Chapter 7: What Daniel Had Kept
"Tell me," I said.
Daniel took a breath.
"About two years ago," he said, "I ran into Vanessa.
Not at your house.
At a restaurant across town.
She was having lunch."
"Okay."
"She wasn't alone."
I waited.
"It was a man.
I didn't recognize him.
They were in a corner booth.
I almost went over to say hello and then I stopped because of the way they were sitting." He paused.
"It wasn't friendly, Marcus.
It was close.
She had her hand on the table and he was leaning toward her and they were talking the way people talk when they don't want to be overheard."
"Did she see you?"
"No.
I left.
I told myself it could have been a colleague.
A friend.
I didn't know.
And I didn't want to cause problems based on something I might have misread." He stopped.
"But then about six months later, I was at your house for dinner.
You were in the kitchen.
Vanessa's phone was on the table and it lit up with a message.
I wasn't trying to read it.
But it was right there."
"What did it say?"
"Just a name and two words.
The name was a man's name.
The message said: tonight still?"
The kitchen was very quiet.
"She picked it up fast," Daniel said.
"Turned it over.
Changed the subject.
I still didn't say anything.
I thought, it's not my marriage.
Maybe it's nothing.
Maybe I'm wrong." His voice tightened.
"I should have told you."
"What was the name?"
"Ryan."
I did not say anything for a moment.
"Vanessa has a colleague named Ryan," I said.
"She's mentioned him.
He works in her department."
"I know.
I looked him up after.
Same person, I think."
I stood up from the table.
"How long ago was the message?"
"About eighteen months ago."
Eighteen months.
The same window as Nia's notebook.
I did not know yet whether those two things were connected.
But the timing sat in my chest like something that did not want to be ignored.
"Thank you for telling me," I said.
"Marcus, I'm sorry I didn't—"
"You told me now.
That's what matters."
I ended the call.
I stood in the kitchen for a long time.
Then I heard Vanessa's footsteps on the stairs.
She came into the kitchen dressed to go out.
Coat on.
Keys in hand.
"I'm going to run some errands," she said.
Her voice was neutral.
Controlled.
"Before you go," I said.
"I want to ask you something."
She stopped.
"Who is Ryan?"
The keys in her hand went still.
One second.
Two.
"He's a colleague," she said.
"Just a colleague?"
Her eyes met mine.
Something passed through them.
A calculation.
A decision.
"Yes," she said.
"Just a colleague."
She walked to the door.
"Vanessa."
She stopped with her hand on the door handle.
"I spoke to Mrs.
Aldridge this morning," I said.
"She's documenting everything.
And I've read all of Nia's notebook.
All of it." I paused.
"If there's something you want to tell me before this goes further, now would be the time."
She stood with her back to me.
Her hand was still on the door handle.
"There's nothing to tell," she said.
She opened the door and walked out.
May you like
I watched the door close behind her.
Then I picked up my phone and called a family lawyer.
