When she spoke again, every word came slowly.
“Daniel, I saw your signature.”
“It wasn’t mine.”
“It looked like yours.”
“It wasn’t mine.”
No one moved.
Even Silas seemed to understand that something had shifted beyond the question of why Elena left.
There had been a paper.
There had been a signature.
And someone had wanted both Daniel and Elena to believe the other had chosen silence.
“Do you still have it?” Daniel asked.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“With me.”
“Can I see it?”
Another pause.
“I can bring it.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Silas slid off his chair and walked toward him.
He did not take the phone. He simply stood close enough that their shoulders touched.
Daniel looked down at him.
“Silas is here,” he told Elena.
A faint sound came through the phone. It might have been a breath or the beginning of a sob.
“Is he all right?”
