Chapter 6: The Watch On My Wrist
The sheriff's line had gone quiet and I didn't hang up right away. I left the phone face-down on the desk and let it sit there, dark. Lily was still tucked against my side where I'd knelt down to hold her, her forehead pressed to my shoulder. The study felt too warm. The decanter on the desk caught the daylight and threw a thin amber stripe across the open book.
I should have been moving. Instead I waited. That's what you do when you call the county — you wait for them to call back.
Lily shifted. Her breathing had slowed but her hands hadn't let go of my jacket. She stared at my left wrist where my hand rested on her back. The gold watch was right there in her eyeline.
"That one," she whispered.
I looked down.
"Your tick-tock," she said. She touched it with two fingers, light, like she was afraid it would buzz. "Mommy has one like it."
My chest tightened before my brain caught up. "She does?"
Lily nodded against me. Her voice was small and matter-of-fact, the way kids are when they're not trying to tell a story, just naming something they know. "For work. You gave it."
I had. Two months back, at the foundation dinner. We gave service awards in the ballroom and Elena Ruiz had stood on that stage in a navy dress she kept tugging at the sleeves of, uncomfortable being looked at. I'd handed her the box myself. Same gold case, same dark face, engraved on the back: For dedication — J.M. She'd laughed and said she didn't need something that fancy to clean up after us. I'd told her it wasn't fancy, it was on time.
I could see that watch on her wrist in the photo we used for the program. I kept a printed copy in the top drawer of the desk, under the checkbook. I reached for it without letting go of Lily, slid the drawer open with my right hand and lifted the photo out one-handed.
Lily watched. She didn't get off my lap.
In the picture Elena was smiling, holding the little plaque, both hands visible on either side of it. The watch was there on her left wrist, catching the ballroom light.
I flipped the photo over. Nothing on the back. When I turned it again I wasn't looking at Elena's face anymore. I was looking at the watch. Then I was thinking about the last time I'd seen Elena, two days ago in the kitchen doorway before she left. She'd been rubbing her wrist. No watch. I'd thought it was a rash from cleaning gloves. I hadn't asked.
"You remember when Mommy wore hers last?" I asked Lily. I kept my voice low.
She frowned at the photo, then at my watch again. "At home."
Vic's voice came from outside, not words, just a low cough and the sound of a car door closing. He was still by the SUV. Through the diamond leaded glass I could see his shape, not moving much. I didn't turn my head toward the doors.
Two weeks ago Vic had asked for the spare set of mansion keys. Said he lost his fob getting gas on the highway and needed to move the SUV for the landscapers while I was out. I'd handed him the spare from the desk and told him to leave it back in the drawer. He said he did. I never checked. I never checked a lot of things when Vic said them.
I shifted Lily just enough to get my hand into that desk drawer again. The drawer stuck a little on the wood. Inside was the checkbook, a stack of foundation envelopes, the paperweight, a spare pen. The little brass hook on the back wall of the drawer where the spare key always hung was empty.
I stared at it. The hook was clean, no dust around it. Someone had lifted the key off recently and not put it back.
My watch ticked. Lily's fingers were still on it.
"Did Mommy leave her tick-tock here?" she asked.
I closed the drawer slow so it wouldn't slam. The air in the study didn't move. The light through the arched doors laid a grid of diamonds across the rug and up Lily's white tights.
"No, baby," I said. "I don't think she did."
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That was the moment it flipped. Not the accusation through the glass, not the way Vic had stood there saying Afternoon, boss like he owned the driveway. It was that empty hook. That meant Vic could have come in when we weren't here. Could have taken the watch off a counter, off a wrist. Could have taken Elena.
I pulled Lily in a little closer and rested my tattooed hand over her back so my watch was hidden under her dress. She couldn't see it and Vic couldn't see us seeing it. Outside, Vic's shadow moved again behind the leaded glass, just a half step closer to the doors, waiting to be called in.
