● CHAPTER 8: The Woman Who Said He Was Nobody’s
Marla Voss was found before sunrise in a bus station restroom, wearing a red coat and carrying forty-three thousand dollars in cash.
Detective Cole delivered the news to Evelyn in the hotel library, where Ben had finally fallen asleep on a sofa with Oliver curled in an armchair beside him.
Evelyn looked at the sleeping boys before answering.
“Did she confess?”
“Not exactly,” Detective Cole said. “She claims she was paid to provide temporary foster care. She says Conrad told her the child had no family and that paperwork would follow.”
“Seven years of temporary care?”
The detective’s face darkened. “She’s changing her story every ten minutes.”
Evelyn’s gaze moved to Ben’s hospital bracelet. Even asleep, he kept his wrist tucked close to his chest.
“Can I see her?” she asked.
Detective Cole hesitated. “That may not be wise.”
“I’m not asking because it’s wise.”
Two hours later, Evelyn sat across from Marla Voss in a police interview room.
Marla was in her late fifties, with dyed black hair, nervous hands, and eyes that flicked constantly toward the camera in the corner. She did not look like a monster. That made Evelyn hate her more. Monsters should have the decency to be obvious.
Marla folded her arms. “I want a lawyer.”
“You should have one,” Evelyn said.
Marla blinked, surprised by the calm.
“I came here to ask one question,” Evelyn continued. “When he cried, what did you do?”
Marla looked away. “Kids cry.”
“What did you do?”
“I fed him. Sometimes.”
Evelyn leaned forward. “Did you ever tell him someone loved him?”
Marla’s mouth tightened.
“Did you ever tell him he belonged to anyone?”
“He was trouble,” Marla snapped. “Always staring at that hotel picture, always asking questions. Conrad said he was safer if he didn’t know.”
“Conrad said.”
“He paid on time.”
The simplicity of it stole the air from the room.
A child had lost a mother, a father, a name, a home, birthdays, bedtime stories, and seven winters because a woman was paid on time.
Evelyn stood.
Marla’s confidence faltered. “You rich people act like you’re different. But your family brought him to me. Your family did this.”
Evelyn looked at her. “No. My family is asleep in a hotel library holding a dinosaur and a dinner roll. You are what happened to him before he got back to us.”
Marla’s face reddened.
Evelyn walked to the door, then stopped.
“One more thing,” she said. “You told him he was nobody’s.”
Marla looked away.
“You were wrong.”
Back at the hotel, Ben woke before Evelyn returned. Oliver was already awake, pretending not to watch him.
“Did she leave?” Ben asked.
“Who?”
“Your mom.”
Oliver shook his head. “She went to talk to the bad lady.”
Ben sat up too quickly. “Why?”
“Because moms do that.”
Ben frowned.
Oliver considered this. “Well, good moms do.”
When Evelyn entered the library, Ben looked toward her with panic he tried to hide. She saw the question before he asked it.
“I came back,” she said.
He nodded, pretending that was not the answer he needed most in the world.
She sat beside him. “I spoke to Marla.”
Ben’s face closed.
“You never have to see her again unless you choose to,” Evelyn said.
His eyes lifted. “Choose?”
“Yes.”
The word seemed foreign to him.
Evelyn held out her hand, palm up, not demanding.
May you like
After a long pause, Ben placed his hand in hers.
For the first time, he did not flinch.
