Chapter 14 - THE LAST ATTEMPTJames read the note twice.
"When was the diaper bag last out of our sight?"
I remembered the courthouse.
The urgent-care clinic.
My parents' house.
We documented the note.
Changed the locks.
Upgraded the cameras.
Not because we wanted to live in fear.
Because we had learned the difference between fear and preparation.
Then Lauren called.
Her voice sounded tired.
"I didn't mean to hurt Emma."
"You hit her."
"I lost my temper."
"And laughed."
"Everyone was staring at me."
"You left her alone as a newborn."
Silence.
Then:
"Mom made me this way."
There it was.
The excuse.
The escape hatch.
I stayed calm.
"Mom enabled you."
I took a breath.
"She didn't move your hand."
Lauren started crying.
"You don't understand what it's like being the difficult one in this family."
"I understand what it's like being the one expected to forgive you."
She was silent.
Then:
"Are you ever going to let me see Emma again?"
I looked at James.
Then I answered.
"No."
The word hurt.
But it also felt clean.
Lauren's voice changed.
Cold.
"Then you should know I still have something that belongs to her."
The call ended.
Ten minutes later, our doorbell camera showed a small cardboard box sitting on our porch.
No driver.
No delivery truck.
May you like
Just the box.
Waiting.
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