Chapter 4
“Out the back,” Mia whispered.
We grabbed the phone, climbed back out the kitchen window, and ran through the neighbor’s yard to where we’d parked.
We were in the car, driving away, when Carol walked up the front steps.
She looked right at us as we passed.
I saw her face in the rearview mirror.
She knew we’d been there.
The next morning, we were back in Mr. Henderson’s office.
He went through every text, every photo, every call log on the second phone.
He smiled for the first time since we’d met him.
“This is gold,” he said. “This proves conspiracy. Fraud. Breach of fiduciary duty as a parent. This changes everything.”
“Does that mean I get to keep the kids?” I asked.
“Not yet,” he said. “The temporary custody order is still in effect. We have a hearing in seven days. Until then, we have to follow the judge’s rules. But this evidence will make it very hard for Carol to win long term.”
That afternoon, we took Emma and Lucas to a pediatrician who specialized in child abuse cases.
The doctor spent two hours examining them.
She took photos of the bruise on Emma’s arm, the red mark on Lucas’s cheek, the faint bruises on Lucas’s ribs from being shaken.
She interviewed Emma in a private room, with a social worker present.
When they were done, the doctor came out to talk to me.
“Emma told me everything,” she said. “She said Carol has been coming to the house at least three nights a week for the past two months. She said Carol tells her you don’t love her, that you’re going to leave her and Lucas forever. She said Carol gives Lucas ‘special medicine’ to make him sleep when he cries too much. She said Ryan hits the walls when he’s angry, and sometimes he hits her too, when you’re not home.”
I closed my eyes.
I’d been so busy working, so busy trying to keep our family afloat, that I’d missed all of it.
The signs had been there.
Emma had started wetting the bed again.
She’d stopped wanting to go to school.
She’d flinched every time Ryan raised his hand.
I’d thought it was just a phase.
I’d been wrong.
So wrong.
That evening, Lucas spiked a fever of 103.
He was fussy, wouldn’t eat, kept grabbing at his head.
We rushed him back to the hospital.
The doctor ordered a CT scan.
I sat in the waiting room, holding Emma’s hand, while they took him back.
Mia brought me coffee, but I couldn’t drink it.
An hour later, the doctor came out.
Her face was serious.
“Lucas has a small subdural hematoma,” she said. “A bleed on the brain, from the fall. It’s small, and it’s not getting bigger right now, but we need to keep him here for at least three days to monitor it. If it gets worse, he’ll need surgery.”
I started crying again.
It felt like I’d done nothing but cry for the past three days.
Emma squeezed my hand.
“Lucas is going to be okay,” she said. “He’s tough. Like you.”
Just then, the waiting room doors burst open.
Carol marched in, followed by a woman I didn’t recognize.
The woman was holding a stack of papers.
“There you are,” Carol said, loud enough for everyone in the waiting room to stare. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You were supposed to surrender the kids to me at five p.m. yesterday. This is contempt of court.”
The woman stepped forward.
“I’m Ms. Carter, from Child Protective Services,” she said. “I have a court order here. You’re required to release Emma and Lucas into Mrs. Carter’s care immediately. Failure to comply will result in your arrest.”
“No,” I said, standing up. “You can’t take them. Lucas is hurt. He has a brain bleed.”
“The court order says the children go to Mrs. Carter, regardless of medical status,” Ms. Carter said. “She’s their grandmother. Family placement is always preferred.”
“I have evidence—”
“All evidence will be presented at the hearing next week,” she said. “Until then, this is the law. Now, please call the nurse to bring Lucas out. And Emma, honey, come with Grandma. It’s going to be okay.”
Emma shook her head and hid behind me.
“I want to stay with Mommy.”
Carol stepped toward her.
“Emma, don’t be difficult,” she said, reaching for her arm.
Mia stepped between them.
“Don’t touch her,” Mia said.
A security guard walked over.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked.
Ms. Carter held up the court order.
“This woman is refusing to comply with a judge’s order,” she said. “Arrest her if you have to.”
The guard looked at me.
“Ma’am, I don’t want to do this, but I have to follow the law. Give me the kids, or you go to jail.”
I looked at Emma.
She was crying now, her face buried in my shirt.
I looked at the doors to the ER, where Lucas was still being monitored.
If I went to jail, I’d have no way to fight for them.
No way to prove Carol was lying.
No way to get them back.
I knelt down in front of Emma.
I wiped the tears from her face.
“Listen to me, baby,” I said. “You are so brave. You and Lucas are going to go stay with Grandma for a few days, okay? But I promise you, I am going to come get you. I am going to fix this. No matter what. I love you more than anything in the whole world.”
Emma threw her arms around my neck.
“Don’t let her take us,” she sobbed.
“I have to,” I whispered. “But I will come for you. I swear.”
I carried her to Carol.
Carol took her hand, a fake smile on her face.
“See?” she said. “Everything is fine.”
A nurse brought Lucas out in his car seat, still asleep.
Carol took him too.
They walked out the doors.
Emma looked back at me over her shoulder, her eyes wide with fear.
I stood there, empty-armed, and watched them drive away.
Mia put her arm around me.
May you like
“We’re going to get them back,” she said. “I promise.”
But for the first time since this all started, I wasn’t sure.
