Chapter 4: The Secret Phone
The police arrived at Marcus’s house before he did.
Renee stayed at the hospital with Nia while Marcus met two officers at the front door shortly after four in the morning.
Jordan was sitting on the staircase.
He looked younger than sixteen.
His shoulders were curled inward, and his face was pale.
One officer searched the upstairs bedroom while another spoke with Marcus in the kitchen.
“Your wife owns a vehicle?””
“Yes.””
He gave the officer the make, model, color, and license plate.
“We’ve issued information to patrol units.””
Marcus nodded.
His eyes kept moving toward Jordan.
“Can I talk to him?””
The officer looked at the teenager.
“As his legal guardian, yes. But don’t coach him or threaten him.””
Marcus almost laughed.
Threaten him?
Hours earlier, he had wanted to punish Jordan for destroying a television.
Now the TV seemed like the least important object in the world.
He sat across from Jordan.
“Tell me everything.””
Jordan rubbed his palms against his sweatpants.
“I don’t know everything.””
“Then tell me what you do know.””
Jordan swallowed.
“Mom always thought you loved Nia more.””
Marcus frowned.
“She’s my daughter.””
“I know.””
“No. Explain what you mean.””
Jordan looked embarrassed.
“She said after she married you, we’d finally have a real family. But everything was about Nia.””
“That isn’t true.””
Jordan gave a small shrug.
“Mom thought it was.””
Marcus said nothing.
Jordan continued.
“If I got in trouble, Mom said it would ruin everything.””
“What would ruin everything?””
“You thinking I was bad.””
“So she blamed Nia?””
“At first it was small stuff.””
The same phrase everyone used when explaining how terrible things began.
Small stuff.
“Like what?””
“The vase.””
Marcus’s stomach tightened.
“You broke it?””
Jordan nodded.
“And the missing money?””
Jordan stared at the table.
“Yes.””
“The car?””
“I scratched it with my bike.””
Marcus leaned back.
Every accusation.
Every lecture he had given Nia.
Every time she cried while insisting she was innocent.
He remembered telling her that lying was worse than making mistakes.
The shame nearly made him sick.
“Why did she put pills in Nia’s backpack?””
Jordan looked up quickly.
“I didn’t know about that.””
“Don’t lie to me again.””
“I’m not!””
Marcus studied him.
Jordan looked genuinely terrified.
“Did your mother ever give Nia medicine?””
“I don’t know.””
“What did she put in Nia’s juice tonight?””
“I didn’t see her put anything.””
“Did you know the juice tasted strange?””
“No!””
Jordan stood abruptly.
“I didn’t know she was going to pass out!””
One of the officers looked over.
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Sit down.””
Jordan sat.
Tears filled his eyes.
“She was just supposed to get sleepy.””
Marcus stopped.
The kitchen became perfectly silent.
“What did you just say?””
Jordan realized his mistake.
“I…”
Marcus leaned forward.
“You said she was just supposed to get sleepy.””
Jordan began shaking his head.
“I didn’t mean—”
“What was supposed to happen?””
Jordan covered his face.
The officer moved closer.
“Jordan, you need to answer.””
His shoulders shook.
Finally he whispered, “Mom said Nia had been snooping.””
“Snooping into what?”” Marcus asked.
“My stuff. Mom’s room. I don’t know.””
“What did she plan?””
Jordan wiped his face.
“She said she needed Nia to sleep so she could search her room.””
Marcus stared.
“And the pills in the backpack?””
“I swear, I didn’t know.””
“What was she searching for?””
“The phone.””
The old phone.
Marcus remembered Nia saying Vanessa told her nobody would believe her.
Maybe Nia had found another way to be believed.
“Where did she get it?””
“I don’t know.””
Jordan looked toward the stairs.
“But Mom had been looking for it for weeks.””
One officer came downstairs holding a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a charger.
But no phone.
“We found this under the bed,” he said.
Marcus examined it.
An old charging cable.
Jordan nodded.
“That was probably for it.””
Marcus took out his own phone.
He called Renee.
She answered immediately.
“How’s Nia?””
“Awake.””
“Ask her about the old phone.””
Silence.
“What old phone?””
“The one under her mattress.””
A few minutes later, Renee called back.
Her voice sounded different.
“She says it belonged to her mother.””
Marcus stopped moving.
Nia’s mother.
Danielle.
Marcus’s first wife had died when Nia was five.
Cancer.
She had used an older smartphone during the final year of her life, mostly because she hated upgrading technology.
Marcus had packed it away after her death.
Or thought he had.
“Why did Nia have it?””
“She found it in a box last year.””
“And what was on it?””
“Marcus…”
“What?””
“Nia has been recording things.””
His heart pounded.
“Recording what?””
“Vanessa.””
Thirty minutes later Marcus returned to the hospital.
Nia looked exhausted.
But when he entered, she reached for him.
He sat beside her.
“Where’s Mama’s phone?””
Nia’s face changed.
“Vanessa took it.””
“I know.””
Marcus tried to keep his voice calm.
“What did you record?””
Nia glanced toward Renee.
Then back to him.
“The things she said when you weren’t home.””
“What things?””
Nia hesitated.
“She told Jordan to blame me.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Do you remember exactly?””
“I recorded it.””
“What else?””
Nia looked frightened again.
“She talked on the phone.””
“To who?””
“I don’t know.””
“What did she say?””
Nia’s voice dropped.
“She said once you trusted her enough, everything would belong to all of us.””
Marcus frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“I don’t know.””
“Anything else?””
Nia’s lips trembled.
“She said if I kept causing problems, maybe you’d send me to Grandma.””
Marcus felt the air leave his chest.
“I would never do that.””
“I know.””
But she hadn’t always known.
That was the wound.
Nia reached toward the bedside drawer.
Renee looked surprised.
“Nia?””
The girl opened it.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Marcus stared.
“What is that?””
Nia looked at him.
“I took it out of Mama’s phone before Vanessa found it.””
Marcus stared at his nine-year-old daughter.
Even frightened, even disbelieved, she had protected the evidence.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
May you like
Nia’s answer was quiet.
“Because I needed proof first.””
