Chapter 5

Graham began explaining before I had taken off my coat.

"You have been stretched thin, Mara. We both know that. I wanted Owen to have someone steady when you were asleep after a shift."

Owen was upstairs, shower running. I had waited until he could not hear us before I placed the access-log printout on the kitchen table.

"You didn't ask for help," I said. "You signed my name and told his school I might become distressed."

"I never said you were dangerous."

"You didn't have to. You made them hesitate before calling me."

He leaned against the counter, tired…