Chapter 6 - The Missing Money
Linda stopped when she saw Officer Ruiz.
The hospital security guard behind her stopped too.
“I’m here to see my daughter-in-law,” Linda said.
Emily’s whole body went rigid.
Sarah stepped between the bed and the door.
“No.”
Linda gave her a thin smile. “This is family.”
Ruiz stood.
“Mrs. Harper, you were asked to remain available for questioning.”
“I was. I am.”
“Then why are you here?”
Linda looked at Emily.
“To make sure she doesn’t destroy her own marriage over an argument.”
Sarah laughed once.
It sounded nothing like humor.
“You stood outside a shed while your son threatened her.”
Linda’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t understand my son.”
“No,” Emily said quietly. “You made sure no one did.”
Linda turned toward her.
For the first time that day, Emily did not look away.
Officer Ruiz asked, “Do you know anything about a missing fifty thousand dollars?”
Linda blinked.
Too slowly.
Emily noticed.
So did Sarah.
Ruiz did not move.
“Mrs. Harper?”
Linda adjusted the strap of her purse.
“Grant handles their finances.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I don’t know anything about Emily’s secret accounts.”
Emily’s heart thudded.
She had never told Linda the account was secret.
Sarah heard it too.
“How did you know it was secret?”
Linda’s face hardened.
“Grant told me.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Emily shook her head.
“Grant didn’t know until three this afternoon.”
The room went silent.
Linda looked toward the door.
Ruiz stepped into the opening.
“Please stay.”
Linda lifted her chin. “Am I under arrest?”
“Not at this moment.”
“Then move.”
Ruiz did not.
A hospital security officer appeared behind her.
Emily felt something she had not felt in years.
Not safety.
Not yet.
Possibility.
Ruiz asked one more question.
“Where were you yesterday morning between nine and eleven?”
Linda’s lips parted.
Then Ellie, still sitting in the chair, looked down at her phone.
She opened another recording.
A woman’s voice came through the speaker.
Linda’s voice.
“Grant, once the money clears, she won’t have anywhere to go.”
The recording ended.
Linda went pale.
Sarah whispered, “You stole it together.”
Linda looked at Emily.
May you like
And smiled.
“You still don’t know where it went.”
