Today She Calls Me Mom

Tasha stared at her phone.

The call had ended.

She immediately called Derek again.

Straight to voicemail.

She tried a second time.

Nothing.

"Come on, Derek," she whispered.

"Don't you dare disappear now.""

Mrs. Carter stood behind the reception desk, watching her.

"Did he tell you where the child is?""

Tasha lowered the phone.

"No. But he knows.""

"Perhaps you should wait until he calls back.""

Tasha turned toward her.

"Wait?""

Her voice trembled with disbelief.

"Your school handed my daughter to a woman who isn't her mother. You let that woman walk her through a back gate. And now you're suggesting I wait?""

Mrs. Carter looked down.

"I didn't know there was going to be a problem.""

"You didn't know because you never asked.""

Tasha slipped the photograph of the authorization into her handbag.

Then she called the police.

She explained the situation carefully. Her daughter's age, the school pickup, the person who had collected her, the father's authorization, and the unexplained second page.

The dispatcher asked whether Derek had parental rights.

"Yes," Tasha answered.

"But I never agreed to this arrangement, and he isn't telling me where my daughter is.""

"Do you have reason to believe the child is in immediate danger?""

Tasha looked at the school camera footage still visible on the monitor.

She remembered Maya turning toward the building.

Remembered her little hands holding the backpack.

Remembered the question she had probably asked.

Where's Mommy?

"I don't know," Tasha said.

"That's exactly why I'm calling.""

The dispatcher told her an officer would contact her shortly and advised her to preserve the documents and messages.

Tasha thanked her.

Then she turned toward the school employee.

"I need the full recording. Not a screenshot. The original footage.""

"We'll have to ask the administration.""

"Then call them.""

Across town, Kiara was driving again.

Maya sat quietly behind her.

The little girl had stopped asking questions.

That bothered Kiara more than the questions had.

"Are you hungry, sweetheart?""

Maya nodded.

"Can we get a sandwich?""

"Of course.""

"Can Mommy come too?""

Kiara's hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"Why do you keep asking about her?""

Maya looked down.

"Because she said she'd pick me up.""

Kiara took a slow breath.

"Your daddy and I made different plans.""

"But Mommy didn't know.""

Kiara glanced at the rearview mirror.

"Sometimes grown-ups don't agree.""

Maya hugged her backpack.

"Are you mad at Mommy?""

"No, baby.""

"Then why can't I call her?""

Kiara didn't answer.

Her phone rang.

Derek.

She pressed the hands-free button.

"What?""

"Where are you?""

"Driving.""

"That's not an answer.""

Kiara laughed without humor.

"You told me to collect Maya. I collected her. What else do you want?""

"I want you to listen.""

"I'm listening.""

"Do not take her to the apartment.""

Kiara's expression hardened.

"What apartment?""

Derek went silent.

She continued.

"The one you told me was ready?""

"That was supposed to be temporary.""

"Temporary for whom?""

"Kiara, stop.""

She pulled into a parking space.

"Three days ago, you told me that once Maya was with us, things would finally settle down.""

"Lower your voice.""

"Why? Is Maya not allowed to hear the truth?""

From the back seat, Maya lifted her head.

"Daddy?""

Derek heard her.

His voice immediately softened.

"Hey, princess. Are you okay?""

Maya leaned toward the phone.

"Yes. Can I see you?""

"Of course. Daddy will see you soon.""

"Can Mommy come?""

A pause.

Then Derek answered.

"We'll talk about that later.""

Maya looked disappointed.

Kiara ended the call.

She sat with both hands on the steering wheel.

For several seconds, she didn't move.

Then she opened the glove compartment and took out a folded piece of paper.

It was an address.

A small residential building on the other side of town.

Derek had told her the apartment would be ready for Maya.

He had told her it was part of a new beginning.

But he had never explained why the apartment was already furnished before Tasha knew anything about it.

Kiara looked at the address.

Then she looked at Maya.

"Come on, sweetheart. We're going somewhere quiet.""

At the police station, Tasha sat across from an officer named Reynolds.

He examined the authorization and the photographs she had taken.

"Did you recognize the person who collected your daughter?""

"Yes. Her name is Kiara.""

"What's her relationship to the child's father?""

Tasha hesitated.

"She's his girlfriend.""

Officer Reynolds looked up.

"Are they living together?""

"Not officially.""

"Has she collected Maya before?""

"Not without me knowing.""

He made a note.

"Have there been previous custody disputes?""

Tasha shook her head.

"Nothing like this.""

Her phone vibrated.

A message from Derek.

*DEREK: Stop involving other people. I'll explain everything tonight.*

Tasha showed the officer.

He read it.

"Has he provided an address?""

"No.""

"Has he confirmed where the child is?""

"No.""

Officer Reynolds leaned back.

"Mrs. Carter's school may have acted on the father's written authorization. That doesn't automatically settle whether the release was appropriate. We'll need to establish exactly what happened and where the child is now.""

Tasha nodded.

"I understand.""

She took a breath.

"But I need you to understand something too. Maya has medication. She has never spent an entire afternoon away from me without knowing where she's going.""

"Does she have a medical condition?""

"She has a prescribed medication routine. I brought the medicine to school today, but I arrived after Kiara left.""

Officer Reynolds wrote that down.

"Do you know whether Kiara has the medication?""

Tasha shook her head.

"No. And she wouldn't know when Maya needs it.""

The officer picked up the phone.

"Let's get the school to confirm the vehicle details and contact the relevant officers.""

Tasha looked at the photograph of her daughter on her phone.

Maya was smiling in it.

Two missing front teeth.

Pink backpack.