Chapter 5 - What Evelyn Had Been Protecting
Evelyn moved into Sienna's apartment that afternoon.
Not permanently.
That was what she kept saying.
“I'll stay through the weekend.”
Then:
“Maybe until Laura is stronger.”
Then:
“I don't want to go back while Trina's there.”
Sienna stopped pretending the timeline mattered.
They packed three suitcases from Evelyn's guest room while Mark was at work.
The dining room remained untouched.
The extinguisher lay where police had photographed it.
The chair Trina had fallen against had been pushed back upright.
Someone had removed the chili jar.
Sienna noticed immediately.
“Where is it?”
Evelyn looked toward the kitchen.
“I don't know.”
Sienna called Mark.
He didn't answer.
She stood in the middle of the dining room and felt anger rise through her again.
Not because she needed the jar to prove what she'd seen.
Because somebody had looked at that room after Noah left and decided the first priority was removing the ugliest object.
Evelyn sat down.
“Sienna.”
“What?”
“I need to tell you something before somebody else does.”
Sienna turned.
Her grandmother folded her hands together.
“Your father didn't ask me to come here because Laura needed help.”
“What?”
“He called me the morning Laura went back to the hospital. He said Laura was talking about taking Noah to her sister's and limiting his time.”
“That sounds normal considering she was sick.”
“I thought so too.”
“But?”
“He was afraid she'd stop letting Noah stay here.”
Sienna waited.
“Why?”
Evelyn's eyes filled, but she blinked the tears away.
“Because Laura had already caught Trina shouting at him.”
Sienna stared at her.
“At Noah?”
“Not exactly. Noah was crying. Trina yelled from upstairs that Mark needed to make it stop or take the baby somewhere else.”
“And Laura heard?”
“She was on the phone.”
“When was this?”
“The week before she went back into the hospital.”
Sienna sat across from her.
“And you knew?”
“Mark told me afterward.”
“Why didn't you tell Laura?”
Evelyn looked toward the back door.
“Because your father said he'd handle it.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
That landed harder than Sienna expected.
Evelyn's voice dropped.
“After your parents divorced, I watched you stop speaking to him for almost a year. I thought if I kept pushing him, he'd shut me out too. And I told myself being in the house would protect Noah.”
She looked down at her bruised wrist.
“I thought staying close was the responsible thing.”
Sienna understood then.
Evelyn had not stayed silent because she didn't care.
She had stayed silent because she was afraid access was the only form of protection she had.
Mark had understood that fear.
And used it.
Before they left the house, Evelyn stopped at the back door.
“Yesterday, before Trina grabbed me...”
Sienna waited.
“I heard this door latch.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought someone had opened it.”
“Dad?”
“I don't know. I was on the floor.”
“But you heard it?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Right before Trina dragged me.”
Sienna looked through the glass toward the patio.
May you like
For the first time, she wondered whether Mark had come through that door later because he'd been arriving.
Or because he'd already been standing on the other side.
