*Detective Reyes will be at your home tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Do not tell Daniel.
If he leaves the house before then, call me immediately.*
I put the phone back in my pocket and walked back into the living room.
Daniel looked up.
“Everything okay?”
“Laundry’s done,” I said, and sat back down.
He looked at me for just a moment longer than necessary.
Then he looked back at the television.
Daniel did not go to work the next morning.
He came downstairs at seven-thirty and said he’d decided to take a personal day.
He said he was tired.
He said he wanted a slow morning.
I stood at the kitchen counter and poured his coffee and handed it to him and said that sounded nice.
Inside, I was calculating.
Patricia had said: *if he leaves the house before then, call me immediately.* She had not told me what to do if he stayed.