Back to the Wall
Chapter 10 - Back to the Wall
They found Eli sitting against the same brick wall.
Barefoot.
Freezing.
Owen reached him first.
He took off his coat and wrapped it around his brother.
Eli did not resist.
Claire stopped several feet away.
“I thought everything would be better,” Eli said.
Claire crouched.
“It can be.”
“Owen hates me.”
“I don’t hate you,” Owen said.
“You cried because of me.”
“I cry because of math too.”
Eli almost smiled.
Then his face collapsed.
“Your dad sleeps downstairs now.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Children noticed everything.
“That isn't because of you.”
“Your grandma got arrested because of me.”
“Because of choices she made.”
“You fight because of me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Claire moved closer.
“We fight because adults kept secrets.”
Eli stared at her.
“You didn't do any of that.”
“I came back.”
“You were found.”
He shook his head.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Claire took his cold hands.
“You survived.”
The word seemed to frighten him.
Claire squeezed his fingers.
“That is not something you apologize for.”
Owen sat on his other side.
For several minutes, the three of them remained against the wall.
Cars passed.
Snow fell.
Nobody spoke.
Then Eli whispered, “Can I be Eli at home?”
Claire smiled through tears.
“Yes.”
“And Noah too?”
“Whenever you want.”
Owen nodded seriously.
“I can call you Butthead.”
Eli laughed.
A real laugh.
Claire heard it for the first time.
She began laughing too.
Then her phone rang.
Detective Alvarez.
Claire answered.
“We found the investigator Daniel hired three years ago.”
Claire looked toward Daniel, standing near the alley entrance.
“Where?”
“Michigan.”
“Did he take Daniel's money?”
“Yes.”
Claire's stomach sank.
“But there's more.”
Alvarez paused.
“He didn’t disappear because he was a fraud.”
Claire stood.
“Why did he disappear?”
“Someone threatened his daughter.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
“Who?”
“We traced the payment.”
Claire waited.
“It wasn't Evelyn.”
Claire felt the ground shift beneath her again.
May you like
The detective continued.
“The money came from your husband.”
