Chapter 4 - The Sister Who Had Looked Away
Rachel stayed at the hospital until after midnight.
The investigators did not hand Eli over to her instantly.
There were procedures.
Background checks.
Interviews.
A safety plan.
Questions about Rachel’s home, work schedule, husband, and teenage daughter.
Martha called all of it kidnapping.
Rachel refused to argue.
Instead she began thinking backward.
Three months earlier, Martha had asked whether Rachel still knew anyone at the accounting firm where she once worked.
“I might need help estimating future care costs for Eli.”
Rachel had laughed.
“For what?”
“He’s been having trouble with his hand.”
This was before the playground fall.
At least before the fracture Rachel knew about.
Another memory followed.
A family dinner two weeks after Eli received the cast.
Martha had asked him to show everyone his fingers.
They looked slightly swollen.
Their mother, Evelyn, had worried.
Martha rolled her eyes.
“He loves attention.”
Everyone laughed nervously.
Even Rachel.
Eli pulled his hand under the table.
Rachel remembered his face now.
Not embarrassed.
Defeated.
At 1:20 a.m., Rachel found Martha sitting alone near the vending machines.
“Tell me about the lawsuit.”
Martha rubbed her temples.
“Not now.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s not a lawsuit yet.”
“Then what is it?”
“A claim.”
“Against whom?”
“The orthopedic group.”
“For what?”
Martha lowered her voice.
“For negligent treatment.”
Rachel almost laughed.
“He broke his arm five weeks ago.”
“The first urgent-care doctor wrapped it too tightly.”
“Did they?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was your scarf under the cast today?”
Martha stared at her.
“That was to stabilize it.”
“Under the padding?”
“You’re not a doctor.”
“No. Sarah is.”
Martha’s expression sharpened.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Rachel stepped back.
“What?”
“You’ve always loved it when I mess up.”
There it was.
The oldest family weapon.
Change the subject.
Make the accuser defend herself.
Rachel had fallen for it since childhood.
Not tonight.
“What did you do to Eli?”
Martha’s eyes filled.
“I am trying to keep a roof over his head.”
Rachel stopped.
The phrase matched what Eli had said.
“If he tells the truth, we lose the house.”
Martha realized it too.
Her tears disappeared.
“What did he say?”
Rachel did not answer.
That was the first time in forty years she watched her sister lose control of a conversation.
It frightened Martha.
Rachel could see it.
At 2:05 a.m., Rachel called their mother.
Evelyn answered groggily.
“What happened?”
“Mom, has Martha borrowed money from you?”
Silence.
Then:
“How much do you know?”
Rachel looked through the glass toward Eli’s room.
May you like
Apparently not enough.
Because their mother had been protecting Martha too.
