenever Maya complained about him, she was being dramatic.
Now he was trying the same trick in front of strangers.
I held up the screen.
"Look at these messages."
The officer didn't touch my phone.
Instead, he asked us to wait for the police.
Marcus folded his arms.
"You really want to do this?"
I looked him directly in the eyes.
"My daughter is dead."
He said nothing.
"There is nothing you can threaten me with that is worse than that."
His jaw tightened.
Within fifteen minutes, two detectives arrived.
The older one introduced herself as Detective Angela Price.
She was a Black woman in her forties with tired eyes and a calm voice.
Her partner, Detective Cole, carried a small notebook.
Detective Price guided me into a consultation room.
Marcus insisted on coming.
She stopped him at the door.
"I need to speak with Ms. Carter alone."
"I'm her boyfriend."
"That wasn't a request."
For the first time that afternoon, I felt somebody was standing between Marcus and me.
Detective Price sat across from me.
"Nia, I know this is difficult. But I need you to tell me everything."
I showed her both phones.
Both conversations.
Both deleted messages.
She studied the timestamps.
Then she asked a question I wasn't prepared for.
"Did Marcus have access to your passwords?"
I nodded.
"We live together."
"Does he know your daughter's passwords?"
"I don't think so."
"Did Maya have any reason to fear him?"
My mind traveled backward through months of memories.
Maya becoming quiet whenever Marcus entered a room.
Maya refusing to let him drive her to college.
Maya asking whether I had ever checked our bank statements.
I remembered getting irritated.
"Maya, Marcus loves us. Stop looking for problems."
The memory made me physically sick.
"She tried to tell me something," I whispered.
Detective Price waited.
"Two days ago, Maya said Marcus wasn't who I thought he was."
"What did you say?"
"I told her to respect him."
I covered my face.
"Oh, God."
Detective Price pushed a tissue box toward me.
"You didn't know what she was trying to tell you."
"I should have listened."
"We're going to find out what happened."
She asked about the previous night.
Marcus had come home around nine.
He seemed irritated.
Maya had been in her bedroom.
At approximately ten thirty, I heard them arguing in the kitchen.
When I entered, Marcus was standing close to her.
Too close.
Maya looked frightened.
He told me they had been discussing her college expenses.
Maya refused to explain.
I remembered her exact words.
"Mom, I need you to trust me tomorrow."
Tomorrow.
There had never been a tomorrow.
Detective Price wrote everything down.
Then she asked me whether Maya had called me after the argument.
I remembered another detail.
At breakfast, Marcus had handed me coffee.
He told me Maya had left early for class.
He also said my phone must have fallen somewhere in the house.
I searched every room.
He offered to call it.
Nothing rang.
Now I understood why.
He had turned it off.
Detective Price asked permission to preserve the messages as evidence.
I agreed immediately.
Then I asked about the accident.
Her expression became careful.
"Your daughter was found near the east entrance of a parking structure."
"Was she driving?"
"No."
I looked up.
"What?"
"She was on foot."
"Then why did the hospital say she was in an accident?"
"A vehicle struck her. The driver left the scene."
My hands began shaking again.
"Somebody hit her and drove away?"
"We're investigating."
"Was it Marcus?"
"We don't have enough evidence to answer that."
"But you think it's possible."
She didn't respond.
I knew what her silence meant.
A knock interrupted us.
Dr. Bennett entered.
He carried a clear plastic bag containing Maya's bracelet, keys, and a small silver necklace.
I recognized the necklace.
It held two tiny initials.
N and M.
Nia and Maya.
She had bought it with her first paycheck.
I pressed the bag against my chest.
Dr. Bennett looked at Detective Price.
"There is something else."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
He hesitated.
"Before Maya lost consciousness, she said something to one of the paramedics."
I stood.
"What did she say?"
He glanced at the detective.
"She said, 'He knows about the files.'"
The room went silent.
"What files?"
"We don't know."
Then Detective Price's phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
And slowly stood.
"Where?"
Her expression hardened.
"Secure the area. Don't let anyone touch it."
She ended the call.
I grabbed her sleeve.
"What happened?"
She looked at me.
"Hospital security found something in the parking garage."
"What?"
"A broken gold cufflink beside the place your daughter was struck."
I stopped breathing.
Marcus owned gold cufflinks.
May you like
I had given them to him on our anniversary.
And that morning, when he left the house, I noticed one was missing.
