Chapter 114 Call for Reinforcements
A few days later, Fred came by the house to report his findings. Emily could tell by the regretful look on his face that he had not found anything good. Usually Fred was excited when he was on the tail of a suspect.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked politely.
“No, thank you,” he said, “I won’t stay long. I’m afraid there’s nothing definite pointing to any one of your former enemies.” He put down a folder on the coffee table. “The reports are in here regarding his schooling and previous employment, but to give you the gist, Spencer has no connections with any of the people you indicated except… and this probably doesn’t mean anything.”
“Except what?” Emily was literally on the edge of her seat.
Fred stroked his moustache thoughtfully. “There is one thing: Spencer was born in the same hospital as Ruby. Who knows, it could mean they grew up in the same area of the city, possibly knew each other. Or it could mean nothing.”
Emily released a tense breath. “You’re right, it is pretty tenuous. But maybe it’s worth following up on, just to be sure. Could you try to look for any more connections between Ruby and Spenser?”
“Will do!” Fred looked cheerier now that he was going to continue working on the case.
“Thanks, Fred, you’re the best! I hope it’s nothing, but if Spenser has anything to do with Ruby, I’ll fire him on the spot, and I don’t care if he tries to sue me.”
“I hope to clear this up for you.” Fred gathered his things and got ready to go. “How is Byron?”
Emily felt a lump forming in her throat. “He’s not great. Working too much.” It was already eight o’clock, and Byron was still at his downtown office.
“He’s going to bounce back. He always does.”
Emily wasn’t so sure this time. She tried to distract herself and not watch the clock, but it was another two hours before Byron got home.
He arrived completely exhausted and pale, a couple of days’ growth of stubble on his face, which he usually liked to keep smoothly shaved.
“You must be hungry,” Emily said, “I saved you some dinner.”
Byron didn’t even show interest in the food. “It’s all right, I had a snack at work.”
“You’ve working too many hours lately,” Emily said, not wishing to avoid the issue any longer.
“There’s a lot to do,” he replied vaguely.
He kissed her forehead gently and then retreated to his home office. He was up seriously late again, but the next morning he completely changed tack and didn’t even go in to work.
By now Emily knew this was a pattern of his. He tried to shrug off his depression and bury himself in work, but when that failed, he completely crashed, unable to find the strength to do the most ordinary and basic actions.
As soon as he got out of bed, Byron went to the couch and lay there, staring at the ceiling.
Emily might have thought it was a seasonal disorder since it was the end of September, and the rain had been coming down for days, but she was almost certain it was something else, most likely to do with Teddy. She tried to get Byron to eat something, but he wouldn’t eat even a crumb of food. She had no idea when was the last time he had eaten.
It was a relief in a way that he didn’t go to work. Maybe this lethargic state was his body’s way of trying to recover from too much work and not enough food or sleep.
Emily sat on the floor, leaning back on the couch, and the two dogs gathered round her. As she observed Byron, she felt quite exhausted herself. His cheeks had the gauntness of someone starving. His eyes were like deep oceans of hopelessness. She could not let him go on like this.
Even if her interfering was possibly misguided, even if it made no difference, Emily decided to try.
“Have you talked to your father lately?” she asked.
Byron sighed, his face transforming into a pained grimace, “Teddy is not my father.”
Unless he literally meant he found out that another man was his father, Emily was not having it.
“Who is your father then?” she asked testily. “Darth Vader?”
“No one,” he said sadly.
Her heart about to shatter, Emily got up and left the room. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she fought them back. Taking a deep breath, she dialed a familiar number on her phone.
A few minutes later, she returned to the room, refreshed and composed. “I had no choice but to call reinforcements. Sylvia is on her way.”
“Oh no… Why?” Byron moaned wearily.
“Someone needs to take care of you, and I can’t be here all the time.”
Byron didn’t exactly love it when his mother suffocated him with care and attention, but at least she might be able to stir him out of his misery and watch over him in case his darkest nightmares returned to haunt him, driving him to suicide.
