Chapter 2 - The Call Nobody Was Supposed to Hear.
Officer Harris stepped into the kitchen without raising his voice.
His partner, Officer Monroe, remained near the hallway where he could see every person in the room.
Aaron kept one arm around Grace while Noah slept between them.
Diane stared at the black phone beside her handbag.
“That is my daughter-in-law’s phone,” she said quickly.
Grace looked at her.
“You told me you didn’t know where it was.”
Diane’s eyes hardened.
“I put it somewhere safe because you kept getting distracted.”
Aaron felt something inside him turn cold.
“You took her phone?”
Diane sighed as if everyone else were being unreasonable.
“She has a newborn, Aaron.”
“She needs rest, not supervision.”
“She needs structure.”
Officer Harris looked at Grace.
“Ma’am, are you able to speak with me privately?”
Diane answered before Grace could.
“She is emotional because she hasn’t been sleeping.”
Harris did not look at Diane.
“I asked her.”
Grace drew one careful breath.
“Yes.”
Aaron helped her stand.
Her knees seemed unsteady, and he hated that he had not known how worn down she had become.
Monroe guided Diane toward the dining room while Harris stayed with Grace and Aaron near the island.
Harris explained that dispatch had received a brief emergency connection from the house.
Nobody had spoken clearly.
There had been muffled voices, the sound of a baby crying, and then the call had ended.
Grace looked toward the baby monitor on the counter.
“I tried to call Aaron earlier.”
“His mom took it.”
Aaron’s jaw tightened.
“What happened after that?”
Grace hesitated.
“She told me I was embarrassing her in front of the guests.”
“She said I could sit down after I cleared everything.”
Aaron looked at the mountain of dishes.
Grace continued before he could interrupt.
“I had Noah almost the entire time.”
Harris’s expression stayed professional, but his eyes sharpened.
“Did anyone threaten you physically?”
“No.”
“Did anyone stop you from leaving?”
Grace looked toward the back door.
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
Grace pressed her lips together.
“She moved my shoes.”
Diane’s voice carried from the dining room.
“I was cleaning!”
“Ma’am, please stay with my partner.”
Aaron closed his eyes for half a second.
He had spent the last six weeks working late on a major construction bid.
Every night, Diane had told him Grace was tired but doing well.
Every morning, Grace had said she was fine.
Now he understood that those two statements had been living in completely different realities.
Harris asked Grace whether she felt safe remaining in the house.
“With him, yes.”
Aaron heard what she did not say.
Not with Diane.
Harris gave them a moment.
Aaron leaned down.
“We’re leaving tonight.”
Grace nodded.
Diane returned to the kitchen before Monroe could stop her.
“This is ridiculous.”
She pointed at Grace.
“You are turning my son against me because I asked you to help around the house.”
Grace lowered her eyes.
Aaron stepped between them.
“She doesn’t have to turn me against anyone.”
Diane’s face tightened.
“You have no idea what she’s been doing while you’re gone.”
Grace’s head snapped up.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Diane’s mouth curved into a thin, almost satisfied line.
“Ask her about the money.”
Grace went pale.
Aaron felt her hand close around his sleeve.
Harris looked between them.
“What money?”
Diane picked up her handbag.
“The money she doesn’t want him to know is missing.”
Grace whispered Aaron’s name.
He turned to her.
She looked terrified again.
But this time, the fear was aimed at something larger than a sink full of dishes.
May you like
“There’s something you need to see,” she said.
“And it’s not here.”
