Chapter 2 - Seven Months of Empty Chairs
Elijah called 911 with hands that wouldn't stop shaking.
He gave the dispatcher the address of Carter Family Catering, explained that his missing wife had been found inside a locked commercial freezer, and requested police and an ambulance.
The dispatcher told him to keep the freezer door open, help Naomi into the warmer kitchen, and follow instructions while emergency responders approached.
Elijah wrapped his work jacket over the old blanket.
Emma refused to release her mother's hand.
"Mommy, don't go away again."
Naomi looked at her daughter.
"I don't want to go anywhere, baby."
Her voice cracked.
Elijah helped Naomi sit against the wall near the kitchen entrance.
She was frighteningly light.
Seven months earlier, Naomi had been healthy, energetic, and constantly moving.
She had managed the business's accounts while Elijah handled customers and deliveries.
Now she seemed unable to sit upright without leaning against him.
Elijah removed his phone from his pocket and placed it on speaker.
The dispatcher continued asking questions.
How long had Naomi been in the freezer?
Was she conscious?
Could she speak?
Elijah didn't know the first answer.
Then Naomi whispered, "Maybe fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty."
He stared at her.
"You were here today?"
She nodded faintly.
"She caught me."
Before he could ask anything else, emergency sirens sounded outside.
Two paramedics entered the kitchen, followed by police officers.
Emma became frantic when they placed Naomi on a stretcher.
"No! Don't take her!"
Naomi reached toward her.
"Emma, listen to me."
The little girl stepped closer.
"I'm going to the hospital. They're going to help me."
"Promise you'll come back?"
Naomi's expression crumpled.
"I promise I'll do everything I can."
A paramedic gently explained that Emma could see her mother again once the doctors had examined her.
Elijah wanted to accompany Naomi.
But he also had a terrified daughter standing beside him and police officers asking questions about the padlocked freezer.
He called Naomi's older sister, Denise.
For seven months, Denise had been one of the few people who refused to believe Naomi had willingly abandoned Emma.
She had insisted that something was wrong.
She had challenged Elijah's explanations.
Eventually, their conversations had become so painful that they barely spoke.
Now Elijah called her.
"Denise."
"What is it?"
He swallowed.
"We found Naomi."
Silence.
Then a sharp intake of breath.
"What?"
"She's alive. She's going to the hospital."
"Where has she been?"
Elijah looked at the abandoned hammer lying beside the freezer.
"I don't know."
Denise arrived twenty minutes later.
She hurried through the kitchen doors, saw Emma sitting beside a police officer, and dropped to her knees.
"Baby, are you okay?"
Emma burst into tears.
"I found Mommy."
Denise hugged her tightly.
"I know, sweetheart."
"Everybody said she left."
Denise looked over Emma's shoulder at Elijah.
He couldn't meet her eyes.
After Denise took Emma to a quiet waiting area at the hospital, Elijah gave a statement to Detective Lauren Brooks.
He told her about the marriage.
About Naomi's disappearance.
About Tasha.
And about the message that had convinced him his wife was gone.
"She texted me the morning she disappeared," Elijah explained.
"What did it say?"
He opened the old message.
I can't keep doing this. I'm leaving. Please don't look for me.
Detective Brooks read it carefully.
"Did you ever actually speak to your wife after receiving this?"
"No."
"Any video call? Phone conversation?"
Elijah shook his head.
"She wouldn't answer."
"Did you report her missing?"
"Yes. That same week."
"And what happened?"
Elijah looked down.
"The police investigated. They said the message suggested she might have left voluntarily. There were withdrawals from our joint account too."
"Who had access to her phone?"
"Naomi did."
He hesitated.
Then added, "And sometimes Tasha. She worked with us."
Detective Brooks looked up.
"What was Tasha's role?"
"Bookkeeping. Vendor accounts. Scheduling."
"And when did your relationship with Ms. Bell begin?"
Elijah felt his face burn.
"About three months after Naomi disappeared."
The detective wrote something down.
"Where is Ms. Bell now?"
"I don't know. She ran when we opened the freezer."
The detective's expression became more serious.
"Did she take a vehicle?"
"Her gray SUV was gone when the officers checked."
"Do you know anyone she might go to?"
Elijah thought for a moment.
"She has a cousin named Andre. He drives one of our supply vans sometimes."
Detective Brooks recorded the information.
Then she asked a question Elijah wasn't prepared for.
"Mr. Carter, before today, did your daughter ever tell you she believed her mother was still alive?"
Elijah swallowed.
"Every day."
"And what did you tell her?"
He stared at the floor.
"That her mother had left us."
The detective closed her notebook.
Elijah remained seated long after she walked away.
At the hospital, doctors treated Naomi for cold exposure, dehydration, malnutrition, and injuries that appeared older than that afternoon.
She was alive.
But she was not well.
When Denise finally entered her sister's hospital room, she stopped beside the bed.
Naomi lifted her eyes.
"Denise?"
Her sister covered her mouth.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Denise took Naomi's hand.
"I knew you wouldn't leave your little girl."
Naomi began crying again.
"I tried to get home."
Denise leaned closer.
"Who did this?"
Naomi stared at the hospital door.
Then whispered:
"Tasha. And her cousin Andre."
Denise squeezed her hand.
Naomi swallowed painfully.
"But there's something else you need to know."
She looked down at the silver necklace Emma had found.
May you like
"They wanted something from me."
"And when I wouldn't give it to them, they made sure nobody could find me."
