Jesus.I caught Bill rolling his eyes again. I couldn’t say I blamed him.
“It was just terrific meeting you guys,” I said and nodded.
It was the prompt they needed. That one last kick in the butt to send them out the door. They said their goodbyes and left.
Finally.I looked at Lydia. “Didn’t you say that Sky was going to be late for lunch because there was something at work that she had to take care of?”
“Yes,” Lydia said. “Yes, that’s right. She called me after Bill and I seated ourselves. Balthazar had our phones, of course. So he spoke to her and relayed the message.” She smiled a little. “Balthazar likes Sky very much.”
“What’s not to like?” I turned to Bill. “When Martin Jennings was at your house, did he mention telling anyone else about the missing payroll money?”
Bill said nothing. He stared at Lydia.
“Stop it,” she said. “She’s Dylan’s best friend in the world. Stop it.”
“Sky knew,” Bill said.
“Stop it,” said Lydia.
“She knew. Martin told us. He let her in on it first, but she didn’t believe it. She said there had to be a mistake.”
“Stop.”
“He said she was very upset.” Bill looked at me. “Martin told us that. And he said that Sky couldn’t believe Dylan would betray his own employees. She was able to go into the system and change passwords, work with the coding. She cut off Dylan’s access to the fund this morning. She did it to prove her point.”
Lydia didn’t say anything.
“Think about it,” Bill said. “If our son contacted Sky, just like he contacted the receptionist…But nicer, Lydia. Because as you said, she’s his best friend in the world. If Dylan told Sky he was alive and well and wanted to come by the office and discuss some things…”
He kept looking at her, as though he expected her to finish his sentence. But Lydia wouldn’t move. She wouldn’t speak.
“Mrs. Welch?” I said.
“Lydia!”she shrieked.“My name is Lydia!”
I stepped back. A group of nurses in the hallway stopped and stared at us through the open door. Bill asked his wife what had gotten into her. But I understood. We all knew that old adage,When someone shows you who they are, believe them.But that’s easier said than done when it comes to one’s child.
“I didn’t mean to shout.” Lydia’s shoulders slumped, her arms crossed over her stomach, as though she’d just taken a blow.
“It’s all right,” I told her. “I get it.” I looked at the nurses in the hallway. “Everything’s fine!” I called out. They nodded.Mumbled a few things I couldn’t quite hear. I watched them walk away. “We both get it, don’t we, Mr. Welch?”
He ignored me. “Liddie,” he said. “It breaks my heart, too. But at some point, we’re going to have to face reality.”
Lydia stared straight ahead, her expression unchanging. Her face looked as though it was made out of stone. “I just want to focus on Sky’s recovery right now,” she said.
“That’s right. One crisis at a time,” I said. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Welch?”
“Let’s sit down.” He said it to Lydia. “My legs are getting tired.”
My phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and glanced at the screen—a text from an unfamiliar number. And when I read it, I knew I couldn’t tell the Welches who it was from.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to leave,” I said. “Please let me know as soon as you hear anything about Sky.”
“Of course,” Lydia said. They moved toward the bank of chairs against the far wall, Bill holding Lydia’s arm, helping her to get there.
I was out of the room before they sat down.
Once I was in the elevator, I looked at the text again, just to make sure I’d read it correctly.
