CHAPTER 7
I called Ryan before I called the police.
He answered on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your mother is inside the house.”
Silence.
“What?”
“I just got the camera alert.”
I watched the screen.
Linda disappeared through the front door.
“She still has a key.”
Ryan cursed.
“I forgot she had the emergency copy.”
“Are you home?”
“I’m upstairs.”
My heart stopped.
“Lock the bedroom door.”
“Sarah—”
“Ryan, do it.”
I heard movement.
Then the click of a lock.
“I’m calling the police.”
“I can handle her.”
“No.”
My voice turned sharp.
“You’ve spent your whole life thinking you can handle her.”
That stopped him.
“Stay upstairs.”
I dialed 911.
Kate woke up while I was explaining what was happening.
She came into the living room in pajamas.
“What happened?”
“Linda went into the house.”
“With Ryan there?”
“Yes.”
Kate grabbed her phone.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not taking Noah there.”
“Obviously. Mom can come stay with him.”
Our mother lived ten minutes away.
Within minutes, Kate had called her.
I hated leaving Noah even for a second.
But I also knew Ryan was alone in a house with a woman whose behavior had become increasingly unpredictable.
Mom arrived breathless and frightened.
“Go.”
I kissed Noah three times.
Then Kate drove.
I watched the home cameras the entire way.
The living room camera showed Linda walking through the house.
She opened drawers.
Cabinets.
She went directly to the wooden desk.
The locked drawer was empty now.
We had taken the evidence.
Linda yanked it open anyway.
Then she threw it shut.
“Ryan!”
Her voice echoed through the camera microphone.
“I know you’re here!”
My skin crawled.
Upstairs, Ryan stayed silent.
Then Linda shouted something that made my stomach twist.
“You owe me!”
Kate looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
The police reached the house before we did.
By the time we pulled onto the street, two patrol cars were outside.
An officer told us to wait near the sidewalk.
I watched the front door.
A minute later, Linda came out.
She was furious.
Not handcuffed.
Just furious.
Ryan followed with another officer.
His face looked pale.
Linda saw me.
“You.”
An officer stepped between us.
“Ma’am, stay back.”
Linda pointed at me.
“This is my family.”
I didn’t answer.
Ryan walked toward me.
“You okay?” I asked.
He nodded.
“She wanted the folder.”
“I figured.”
“She said it belongs to her.”
“It doesn’t.”
“I know.”
The officer asked Ryan whether he wanted Linda formally trespassed from the property.
“Yes.”
Linda stared at him.
“Ryan.”
“Yes.”
Her voice softened instantly.
“Baby.”
He flinched.
I had never heard her call him that.
“You don’t mean that.”
Ryan’s eyes filled with pain.
“I do.”
“I came because I was worried.”
“You came at two in the morning with a key.”
“I’m your mother.”
“You accused me of shaking my son.”
Linda’s expression hardened.
“I said what I saw.”
“You never saw that.”
“I saw you frustrated.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“You raised your voice once.”
“At you.”
Linda folded her arms.
“People can decide for themselves.”
Ryan stared at her.
There it was again.
Not truth.
Leverage.
She didn’t need something to be true.
She only needed it to be believable enough to hurt.
The officer explained that Linda could not return without permission.
She laughed.
“This is ridiculous.”
Then she looked at me.
“You’ve turned him against his whole family.”
“No,” Ryan said.
Linda ignored him.
“This is what women like you do.”
I almost responded.
Then I remembered something Marisol had said.
Document.
Don’t engage.
So I pulled out my phone and started recording.
Linda noticed.
Her face changed.
“Are you recording me?”
“Yes.”
She stepped toward me.
The officer blocked her.
“Ma’am.”
I said nothing.
Linda looked around and realized everyone was watching.
She suddenly started crying.
“I just wanted to see my son.”
Ryan whispered, “Stop.”
“I lost one child.”
The words froze the air.
Ryan’s face became stone.
Linda pressed a hand to her chest.
“I already buried Grace.”
Ryan looked at her.
“You don’t get to use her.”
“She was my daughter.”
“And she was my sister.”
“She died.”
“Yes.”
His voice cracked.
“And I’ve spent my whole life wondering whether you killed her.”
Linda stopped crying.
Complete silence.
The police officers looked at one another.
Kate gripped my arm.
Linda’s face became terrifyingly calm.
“You should be careful what you accuse people of.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“I’m not seven anymore.”
“No.”
She smiled faintly.
“You’re weaker now.”
I saw the words hit him.
Then something changed in Ryan.
He didn’t argue.
He didn’t defend himself.
He simply said, “Leave.”
Linda stared at him for several seconds.
Then she walked to her car.
Before getting in, she looked at me.
“This isn’t over.”
I believed her.
That was why, the next morning, I contacted an attorney.
Her name was Elena Torres.
She specialized in protective orders and family cases.
I showed her everything.
The video.
The messages.
The police reports.
The hospital documentation.
The old records.
The overnight trespass.
Elena listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she leaned back.
“You need a protective order.”
“I thought those were only for spouses.”
“No.”
“Can I get one for Noah too?”
“We can request protections covering your child.”
My throat tightened.
“Will it work?”
“It creates consequences if she violates it.”
I nodded.
“I want it.”
Ryan, sitting beside me, said, “So do I.”
Elena looked at him.
“You understand this means your mother may be prohibited from contacting you as well.”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
Ryan looked at me.
Then at Noah asleep in his carrier.
“Yes.”
We filed that afternoon.
The hearing was scheduled quickly because an infant was involved.
For the first time, I felt like we were moving instead of running.
Then Rachel called.
She sounded frightened.
“Sarah, I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Linda came to my house.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“An hour ago.”
“Why?”
“She wanted me to delete my Facebook comment.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
I stood.
“What happened?”
“She told me if I testified against her, she would tell Ava’s father that I once left Ava alone in the car.”
I frowned.
“Did you?”
“For thirty seconds in my driveway while I ran back inside for my purse.”
Rachel started crying.
“It was stupid. I know.”
“She’s blackmailing you.”
“Yes.”
My pulse quickened.
“Did you record her?”
Rachel went quiet.
Then she whispered, “Actually…”
May you like
I held my breath.
“I did.”
