"Good."
"Daniel..."
"Yes?"
"If something happens to me, don't believe what they tell you."
I stopped moving.
"What are you talking about?"
"I didn't attack Rachel."
"I know."
"I didn't."
"I know, Mom."
"I only pushed her away."
"Okay."
"She fell."
I grabbed my car keys.
"Where is everyone now?"
"I heard them talking."
"Who?"
"Evan. Rachel. And a police officer."
"What officer?"
She whispered a name.
"Officer Bell."
I knew the name.
Everyone in town did.
He was one of the senior officers at the local police department.
"Why is he there?"
"I don't know."
My mother started crying.
Not loudly.
She was trying to keep quiet.
That terrified me more than screaming would have.
"Daniel?"
"I'm here."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"Please hurry."
"I will."
I hung up.
Then I called someone who didn't live in our town.
Someone who didn't answer to the local police department.
My former supervisor, Marcus Reed, now worked with the state Attorney General's Office.
He answered after one ring.
"Daniel?"
"My mother has been assaulted."
He was instantly awake.
"By whom?"
"My sister-in-law."
"Is she safe?"
"She's locked in a bathroom at her house."
"Call emergency services."
"I think someone inside the department is involved."
Silence.
"Why?"
"An officer is already there."
"Which officer?"
I told him.
Marcus didn't speak for several seconds.
Then he said:
"Don't call the local department again."
My grip tightened around the steering wheel.
"Why?"
"Because Bell has been under confidential review."
"For what?"
"Evidence interference."
I stared at the road ahead.
The answer came quietly.