Page 38 of Detective Daddy Next Door

"Someone deleted a file from your laptop? In your house?"

"I forgot my laptop here last night. And when I got back this morning, I saw a file had been deleted."

"Is the file about work?"

I swallow and nod. It's about work, alright. Just not the type of work she's thinking about.

"Gosh, that's devilish," she says, then her eyes widen. "What if it's Fern? She doesn't want you to make partner. She wants to take your place. What if she's trying to paint you as incompetent and also trying to intimidate you?"

Could it be Fern? But if Fern had left the envelope in my drawer, did she also delete the file from my laptop? What does the file have to do with her and…a light bulb goes on in my head. What if Fern is part of the fraud squad in the firm? Well, I don't know if it’s a squad, per se. But, oh Lord, this is all so stressful. I'll have to call Myles and tell him what’s going on. But I also don't want to call him. If someone had not tampered with my files, then I'd just copy them and drop them off with Garcelle. Ugh, what do I do now? In his text, he stated that it was important to get the files and that it’s urgent.

At twenty minutes past 6 p.m. I pull into my driveway. As I'm getting out, I see Garcelle. At first, I thought it was Myles and tried to dodge him, but when I see the woman's kind face, I get out of the car.

"Garcelle," I say, greeting her.

"Bria. It's been a while. I've not been seeing you around."

I nod and smile. "Yeah, I've been busy. How are you doing?"

She's standing close to the chest-high flowers bordering our houses. "I'm not doing too well, actually."

"What's wrong?"

"Ellie had surgery yesterday."

At the mention of Ellie having an operation, my walls crack a little. "What? Surgery? How? Why?"

"She had a serious stomach ache. We rushed her to the hospital. They found it was appendicitis. So, she had to have it removed."

"Oh, my God. That's awful. How's she now?"

"She’s still in the hospital recovering. She's better than yesterday, but she's just a little kid, so she is not that strong."

"What about…Myles."

"It really hit him hard. He's been a mess lately."

A pang of guilt hits me with force. Here I was, thinking about staying away from him, while he was going through a hard time all on his own. I feel so ashamed of myself. So ashamed. But I was staying away from him for his own good. I did it to protect his identity. It wasn't malicious, I assure myself. But it does nothing to lessen the guilt. At the first hint of trouble, I left him. I ignored his calls and didn't reply to his messages, except for the one that had to do with getting him a crummy file. I feel terrible.

"What hospital?"

"St. Mary's."

"Alright. Thank you."

I go straight in and shut the door. Would Myles even want to see me now? I mean, I've done a good job of ignoring him. I only replied yesterday, and it wasn’t the friendliest text. But I want to see Ellie; she and I have formed a bond. That's not the only reason I want to go to the hospital. I also want to be there for Myles. He must feel incredibly alone. I wonder if his wife is there, too. I wonder if she’ll flare up when she sees me. I'm conflicted. Should I go? Should I not? I should have asked Garcelle if his wife was there.

My stomach rumbles as I enter the house. I drop my bag on the kitchen counter and open the fridge, searching for something to eat. The past few days have been so stressful and distracting that I've not had time to stock up on groceries. Now, all I have is milk, half a loaf of bread, and leftover noodles. Nothing more. I pull out bread and search to see if I have butter sitting somewhere in the fridge, but there’s none. I pull out the carton of milk, pour some in a glass, and put two slices of bread on a plate. I'm standing as I eat and only sit on a stool when I'm done. I'm exhausted. Exhausted beyond imagination. Everything is happening at once, and the one person I could have talked to about it is going through his own problems.

I sigh, get off the stool and put the carton of milk back in the fridge. I drink a cup of water and slide my bag off the counter, making for my bedroom. I'm tired, really tired, and I need a soothing shower. I'll decide on what to do after that. Maybe a short nap will help, too. I drop my bag on the bed and struggle out of my clothes. I leave them lying on the floor and walk into the bathroom naked. The water is cool, just how I want it. It's hot inside my head. Maybe it'll help cool things down a bit. I step under the shower without a shower cap even though I washed my hair this morning. I just want to get wet from my head to my feet. I raise my face to the spray of water raining down on me and shut my eyes. When I open them, I'm crying, but the tears are indistinguishable from the shower water. Just when I thought everything was falling into place. Just when I thought I’d found a man I could open up to again, everything comes tumbling down, leaving me to pick up the pieces.

The cool shower helps a little. It hasn't calmed things in my head, but I decide I'll go see Myles and Ellie. I can't stay away because one woman he isn't even with anymore wants me to, her threats be damned. If I were admitted to a hospital, I would want Myles to come see me, and it'd hurt if he didn't show up. I'll tell him what's going on. Maybe he can talk some sense into his wife—his ex-wife.

I pull the towel off my body and go into the closet to look for what to wear. I find a yellow romper and quickly slip into it, then head to the mirror to comb my wet hair. I won't have time to dry it, but I'll towel it really well and I hope it doesn't drip water on my clothes. I'm knotting it into a bun when I catch sight of a face in the mirror. It's someone staring at me through the window. I look away from the mirror and shoot my eyes to the window, but the person is gone. I'm trembling. My hands loosen around my hair. I let the wet hair fall on my back, the dampness clinging to my clothes. I rush out of the room, grab my car keys, and run out of the front door.

Chapter 16

Myles

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