Chapter 3 - THE THINGS GREG SAID WHEN NORA WASN'T HOME
Nora did not defend Greg.
Not at first.
She simply sat beside Leo with both hands pressed between her knees as though she were afraid to reach for her own child.
"What exactly did he say about your dad?"
Leo stared toward the floor.
"That Dad went out on the boat because he needed a break from us."
Nora closed her eyes.
"No."
"He said if I hadn't been crying that morning, Dad would've stayed home."
"No."
The second answer came harder.
"He said Dad was tired of me."
"No."
Leo finally looked at her.
Nora was crying now.
"Your father loved you more than anything in the world."
"But he left."
"He went to work."
"You told him not to."
Nora's breath caught.
Leo continued.
"I heard you fighting."
The room seemed to shrink.
Nora looked around as if there were suddenly too many strangers present.
Evan rose.
"We can give you some privacy."
"No."
Nora's answer was immediate.
She looked at Ruiz.
"Please stay."
Then she turned to Leo.
"Yes. Your father and I argued that morning."
Leo's face tightened.
Nora forced herself not to look away.
"We were behind on bills. The weather was bad. I wanted him to wait a day. He said the crew needed him."
Leo whispered, "Greg said Dad went because he couldn't stand listening to me."
Nora covered her mouth.
Leo's father had died when Leo was five.
He had spent almost half his life carrying the belief that his crying had helped send his father onto the water that killed him.
Evan had treated broken bones, heart attacks, overdoses and car-crash injuries.
There was no scan for this.
No medication.
No quick repair.
Nora moved her chair closer by inches.
"Leo, look at me."
He hesitated.
"Your father did not die because of you."
Leo's eyes filled.
"He chose to go to work. That was an adult decision. Nothing you did made him leave that house."
"But Greg—"
"Greg lied."
The words clearly cost her something.
Not because she doubted them.
Because saying them meant accepting what kind of man she had brought into their home.
Officer Ruiz asked Nora when she had married Greg.
"Two years ago."
"How long had you known him?"
"About a year before that. He worked on a repair crew after Aaron's accident. They rebuilt part of the harbor offices. We met through people I knew."
"How was he with Leo initially?"
Nora gave a broken laugh.
"Perfect."
The word came out bitter.
"He packed lunches. Went to soccer games. Helped with homework. He told me Leo needed a man around."
Leo's head dropped.
"What changed?"
"I don't know."
Ruiz waited.
Nora stared at the wall.
"Maybe I do."
She began describing it slowly.
Greg did not start by locking doors.
He started by making himself useful.
Nora had been drowning after Aaron died.
Insurance forms.
Mortgage payments.
A five-year-old who woke crying every night.
Her own grief.
Her job at Columbia Bay Seafood's administrative office had expanded after staffing cuts, and she regularly worked ten-hour shifts during peak season.
Greg began picking Leo up from school.
Then doing the grocery shopping.
Then handling utility payments.
Then managing the family's online banking because Nora said she was tired of passwords and paperwork.
"About eight months ago," Nora said, "he convinced me to move to nights temporarily. The pay was better."
Ruiz asked, "Who suggested the shift?"
Nora stared at her.
"Greg."
Leo looked up.
"What?"
"He said it would help us catch up financially."
Sarah asked, "Did it?"
Nora didn't answer.
That silence was answer enough.
She looked at Leo.
"What happened when I worked nights?"
Leo's mouth tightened.
"Nothing."
Nora flinched.
It was the reflexive answer of a child who had learned that honesty had consequences.
She tried again.
"I'm not going home with Greg."
Leo looked at her.
"I'm staying with you."
His eyes moved to Ruiz.
Then Evan.
Still afraid to believe her.
Nora understood.
"What did he do?"
Leo stared at the blanket.
"If I got in trouble, I went outside."
"What does that mean?"
"The shed."
"How long?"
He shrugged.
"Until I was good."
Nora's eyes filled again.
"How long is that?"
"I don't know."
"An hour?"
Silence.
"Two?"
Silence.
"Leo."
"Sometimes until morning."
Nora made a sound Evan would remember for years.
Not a scream.
Not even a sob.
It was the sound of a parent discovering that ordinary nights had contained an entirely different life for her child.
She stood abruptly.
"Where is he?"
Ruiz moved between Nora and the door.
"He's being interviewed."
"I want to see him."
"Not right now."
Nora's hands shook.
"He locked my child outside overnight."
"We need you here."
"Why?"
"Because Leo needs you more than Greg needs your anger."
That stopped her.
Nora looked back at the bed.
Leo had curled inward.
She returned to the chair.
"I'm sorry."
Leo whispered, "I tried calling."
Nora's brow furrowed.
"When?"
"A lot."
"My phone never rang."
"He said you blocked the house number."
"I didn't."
Leo reached into his pocket.
This time, instead of a key, he pulled out a folded scrap of paper covered in pencil numbers.
Sarah unfolded it.
Dates.
Times.
November 3 — 10:41
November 6 — 11:13
November 11 — 12:08
November 12 — 12:22
At least seventeen entries.
"What are these?" Nora asked.
"Times I called you."
Nora stared.
"I never got any of these."
Leo swallowed.
"He showed me your phone."
Nora looked up sharply.
"What?"
"He showed me my name."
Leo's voice became smaller.
"And it said BLOCKED."
Nora took her phone from her purse.
Her hands moved quickly through the settings.
Then stopped.
Leo Harris.
Blocked.
Her son's number had been added to the blocked list.
She stared at it.
Ruiz asked quietly, "Did you do that?"
Nora shook her head.
"No."
There were other blocked numbers.
Leo's school.
The school counselor.
Nora's sister, Melissa.
A neighbor named June Porter.
All people who might have noticed something.
Nora's hand began trembling harder.
Greg had not simply hurt Leo when she was away.
He had built walls around both of them.
And now Nora finally understood why, for the past six months, her world had seemed strangely quiet.
No teacher calls.
No neighbor complaints.
No sister checking in.
No child asking when she would be home.
She had mistaken isolation for stability.
Then Officer Ruiz's radio crackled.
She listened.
Her eyes shifted toward the key.
"The officers at your house found the shed."
Nora stood.
Ruiz continued.
"The outside padlock was open."
Leo whispered, "I broke the bottom."
Ruiz looked at him.
"They also found a second locked box inside."
Everyone's attention moved toward the rusty key.
Nora stared at Leo.
"What box?"
Leo shook his head.
"I don't know."
Ruiz picked up the specimen cup.
"But Greg apparently does."
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Because the moment officers mentioned it, Greg had stopped asking to go home.
And started demanding a lawyer.
