“I didn’t know you were calling 911.”
“You didn’t answer your phone.”
“I was driving.”
Lisa stepped closer.
“Okay, but Mark lives here. That still matters.”
Officer Ruiz looked toward her.
“It matters that he lives here,” he said evenly. “But I’m trying to establish what everyone is actually asking me to do.”
That question stripped away the performance.
What did Diane expect the officer to do?
Carry the luggage inside?
Choose her room?
Order Claire to surrender her office?
Claire folded her arms, not because she wanted to appear tough but because her hands had started shaking.
“I haven’t told Diane she can never visit,” she said. “I said she isn’t moving her belongings into the house until my husband and I have discussed it together.”
Ruiz nodded once.
Then he asked Mark, “Did your wife agree that your mother was moving in today?”
Mark hesitated.
