After Anna Read online

  ‘Are you sure? Because we can always change it, like I could board at another school.’ Anna’s tone strengthened, newly distant. ‘I don’t have to live here, I just wanted to.’

  ‘And I want you to,’ Maggie rushed to say, her heart speaking out of turn. She couldn’t lose Anna when she had just found her again. ‘Noah wants you to live here, too. Whatever happened at Bed Bath & Beyond was a misunderstanding.’

  ‘Please don’t say anything to him. Do you promise?’

  ‘Yes, I promise.’ Maggie squeezed Anna’s hand. ‘Don’t worry about it. Everything is going to be just fine.’

  ‘I hope so.’ Anna smiled. ‘I should get to bed, huh?’

  ‘Yes. Good night.’ Maggie kissed Anna on the cheek, but she was wondering what to do about Noah.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Noah, After

  TRIAL, DAY 5

  The courtroom fell silent as the 911 audiotape reverberated through the speakers:

  This is 911, what is your emergency?

  My stepdaughter isn’t breathing. CPR isn’t working. I’m a doctor but it isn’t working. You’re not supposed to do mouth-to-mouth anymore, are you? Just chest compressions?

  Yes, just chest compressions, Doctor. Is there any injury? What happened?

  I think she’s been strangled. Please send an ambulance. The address is 460 Howell Road.

  It’s on its way. Keep up the compressions. How old is your daughter?

  Stepdaughter. She’s seventeen. The compressions aren’t working. I think I’m pressing hard enough. Listen, is the ambulance on its way?

  Yes, it’s en route. Stay on the phone with me. I’ll talk you through it –

  I can’t, I have to go. I can’t stay on the phone and do the compressions. Please send the ambulance. Thank you.

  Noah didn’t remember the tape sounding this bad when Thomas had introduced it during direct testimony, because Thomas had set it up the way they’d planned. But now Noah was hearing it through Maggie’s ears. He couldn’t see her in the gallery, but he knew this would be killing her.

  ‘Dr Alderman, let’s circle back to the moment that you discover the body of your stepdaughter, strangled on your porch. You must have been shocked by that awful sight, were you not?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And surely you were horrified, were you not?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you must’ve been grief-stricken upon realizing that such a young girl, your own stepdaughter, was dead, were you not?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But you expressed none of those emotions in the 911 tape, did you?’

  Noah hesitated. ‘No.’

  Linda half-smiled. ‘There’s no excited utterance of the type one would expect from a shocked, horrified, and grief-stricken stepfather, is there?’

  ‘Well, no.’

  ‘You didn’t say, “oh my God!” or “oh no!”, did you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You didn’t cry, did you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You spoke in complete sentences, did you not?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You asked coherent questions, did you not?’

  ‘Yes.’ Noah could hear the jurors shifting behind him. Thomas would have warned him against it, but he had to offer some explanation. ‘I had those emotions but I kept them inside. I’m a professional, a doctor. I think I reacted as a doctor would.’

  Linda recoiled. ‘You mean that it didn’t make any difference to you that this patient, this dead body, was your stepdaughter?’

  ‘No, I mean, uh, that isn’t what I meant. I meant that I went into doctor mode. I felt those things, those emotions, but I went into doctor mode.’

  ‘Yet for a man in “doctor mode,” you seemed to forget how to perform CPR, didn’t you?’

  Noah blinked. ‘Uh, maybe I needed reminding. I knew the procedure had changed. I hadn’t performed CPR in the field. I’m not certified.’

  ‘It’s interesting, don’t you think, that there is no sound of you grunting or breathing hard, as someone would while they were performing chest compressions to resuscitate the body of his own stepdaughter?’

  ‘I don’t know why I wasn’t grunting.’ Noah was forgetting to answer only yes or no. It wasn’t so simple.

  ‘Dr Alderman, didn’t you text your stepdaughter, lure her to your home, and when she spurned your sexual advances yet again, kill her with your bare hands?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Right, I keep forgetting, you found her strangled and you were shocked, horrified, and grief-stricken, correct?’

  ‘Correct.’

  ‘Dr Alderman, you testified earlier that after Anna’s Petition for a PFA was filed against you, your wife asked you to leave the house, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’ Noah couldn’t think about Maggie now. He understood that she had been caught in the middle.

  ‘Isn’t it true that after word got around about Anna’s Petition for a PFA, some of your patients stopped seeing you?’

  ‘Yes.’ Noah cringed. He had gotten cancellations the next day. Social media had spread the word.

  ‘So isn’t it true that after Anna’s Petition for a PFA, you lost your wife, your house, and some of your patients?’

  ‘Yes.’ Noah didn’t want to relive it, or make Maggie relive it, but there it was.

  ‘Your wife is not testifying on your behalf in this trial, is she?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Nor has she come to court to stand by you, has she?’

  ‘No, she’s not here.’ Noah didn’t hesitate. Maggie was still in the courtroom.

  ‘So.’ Linda crossed her arms. ‘Isn’t it true that after Anna filed her Petition for a PFA against you, you were angry at her?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you seriously asking this jury to believe that despite the fact that Anna cost you so much, you had no negative feelings toward her?’

  ‘Yes.’ Noah didn’t know what else to say. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. He couldn’t see Thomas at counsel table. Linda was blocking him again.

  Linda bore down, narrowing her eyes. ‘But you said Anna was a liar, correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you saying that you were fine with that?’

  Noah could see the gallery looking at each other. Maggie would know he was lying. ‘Well, uh, no, not fine with it.’

  ‘So you had some negative feelings toward Anna, didn’t you?’

  Noah hesitated. ‘Some. Yes.’

  ‘You were angry at her, weren’t you?’

  ‘Some.’ Noah knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as Linda’s eyes lit up.

  ‘You had more than some anger, didn’t you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Dr Alderman, weren’t you furious with Anna for filing that Petition and lying about you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And weren’t you furious with Anna for rejecting your sexual advances?’

  ‘No.’

  Linda stepped closer to the stand. ‘Didn’t you lure Anna to your home by text?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Didn’t you make yet another sexual advance on her on the porch of your house?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And when she spurned your advance yet again, didn’t all that anger come to the fore and you strangled her with your bare hands?’

  ‘That’s not true!’ Noah raised his voice, but even he could hear the anger in his voice.

  ‘Let’s move on from your 911 audiotape.’ Linda walked back to counsel table, and Noah saw the faces staring back at him, their expressions angry, disapproving, judgmental. Maggie was among them but he couldn’t see her.

  Suddenly Noah thought he saw someone in the back of the gallery pushing back her hair, a gesture that seemed so much like Maggie’s, moving a curl from her eyes. It took him back to that first night, the night that should’ve told him everything. They had been to the furniture store, then Bed Bath & Beyond, and Maggie h
ad come upstairs after saying good night to Anna.

  You okay? he had asked, because of her worried expression.

  Fine.

  Great. Noah had kissed her good night, but she had returned his kiss in a perfunctory way, which wasn’t like her. She called herself the Makeout Queen.

  Did you guys have fun at the store?

  You mean Bloodbath & Beyond?

  What’s that mean? Maggie had frowned.

  It’s a joke. Noah had been slipping off his shirt, which normally would’ve drawn a compliment from Maggie about his arms or chest.

  Would you take Anna out driving?

  She knows how to drive.

  I’m talking about just to practice. To make sure she feels comfy behind the wheel. And safe.

  What about this car business? She wants to buy a Range Rover? What she needs to do is get a valid Pennsylvania license. She shouldn’t drive without one. I don’t think a Maine license is valid here at her age.

  I’m not talking about the car or the license, I’m talking about practicing driving. Would you take her? It might be a nice way for you guys to spend time. Get to know each other, like you said.

  Okay.

  I’ll keep an eye on Caleb.

  Or he could come with.

  No, I think it would be good if you went alone. Just you and Anna. Is that okay with you?

  Noah had said yes, and it had turned out to be his second big mistake.

  The first mistake was allowing Anna to move in.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Maggie, Before

  ‘Hi!’ Maggie answered Kathy’s call on her way downstairs to get snacks for Noah, Anna, and Caleb, who were setting up Anna’s bedroom, since the furniture had been delivered. It was already Sunday afternoon, but she hadn’t had a spare moment to call her best friend and fill her in.

  ‘Hey, girl, I’m dying to hear what happened with Anna.’

  ‘You’re not going to believe it.’ Maggie hurried down to the kitchen. ‘I brought her home. She’s here.’

  ‘Who is? Anna?’

  ‘Yes! She’s living with us now.’

  ‘Wait, what?’ Kathy gasped in delight. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘I am, and you know what, Florian told her that I abused her and that’s how I lost custody. Can you believe that?’

  ‘Oh my God! But wait, is she really there? Right now?’

  ‘Yes!’ Maggie launched into the whole story as she fetched sodas, a bag of popcorn from the cabinet, and the gleaming copper tray that she reserved for special occasions. If this wasn’t a special occasion, she didn’t know what was.

  ‘Oh my God, this is amazing! I’m so happy for you!’

  ‘I know, isn’t it incredible! I have her back again! My baby girl!’

  ‘This is so exciting! So you’ve got to get her in school and everything.’

  ‘I know, I’m going to take her tomorrow and get her registered. She’ll start classes Tuesday.’ Maggie opened the freezer door and filled the glasses with ice.

  ‘I can’t wait to meet her! What does she look like?’

  ‘She’s pretty and smart, but she doesn’t have much confidence.’

  ‘You mean she’s insecure?’

  ‘Kind of, yes.’

  ‘Guess where she gets that from.’

  Maggie laughed at herself. ‘She’s getting along great with Caleb.’

  ‘Of course she is! How can you not?’

  ‘It makes me really happy.’ Maggie lowered her voice. ‘She’s worried Noah doesn’t like her, but of course he does.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘She told me. She thinks he favors Caleb.’ Maggie arranged the glasses on the tray, then went for some napkins.

  ‘That would be natural, wouldn’t it? Caleb’s his son. He doesn’t even know her.’

  ‘I know, but I don’t think he does anyway. We’re a family of four now, can you believe it?’

  ‘Good luck.’ Kathy snorted. ‘I’m at a lacrosse game, and Josh is at travel basketball. You each take a kid. Divide and conquer.’

  ‘There you go.’

  ‘You want to walk tomorrow?’

  ‘No, if you don’t mind, let me get her situated.’ Maggie wondered if Anna might prefer some healthier snacks, so she went to the refrigerator, rummaged around the produce drawer, and found some oranges and an apple. She put them in a separate bowl on the tray, making a note to herself to ask Anna what kind of fruit she liked.

  ‘I get it. Stay in touch. Congratulations! Love you!’

  ‘Love you, too. Bye.’ Maggie hung up as she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, the tread too heavy to be anybody but Noah, who entered the kitchen and crossed to the base cabinet, where they kept a few tools, a tape measure, and steel wool.

  ‘Of course I need an Allen wrench. My days of Allen wrenches will never end.’

  ‘How’s the bed?’

  ‘Great.’

  ‘Does Anna like it?’

  ‘Loves it.’ Noah found the Allen wrench and stood up, eyeing the fancy copper tray. ‘Look at you. The hostess with the mostest.’

  ‘I know, right?’

  Noah glanced over his shoulder, then lowered his voice. ‘Anna is telling Caleb that she’s buying a Range Rover. Are you just going to let her go buy a car? Doesn’t she have to ask our permission?’

  ‘I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.’ Maggie liked to be more spontaneous than Noah, who did everything step-by-step. Their difference in temperaments was by now a well-established fact, in the way of marriages. He was The Scientist, and she was The Italian, though she suspected that sometimes it sold her short.

  ‘Don’t we have to figure that out? She’s under our roof, so she has to follow our rules, doesn’t she?’

  Maggie smiled. ‘It’s not like we have any rules about cars.’

  ‘We don’t let Caleb buy anything he wants with his money.’

  ‘He has $37.’

  ‘That’s not the point. It’s the principle. Can she just buy a car without our permission, even if she has the means? We’re a family. We should function like one.’

  ‘Can’t we talk about this later?’ Maggie glanced upstairs.

  ‘She shouldn’t get a Range Rover. I think there are used cars that are a better value, and even if she has the money, it might make sense to finance a car. The rates are low now, and it will teach her how to pay a monthly bill.’

  ‘We’ll see.’ Maggie reached for the tray, but Noah stopped her.

  ‘One more thing. Did she have a boyfriend at school?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘She must have dated, some.’

  ‘No, she didn’t.’ Maggie didn’t understand why he was asking. ‘It’s a girls’ school, remember? It’s not like she had a lot of opportunities.’

  ‘You sure? Because it seems like she would have boyfriends. She’s pretty.’

  ‘I know, but she didn’t date. I even talked to her therapist about it. She barely had any friends except the one. Jamie.’ Maggie leaned closer, not to be overheard. ‘I don’t think she’s had sex yet.’

  Noah’s lips parted in surprise. ‘You think she’s a virgin?’

  ‘Shhh.’ Maggie glanced at the staircase. ‘Don’t make a big thing of it.’

  ‘I didn’t.’

  ‘Yes, you did. You looked surprised.’

  ‘I am, but I’m not making a big thing of it.’

  ‘Lower your voice, okay? And please don’t say anything to her.’

  ‘Of course I wouldn’t.’ Noah rolled his eyes, looking like Caleb. ‘But I don’t think she’s a virgin.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I just don’t,’ Noah shot back, then seemed to catch himself.

  ‘What makes you say that? Do you know something I don’t?’

  ‘No, not at all.’

  ‘She’s only seventeen years old, Noah.’

  ‘Honey, lots of girls have sex before they’re seventeen these days. This
is the age of selfies and duck lips.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘I just do.’ Noah looked away again, and Maggie sensed the conversation was making him uncomfortable, which was odd. He didn’t shy away from sex talk, and if anything, he was more sexual than she was. Or maybe less tired. Or maybe a man.

  ‘What’s up with you?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Noah put the Allen wrench on the snack tray. ‘I’ll take this for you.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Not a problem.’ Noah left the kitchen with the tray, and Maggie followed, wondering why he was acting so strangely.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Noah, After

  TRIAL, DAY 5

  Linda strode back to counsel table, picked up an exhibit, then returned to the stand, holding it close to her chest. Thomas had warned him that her holding-the-exhibit trick was intended to make him nervous, but it didn’t work because he was already nervous. He tried to see Maggie in the back of the gallery but he couldn’t. She had to be hiding from him. He didn’t blame her.

  ‘Dr Alderman, isn’t it true that you told the 911 dispatcher that you didn’t want to stay on the phone because you had to administer chest compressions?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But isn’t it true that after you hung up with the dispatcher, you called your lawyer?’

  Noah blinked. ‘Yes.’

  ‘So you were able to make another phone call and continue compressions, even though you told the 911 dispatcher that you could not?’

  ‘Uh . . . yes.’

  ‘Dr Alderman, I am going to show you Commonwealth Exhibit 48, which has already been introduced into evidence, and ask you, is it a copy of the phone calls you made from your phone on the night in question?’

  ‘It is.’ Noah looked down at the log with a sinking heart.

  ‘And this phone record shows that you spoke with 911 dispatch for one minute and ten seconds, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘The phone record also shows that one minute after you hung up with the 911 dispatcher, you called your lawyer, isn’t that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’ Noah had given this testimony on direct, but again, under Thomas’s questioning, it had sounded better, more reasonable.