Chapter 30
My father did not ask me to forgive him.
That saved him.
He sat in the library after the recording ended and looked ten years older.
“I thought grief made me weak,” he said. “So I acted strong.”
“You acted scared.”
“Yes.”
I expected denial.
He gave none.
That made my anger harder to hold, but not impossible.
“You paid Martin to vanish.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about Selene?”
“I suspected.”
“And Lacey?”
“No.”
I believed that.
It did not make it better.
Evelyn sent the recording to the police, then to prosecutors handling my mother’s reopened case.
Ana gave a statement.
The investigation became official.
Martin Vale was detained in Lisbon within forty-eight hours.
Selene Vale was arrested in Miami.
Graham Vale surrendered after his office was searched.
Lacey remained missing.
Damon tried to negotiate.
He claimed Lacey manipulated him.
He claimed he never knew about my mother.
He claimed the kennel was a “marital misunderstanding.”
The prosecutor laughed when Evelyn told us that.
I did not.
I had stopped finding any of it absurd.
Cruelty often sounds ridiculous when spoken clearly.
That does not make it harmless.
My doctor put me on bed rest.
Stress.
Blood pressure.
Risk of early labor.
I hated my body for needing rest while my life demanded war.
Then my father placed a bassinet catalogue beside my tea.
“Choose one.”
I stared at him.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“We are in the middle of a criminal conspiracy.”
“My granddaughter still needs somewhere to sleep.”
I laughed.
Then cried.
Then laughed again.
We chose a white bassinet with little carved stars.
My mother loved stars.
I had forgotten that until then.
That night, I dreamed of her.
She stood beside a door I could not open.
In her hand was a brass key.
When I woke, pain tightened around my belly.
I pressed the call button.
My father ran in barefoot.
“Clara?”
May you like
I looked at him, terrified.
“The baby.”
