Chapter 10 - The Tea
The laboratory report arrived the following morning.
Detective Reed called Adrian first.
Then he asked Adrian to bring Clara to the station.
Clara agreed only because the evidence involved Emma.
They sat across from Reed in an interview room.
Reed placed the report on the table.
“The supplements Vanessa gave you contained a prescription sedative.”
Adrian stared at him.
“What?”
“Low doses.”
Clara’s face tightened.
“Enough to hurt him?”
“Over time, enough to cause fatigue, confusion, impaired judgment, and memory problems.”
Adrian remembered missing meetings.
Forgetting conversations.
Losing his temper more easily.
Vanessa always blamed grief.
Then stress.
Then lack of sleep.
“She was drugging me.”
“It appears so.”
Adrian stood.
Clara reached toward him instinctively.
Then stopped before touching his arm.
He noticed.
Again, the distance between them felt deserved.
“Why?”
Reed answered.
“Martin says the original plan was to create medical records suggesting cognitive decline.”
Adrian sat again.
“He wanted me declared incompetent.”
“He says Vanessa did.”
Reed slid another document across the table.
It was a draft petition.
Adrian Mercer suffered from severe cognitive impairment and presented a danger to himself and his children.
The petition requested temporary financial authority.
The proposed petitioner was Vanessa Cole.
Clara stared at the page.
“She was going to take everything.”
“She was going to take the girls.”
Adrian’s voice changed on the word girls.
Reed nodded.
“If the court accepted the petition.”
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
“And Clara?”
“Martin claims Vanessa needed Ms. Bennett removed before filing.”
Clara looked down.
“Because Rachel named me.”
“Yes.”
Reed hesitated.
“There’s another part.”
Nobody spoke.
“Martin says Vanessa didn’t expect the stroller to go down the stairs.”
Adrian looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“He says she intended to push it only far enough to create panic.”
Clara’s voice was cold.
“There is no safe way to push a stroller toward stairs.”
“I agree.”
Reed continued.
“According to Martin, Vanessa planned to scream before it reached the edge.”
“But Clara came into the hallway.”
“Yes.”
Clara remembered the moment.
Vanessa’s face when she saw her.
Not surprise.
Annoyance.
Vanessa had lost control of the scene.
So she adapted.
She let the stroller keep moving.
“She could have stopped it.”
Clara whispered.
“Yes.”
Adrian pressed his palms against the table.
He imagined Emma inside the stroller.
One more second.
One missed grip.
One step too far.
He stood again.
This time Reed blocked the door.
“Do not go near Vanessa.”
“Where is she?”
“We know where she is.”
“Then arrest her.”
“We’re building the strongest case we can.”
“She pushed my baby.”
“And we need evidence that survives court.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Reed’s voice remained calm.
“Your anger already hurt one innocent person.”
Adrian froze.
Clara looked at Reed.
Then at Adrian.
Reed had said what no one else wanted to say.
Adrian sat down.
“You’re right.”
It cost him something to say it.
That was the point.
After the meeting, Clara walked toward the parking lot.
Adrian followed at a distance.
“Clara.”
She stopped.
“I won’t ask you to come back.”
“Good.”
“But I want to pay for your medical care.”
“I can pay for it.”
“I know.”
She turned.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing.”
For the first time, Adrian meant it.
“I just want to tell you that I understand an apology isn’t a debt you owe me forgiveness for.”
Clara studied him.
His face looked older than it had two days earlier.
“I don’t hate you.”
“That almost makes it worse.”
“You failed me.”
“I know.”
Clara opened her car door.
“But you can still choose not to fail Olivia and Emma.”
Adrian nodded.
Clara got inside.
Before she closed the door, she looked at him.
“And Adrian?”
“Yes?”
“Vanessa knew exactly how to make you angry.”
May you like
He waited.
“Figure out why before someone else learns how to do it.”
