Chapter 6: What His Mother Said
They brought her into a room with a long window along one wall.
She was still wearing the clothes she'd had on the night before.
Her hair was loose.
She looked older than she had yesterday — or maybe Marcus was just seeing her differently now.
A uniformed officer stood near the door.
Detective Reyes sat to one side, notepad open.
His mother — her name was Evelyn — sat down across from Marcus.
She folded her hands on the table the way she always had at the dinner table when she wanted to appear composed.
"Marcus," she said.
"Don't," he said.
She stopped.
"I'm not here to listen to an explanation," he said.
"I'm here because I want you to look at me and tell me you understood what you were doing to her."
Evelyn's chin lifted slightly.
"It was play.
She was never in real danger.
The darts were toys—"
"She was tied to a chair, Mom."
"It was a game—"
"She begged you to stop." His voice stayed level.
"I heard it on the video.
She said please.
She said it was hurting.
And you laughed."
Evelyn looked at her hands.
"I never meant for it to go this far."
"How far did you mean for it to go?"
She didn't answer.
"The phone," Marcus said.
"The second phone hidden in the closet.
That wasn't an accident.
That wasn't a game that got out of hand.
Someone planned that.
Someone bought a separate phone and hid it and sent those videos out to three different numbers over two years.
Who planned that?"
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
"Your wife thought it would be—"
"Don't put this on Sandra."
"I'm not putting anything anywhere.
I'm telling you it was Sandra's idea to keep a record.
She thought it was funny.
She wanted to share it."
"And you went along with it."
"I didn't think—"
"You didn't think." He leaned forward.
"Mom.
Lily told the caseworker she stayed quiet because she didn't want you to have to go home.
She thought you loved her.
She protected you."
Evelyn's composure cracked.
Just at the edges.
Her eyes went wet.
"I do love her," she said.
"Then what you did to someone you love should terrify you."
She pressed her lips together.
"Who is Greg Paulson?" Marcus said.
The shift in her expression was small.
But it was there.
"He's Sandra's friend."
"I know that.
What else?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Mom." He kept his eyes on her face.
"A prepaid phone was used to receive those videos.
It was active in my neighborhood six times while I was at work.
Greg Paulson came to my house once a month.
I need you to tell me right now what you know about him."
Evelyn looked at the table.
"Mom."
"I don't know what he did with them," she said quietly.
Marcus went still.
"So you knew he was receiving them."
She didn't answer.
Her silence was the answer.
Marcus stood up.
The chair scraped back.
"I'm done," he said to Detective Reyes.
Reyes nodded and stood as well.
Evelyn looked up at him.
"Marcus, I'm sorry—"
He walked to the door.
"Marcus, please—"
He stopped with his hand on the frame.
He didn't turn around.
"The only person in that family whose name I want to hear right now is Lily's," he said.
He walked out.
May you like
Behind him, he heard his mother start to cry.
He kept walking.
