Page 60
Story: The Angel Maker
“I’m surprised you don’t already know, since apparently you’re Sherlock fucking Holmes now.”
“Who’s Nathaniel Leland?”
She looked away to one side for a moment and then back at him again.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the day care?” she said.
“What?”
“About the red car the children saw.”
He stared at her, momentarily confused. Then he shook his head.
“Honestly? Because I knew you’d be like this.”
“Like what?”
“Likethis.” He sounded like he wanted to laugh. “I mean,listen to yourself. You’ve already decided it was a red car. When the thing is—at least as far as I recall—nobody mentioned the color at all. Butthat’swhat you zero in on, isn’t it? And that isexactlywhy I didn’t tell you.”
The anger inside her was almost too much now. She couldn’t stand the way he was making himself seem so reasonable. So sensible. Especially because, yes, she’d slipped up there. But there was a lot he didn’t know, wasn’t there? She could have told him right now, but in the heat of an argument, giving up secrets felt like giving up ground.
“You should have told me,” she said.
“Yeah, maybe. And perhaps I evenwouldhave done. But then there’s all this stuff with Chris, and—”
“What?”
No swearing this time. No raised volume. But there was such ice in her voice—in just that one word—that it stopped her husband dead. He just stared at her for a few seconds, looking helpless.
“I know you, Katie,” he said finally.
“Do you though?”
“Of course I do.” His voice was much quieter now. “You worry too much. You jump at shadows. You’re always scared that something terrible is going to happen. And I know why you—”
“No.” She held up a hand. “We’re not doing this.”
She stepped across to the chair, grabbed her jacket from the back, and pulled it on. Sam just stood there looking helpless. He took a single step toward her, but the look on her face made him take it right back again.
“Katie, please,” he said. “I know you blame yourself. But it wasn’t—”
“We arenotfucking doing this.”
And then she turned around and headed straight for the front door.
Twenty-two
But Sam’s question bothered her as she drove away from the house.
Who’s Nathaniel Leland?
She hadn’t been able to find out anything about the boy online yesterday, and not having an answer for her husband only increased her anger now. Because therehadto be a reason the child had been incorporated into James Alderson’s portrait of her brother with all those other images.
All those other images…
The answer hit her out of nowhere—and then she felt even more angry, this time with herself. While she might not know who Nathaniel Leland was, there was someone who might.
Her mother’s house was quiet as she let herself in.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60 (Reading here)
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120