“We saw so little of the country. It was mostly meetings with bureaucrats and going to the orphanage and buying stuff and meeting with the judge.”

Grant says, “Mom, we’ve got to go.”

Both the boys head toward the backyard.

“Wait, where’s your car, Peter?”

“Back at my house,” Peter says. “It’s faster to walk there through the greenbelt.”

“OK. Be careful. Have a good day.”

“Peter, go. I’ll catch up,” Grant says. Peter walks on through the yard, the gate, into the greenbelt.

Grant stares at his mother. “Have you ever lied to me?”

He doesn’t sound like a child. He sounds like a young man, stepping into shoes he can’t quite fill.

“About what?”

“I thought it was a yes or no question.”

“No, I haven’t lied to you.”

“Did you really not keep a journal?”

He knows. “I didn’t have time.”

“You’re a songwriter, Mom. You express yourself in words. Did you keep a journal?”

“Where on earth is this coming from?”

“You’re shaking,” he says, and she knows he’s right.

“You accusing me of lying is upsetting,” Iris says through clenched teeth.

“OK. I love you,” Grant says, and he turns and goes out the door. Into the greenbelt.

She can feel him slipping away from her now. The greatest fear of her life, her children turning their backs on her.

How does he know about the journal? Who told him?

She heads up to his room.

35

Julia

Ned texted Julia early and asked her for a ride to school. He also asked her for help in organizing his mother’s stuff, at least giving him an idea of what to do with it. He hasn’t paid attention to her unanswered texts, but she decides Ned is key to getting Marland off her back. So she buries her anger and walks to his house, her mind racing after hearing Marland’s threats. If her parents were involved in Danielle’s death—it was the question she couldn’t imagine asking, but there it was—it had to be dealt with.

Danielle had something on them, something bad from the past.

Maybe it was about Grant’s adoption. A bribe? A broken law? Something worse. It had to be worse, she thought. Why would Ned ask her to come over and help organize things? Either he wants to talk, or he takes her loyalty and friendship for granted.

Packing up his mother’s stuff seems rushed to her, but she takes it as a sign that Gordon is desperate to get his son out of Austin, back to London. Away from all this. Gordon must know his slightly wayward son has gone fully wayward. Never mind if there was an extradition treaty with the UK. Gordon could get his son to Africa, where there were countries without extradition treaties. Ghana would extradite, but Ned was a minor. Gordon could hide him.