Chapter 7: The Notebook
Detective Okafor brought a copy of the relevant pages to the hospital that afternoon.
She spread three photocopied sheets on the table in the consultation room.
Alejandro sat across from her.
Rosa sat beside him.
The handwriting was Valerie's.
He recognized it from grocery lists left on the kitchen counter, from the note she had tucked into his jacket pocket on their third date.
Neat, slightly slanted, the letters pressed hard into the page.
The first entry was dated four months ago — two months into the marriage.
*He's never going to let her go.
She's all he talks about.
Sophie this, Sophie that.
I thought it would get better once we were married.
It's worse.
I can't compete with a dead woman's child.*
Rosa made a sound low in her throat.
Alejandro kept reading.
*Diane says I need to be patient.
But I've been patient.
I've done everything right.
I cook, I clean, I smile at that little girl every single day even when she looks at me like I'm nothing.
She's eight years old and she looks at me like I'm nothing.*
He turned the page.
*Diane found something online.
She says if Sophie keeps getting sick, Alejandro will need me more.
He'll stop traveling so much.
He'll be home.
He'll see how much I do.*
Rosa's hand came down flat on the table.
"She planned it," Rosa said.
"From the beginning."
"Keep reading," Detective Okafor said quietly.
The next entry was from six weeks ago.
*Started the drops in the milk.
Sophie doesn't notice.
She just drinks it.
I feel terrible about it but I don't know what else to do.
He's barely looked at me in three weeks.
It's like I don't exist unless Sophie needs something.*
Then, two weeks later:
*Dr.
Harris called the house.
I told her Sophie had already started the antibiotics.
She believed me.
I threw the bottle in the trash at the gas station on Maple so Alejandro wouldn't find it.
Diane says to stay calm.
She says this will all work out.*
Then, one week ago:
*Sophie told him something.
I could see it in his face when he came home tonight.
He's watching me differently.
I need to be more careful.*
And then, three days ago — the last entry:
*She asked him to keep me out of her room.
I heard her through the door.
Eight years old and she's already trying to take him away from me.
I've given up everything for this family and she is going to ruin it.
I don't know how much longer I can do this.*
Alejandro set the pages down.
The room was very quiet.
"Diane knew," he said.
"We've arrested Diane Mercer as well," Detective Okafor said.
"She's being charged as an accessory.
The online research found on Sophie's tablet was conducted partly from Diane's home IP address.
We were able to confirm that this morning."
Rosa stood up slowly.
She walked to the window and stood with her back to them.
"My granddaughter," she said.
"Eight years old."
Her voice did not break.
But her shoulders rose once, sharply, and then were still.
Alejandro got up and stood beside her.
He did not say anything.
He put his arm around her and they stood at the window together.
Detective Okafor gave them a moment.
"The DA's office will be in touch with you directly," she said.
"The charges are serious.
Given the notebook, the lab results, and the search records, the case is strong." She paused.
"I want you to know — Sophie's testimony, when she's ready, will matter.
But you have enough without it.
She won't have to carry this alone."
Alejandro turned around.
"When can I take Sophie home?"
"Dr.
Harris said another two or three days, depending on how she responds to the antibiotics."
"The real ones," he said.
"Yes," Detective Okafor said.
"The real ones."
She gathered the photocopied pages and slid them back into her folder.
"You have my number," she said.
"Call me anytime."
She left.
Rosa turned from the window.
Her eyes were dry.
Her jaw was set.
"I want to go see Sophie," she said.
"Me too," Alejandro said.
They walked down the corridor together.
He pushed open the door to Sophie's room.
She was awake.
She was sitting up slightly against the pillow, the pink blanket across her lap, watching a cartoon on the room's small television with the sound turned low.
She looked at him.
"Hi, Daddy."
"Hi, princess."
He sat on the edge of the bed.
Rosa settled into the chair beside her.
"Is Valerie coming back?" Sophie asked.
He looked at his daughter.
At her pale face and her sunken eyes and the IV line taped to the back of her small hand.
"No," he said.
"She's not coming back."
Sophie looked at him for a long moment.
Then she reached over and took his hand.
She didn't say anything else.
May you like
She turned back to the cartoon.
But she held his hand, and she did not let go.
