Chapter 3 - The Story Evan Told
Police separated everyone.
Grace hated that immediately.
She wanted to stay beside Noah.
One officer, Sergeant Dana Miller, promised the paramedics would not leave without telling her.
“We need thirty seconds,” Dana said. “I need your brother’s account before everyone starts comparing stories.”
Grace looked toward the stretcher.
Noah was sitting slightly upright now, oxygen still on, one paramedic checking his pulse and blood pressure.
She nodded.
Evan gave his version first.
Noah had been rude to Carol.
Evan corrected him.
Noah shouted.
Evan grabbed his shoulders.
Noah pulled away and tripped into the coffee table.
Simple.
Accidental.
Regrettable.
Carol supported almost every word.
“He was upset,” she said. “Evan was trying to calm him.”
Grace stared at her mother.
“You watched?”
Carol looked wounded.
“Grace, don’t make this worse.”
That sentence almost broke whatever loyalty remained.
“Worse?”
Noah was going to the hospital.
The female paramedic called Grace over.
“We’re transporting him. His oxygen is improving, but he needs imaging.”
Grace grabbed her coat.
Daniel stepped toward Sergeant Miller first.
“Can I speak with you privately before we leave?”
Evan heard him.
His face tightened.
“What is this?”
Daniel ignored him.
Sergeant Miller moved a few feet away with Daniel.
Grace could not hear everything.
Only fragments.
“...different name…”
“...same age range…”
“...apartment call…”
“...child present…”
Then Daniel glanced toward Evan again.
Grace’s stomach turned.
She stepped closer.
“What happened last time?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“I need to be careful.”
“You recognized my brother.”
“Yes.”
“From where?”
He looked toward Noah.
Then toward the officer.
“About four years ago, my unit responded to a medical call involving a man who identified himself as Eric Bell.”
Evan’s face changed.
Carol whispered, “Oh, God.”
Grace heard her.
She turned.
“You know that name?”
Carol said nothing.
Evan stepped forward.
“This has nothing to do with Noah.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You said that last time too.”
The room became completely still.
Grace stared at her brother.
“What was last time?”
Evan looked toward Carol.
Not Grace.
Carol.
That told Grace more than she wanted to know.
Daniel finally answered.
“We transported a woman with injuries after an incident in an apartment. There was a boy there.”
Grace felt cold.
“What boy?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I never knew his identity.”
“Was Evan arrested?”
“I don’t know what happened after transport. I was EMS.”
Grace turned toward Evan.
“Were you there?”
He answered too quickly.
“No.”
Daniel said, “You spoke to me.”
Evan’s jaw tightened.
“You’re confused.”
“I’m not.”
Carol stepped between them.
“That was years ago.”
Grace looked at her mother.
The room disappeared around her.
“You knew.”
Carol closed her eyes.
May you like
And that was the moment Grace understood this was not the first secret.
It was only the first one nobody had managed to contain.
