Chapter 6
The world stopped.
“Gone?” I repeated. “What do you mean gone?”
“Carol left her alone for ten minutes to run to the store,” the caseworker said. “When she came back, the front door was open and Emma was gone. She took her backpack and her tablet. We’ve called the police. They’re searching the neighborhood now.”
I grabbed my keys and ran out the door.
Mia was right behind me.
We drove to Carol’s neighborhood, our lights flashing, our horns blaring.
We called Emma’s name over and over.
We checked the park where she liked to play.
We checked the library.
We checked the ice cream shop down the street.
Nothing.
Three hours later, the police called.
A neighbor had seen a little girl matching Emma’s description climbing through the back window of our old house an hour earlier.
We raced to the house.
The police were already there, their lights flashing.
An officer met us at the door.
“We think she’s in the attic,” he said. “We can hear movement up there, but she won’t answer when we call. She’s scared. We think she’ll only come out for you.”
I climbed the attic stairs slowly.
It was dark up there, full of old boxes and Christmas decorations.
“Emma?” I called softly. “Baby, it’s Mommy. I’m here. You’re safe now.”
I heard a small whimper from the corner, behind a stack of old blankets.
I walked over and pulled the blankets back.
Emma was curled up in a ball, her backpack next to her, her favorite stuffed rabbit clutched to her chest.
Her face was streaked with tears.
Her clothes were dirty.
When she saw me, she threw herself into my arms.
“I was scared,” she sobbed. “Carol was going to give Lucas more medicine. I heard her on the phone saying she was going to make him sleep forever so we wouldn’t have to fight over him anymore. I had to get help.”
I held her so tight I thought I might break her.
The police officer came up the stairs.
He held out Emma’s backpack.
“We found this,” he said. “There’s a bottle of liquid in the side pocket. She says it’s the medicine Carol gives them.”
I took the bottle.
It was an unlabeled amber glass bottle, full of thick white liquid.
We took it straight to the police lab for testing.
While we waited, the CPS caseworker showed up.
She had good news.
Given everything that had happened—Emma running away, the medicine bottle, the evidence we’d submitted—the judge had agreed to place the kids with me at the hotel, under 24-hour supervision by a CPS social worker, until the hearing the next day.
Carol wouldn’t be allowed within 500 feet of them.
An hour later, Lucas was brought to the hotel.
He was so happy to see me he wouldn’t let go of my shirt for two hours.
That night, we all slept in the same bed—me, Emma, Lucas, even Mia on the couch at the foot of the bed.
For the first time in a week, I slept.
The lab called early the next morning.
The white liquid was a mixture of Benadryl and melatonin, in doses ten times higher than what’s safe for a child Lucas’s age.
Long-term use could cause brain damage.
Overdose could kill him.
Mr. Henderson filed an emergency motion with the judge before the hearing even started.
He presented the lab results, Emma’s statement, the evidence of the plan, the stolen trust fund money.
The judge didn’t hesitate.
He issued an arrest warrant for Carol on charges of child endangerment, attempted assault, and conspiracy to commit fraud.
He also revoked Ryan’s bail and issued a new warrant for his arrest on charges of child abuse, grand theft, and conspiracy.
The temporary custody order was reversed.
Full temporary custody was awarded to me, with no contact allowed between the kids and Ryan or Carol until the criminal trial was over.
I walked out of the courthouse that morning with both my kids in my arms.
The sun was shining.
For the first time in a week, I breathed.
It wasn’t over yet.
We still had a criminal trial.
Ryan and Carol were still out there, somewhere.
But my babies were with me.
May you like
They were safe.
And for now, that was enough.
