Chapter 2 - The Locked Drawer.
Evan did not answer his mother.
He kept one hand on Claire's back and walked her toward the front door.
The hallway felt longer than it had an hour earlier.
Behind them, Marianne did not follow.
That frightened Claire more than shouting would have.
Evan opened the passenger door of their SUV and helped her sit down with Noah still asleep in the carrier.
When he climbed behind the wheel, Claire stared straight ahead.
"What did you find in the nursery?"
Claire pressed her lips together.
"Drive first."
Evan started the engine.
The Mercer house disappeared behind them beneath a row of perfectly trimmed oak trees.
Only when they reached the main road did Claire speak.
"Your mother has a locked drawer under the changing table."
Evan frowned.
"In Noah's room at her house?"
"Yes."
Claire wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
"I found the key taped under the drawer last week."
"What was inside?"
Claire looked down at their sleeping son.
"Copies of his birth certificate."
Evan's grip tightened on the steering wheel.
"That isn't possible."
"There were copies of my driver's license too."
Claire's voice cracked.
"And our marriage certificate."
Evan said nothing.
"There was also a folder with my name on it."
She swallowed.
"It had notes about me."
"What kind of notes?"
"When I slept."
"When I fed Noah."
"How often I cried."
"Whether I left the house alone."
Evan glanced at her.
"Who wrote them?"
Claire shook her head.
"Your mother's handwriting."
For several seconds, the only sound was the tires against wet pavement.
Evan wanted to reject it immediately.
Marianne was controlling, opinionated, and often cruel without admitting she was cruel.
But surveillance was something else.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Claire looked at him then.
"Because I tried."
Evan felt something drop inside his chest.
"When?"
"Tuesday night."
"You told me you were upset because you hadn't slept."
"No."
Claire stared at him with exhausted disbelief.
"Your mother came into the room while I was talking to you."
Evan remembered the call.
He had been traveling for work in Chicago.
He remembered Marianne's voice in the background telling Claire that Noah needed changing.
He remembered Claire suddenly saying everything was fine.
At the time, he had believed her.
Now he hated how easy that had been.
"What else was in the folder?"
Claire inhaled slowly.
"A business card for a family-law attorney."
Evan's jaw tightened.
"That could mean anything."
"There was handwriting on the back."
Claire reached into her evening bag.
"I took a picture."
She held out her phone.
Evan pulled into an empty gas station and parked beneath the white canopy lights.
On the screen was a cream-colored card bearing the name Harlan Pike, Attorney at Law.
Across the back, in Marianne's unmistakable handwriting, were six words.
Prepare emergency custody petition if necessary.
Evan read it twice.
Then a third time.
Claire whispered, "She thinks I'm unfit."
Evan looked toward Noah.
"Why?"
Claire gave a bitter little laugh.
"Because I don't obey her."
Her phone vibrated.
A new message appeared from Marianne.
DO NOT TAKE MY GRANDSON OUT OF STATE.
Evan stared at the text.
Claire's face went pale.
"We never said we were leaving the state."
Evan looked slowly around the gas station.
May you like
Then he noticed the small black rectangle under the passenger-side dashboard.
A green light blinked once.
