Chương 3
Daniel came last.
For three days I had imagined him as larger than life, a figure made of fists, commands, and doorways I could not cross.
Standing beneath Elias Vance’s recessed lighting, he looked ordinary.
That was almost worse.
His dark coat was buttoned crooked.
His hair was damp from melted snow.
He wore the same leather shoes he had worn while I labored because he had complained that the hospital floor would ruin them.
His eyes found me.
Then they dropped to Lily.
Something sharp passed across his face.
“Ava.”
I stopped breathing.
Elias stepped slightly forward.
I touched his sleeve.
“Don’t.”
He looked down at my hand.
I pulled it away.
The female officer approached.
“Mrs. Miller?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Officer Reyes.”
She glanced at the nurse, the bandages, and the baby.
“We received a report that you and your children were being prevented from leaving this residence.”
Daniel spoke immediately.
“She’s confused.”
Officer Reyes held up one hand.
“I’ll talk to your wife first.”
“She hasn’t been well since the birth.”
“I said I’ll talk to her.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened.
That small reaction restored something in me.
He disliked being interrupted.
He disliked women who interrupted him even more.
Officer Reyes crouched enough to bring her face closer to mine.
“Do you want to be here?”
“Yes.”
“Has anyone prevented you from leaving?”
“No.”
“Has anyone threatened you here?”
“No.”
“Do you feel safe answering in front of everyone?”
I looked at Daniel.
“No.”
The word changed the room.
Marcus moved toward the doorway.
Officer Reyes stood.
“We need privacy.”
“This is my residence,” Elias said.
“And she’s my wife,” Daniel snapped.
Officer Reyes looked between them.
“Neither fact makes either of you useful to me right now.”
Elias said nothing else.
Daniel tried.
“I should stay because—”
“No.”
For the first time that morning, I wanted to smile.
Officer Reyes asked the nurse to remain and directed everyone else into the hall beyond the bedroom.
Daniel’s stare followed me until the door closed.
The silence afterward felt so complete that my ears rang.
Officer Reyes pulled another chair closer.
“You’re not in trouble.”
“I know.”
“People say that before they ask questions.”
The corner of her mouth moved.
“Fair.”
She set the tablet aside.
“What happened to your back?”
I looked at the nurse.
The nurse looked at the wall.
Officer Reyes waited.
Daniel had always filled silence until I surrendered.
This woman did not.
“My husband’s cousins held me down.”
“When?”
“The night the babies were born.”
“Where?”
“Our apartment.”
“Why?”
My throat tightened.
“He said I embarrassed him.”
“How?”
“They were girls.”
Officer Reyes stared at me for a second too long.
I knew that look.
People sometimes needed time to decide whether cruelty had become too ridiculous to be believable.
“He wanted a son.”
“Did Daniel hit you?”
“Not then.”
“Other times?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
I rubbed my thumb across Lily’s blanket.
“I don’t know.”
Officer Reyes’s voice softened.
“You don’t have to estimate.”
I nodded.
“Did you receive medical care after the assault?”
“Here.”
“Before that?”
“No.”
“Were the babies born in a hospital?”
“No.”
She glanced up.
“Where?”
“At home.”
“Was that your choice?”
I almost answered yes.
The lie had become automatic.
I closed my mouth.
Then I tried again.
“No.”
Officer Reyes leaned back slightly.
“What was supposed to happen?”
“Daniel hired a midwife.”
“Licensed?”
“I don’t know.”
“He wouldn’t let you go to a hospital?”
“He said hospitals ask too many questions.”
The nurse behind us stopped pretending not to listen.
Officer Reyes picked up her tablet.
“Can I ask the name of the midwife?”
“Marianne.”
“Last name?”
“I never heard it.”
“Phone number?”
“Daniel arranged everything.”
She wrote something down.
“After the birth, what happened?”
I stared at Lily’s ear.
It was unbelievably small.
“He looked between their legs.”
Officer Reyes’s hand stopped.
“He asked twice if the midwife was sure.”
My voice sounded detached even to me.
“Then he walked out.”
“What happened after he walked out?”
“His mother came in.”
“And?”
“She cried.”
“For you?”
I shook my head.
“She said I had ruined the family.”
Officer Reyes did not write for several seconds.
“What happened next?”
I could hear Daniel’s voice through the wall but not his words.
My body reacted anyway.
My shoulders drew inward.
Lily stirred.
The nurse moved closer.
“His cousins came later.”
“Names?”
“Owen and Peter Miller.”
“What did they do?”
I looked at the dressing over my wrists.
“They tied my hands.”
Officer Reyes’s face changed.
Not dramatically.
Her eyes simply lost whatever softness had been there.
“With what?”
“An extension cord.”
“Why?”
“Daniel said I was hysterical.”
“Were you?”
“I was trying to stop them from taking the babies.”
“Where were they taking them?”
“I didn’t know.”
My stomach twisted at the memory.
“I still don’t.”
Officer Reyes set the tablet on her knee.
“Did they remove the babies from the apartment?”
“No.”
“I bit Owen.”
That surprised a laugh out of the nurse.
She covered it quickly.
Officer Reyes did not smile, but something warmer entered her expression.
“Good.”
Then she corrected herself.
“I mean, I’m not supposed to say that.”
The absurdity nearly made me laugh too.
Instead, I started crying.
There was no graceful beginning.
My face simply collapsed.
The nurse took Lily before my arms became unsafe.
I pressed both hands over my mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Officer Reyes handed me a tissue.
“You can stop apologizing.”
“I don’t know how.”
The sentence came out before I could protect it.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Officer Reyes waited until my breathing steadied.
“How did you end up under the overpass?”
“I walked.”
“With two newborns?”
“Yes.”
“In that condition?”
“I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Did someone put you outside?”
I nodded.
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
“Alone?”
“His cousins were there.”
“Did they physically remove you?”
“Owen dragged me down the stairs.”
The nurse muttered something vicious.
May you like
Officer Reyes entered another note.
“Do you have anywhere else you could safely stay?”
