Chương 13
"Dino good."
"Okay."
A long silence followed.
Then Liam looked toward the hallway.
"Do you have dark room?"
Claire's fingers tightened around the edge of her chair.
Dana stayed still.
"No."
Liam looked at Mara.
"You?"
Mara shook her head.
"No dark rooms."
"Closet dark."
Mara opened her mouth, then shut it.
Dana answered instead.
"Closets can be dark."
Liam nodded.
"Door shut."
Dana's eyes remained on him.
"Some doors shut."
He traced a circle in cracker crumbs.
"Daddy shut."
Claire's throat closed.
Dana's tone did not change.
"What did Daddy shut?"
Liam pointed vaguely behind himself.
"The room."
Dana waited.
Liam stopped tracing.
"Chair."
His voice got smaller.
Claire stared at his hand.
Dana asked, "What about the chair?"
Liam pushed one cracker across the table until it hit another and trapped it against the salt shaker.
"Can't open."
Dana looked at the little arrangement.
Then at Liam.
"Did you want the door open?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
Dana did not ask anything else about the room.
Claire felt both relief and frustration.
She wanted every detail.
She wanted none of them.
Dana stood.
"Thank you for showing me your garage."
Liam looked at the broken cracker tower.
"It fell."
"Garages do that sometimes."
Mara whispered, "They really shouldn't."
Dana almost smiled.
She returned to the living room with Claire.
"That was enough for tonight."
Claire crossed her arms tightly.
"Enough for what?"
"Enough to support continued concern."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I'm contacting my supervisor."
Dana checked her phone.
"I also need to consult law enforcement because of the alleged confinement and the possibility of altered or deleted video evidence."
Claire's stomach dropped.
"So police are coming here?"
"Possibly."
"Tonight?"
"Possibly."
Claire hated the repetition.
Dana saw it.
"I know uncertainty is difficult."
"I don't care if it's difficult."
Claire looked toward the kitchen.
"I care whether somebody is going to tell me I have to hand him back tomorrow."
Dana's expression changed.
"I can't promise you what a judge will do."
Claire felt her anger flare.
"I'm not asking about a judge."
"Then here's what I can tell you."
Dana lowered her voice.
"Based on what I have right now, I am not recommending that Liam return to Jeffrey tonight."
Claire's eyes filled.
She looked away quickly.
Dana continued.
"I am also making an immediate safety plan."
"What does that mean?"
"Liam remains with you."
Dana held Claire's gaze.
"No unsupervised contact with Jeffrey pending further assessment."
Claire exhaled slowly.
"Can Jeffrey ignore that?"
Dana chose her words carefully.
"A safety plan is not the same thing as a court order."
Claire felt the relief evaporate.
"So yes."
"He could attempt to challenge it."
"Could he come take Liam?"
"Do you believe he would?"
Claire thought about the driveway.
The messages.
The clean utility-room photograph.
The way Jeffrey had stood outside her old apartment for forty minutes.
"I don't know."
Dana nodded.
"Then tonight, keep the doors locked."
Mara called from the kitchen.
"They are."
Dana continued.
"If Jeffrey appears, don't engage."
Claire gave a humorless laugh.
"That sounds easy."
"It may not be."
"Then don't say it like it is."
Dana looked at her for a moment.
"Fair."
Claire rubbed her arms.
"I need something enforceable."
"I understand."
"How?"
"Your family-law attorney."
"I don't have one anymore."
"Then call the lawyer who handled the divorce, if you can."
"It was a legal-aid clinic."
"Call them first thing."
Claire nodded.
"If they can't help, ask about emergency custody relief."
"Can I file tonight?"
"Courts aren't open."
Claire looked at the clock.
"Of course."
Dana hesitated.
"If law enforcement determines criminal conduct occurred, that can affect the situation, but I don't want you building expectations around that."
Claire appreciated the warning even while hating it.
"Okay."
Dana's phone buzzed.
She looked at the screen.
"My supervisor is calling."
She stepped onto the front porch.
Claire stood in the living room, suddenly unsure what to do with her hands.
Mara appeared beside her.
"So?"
"Safety plan."
"Meaning?"
"He stays with me."
Mara nodded.
"Good."
"Not a court order."
Mara's face tightened.
"Less good."
Claire sat on the couch.
Mara sat beside her.
For a while neither spoke.
The kitchen clock ticked.
Liam sang something to himself at the table.
It was barely a tune.
Claire recognized pieces of the dinosaur song he had invented months ago.
Mara leaned her shoulder lightly against Claire's.
"You need to eat."
"No."
"That wasn't really a question."
Claire looked at her.
"You've become very bossy."
"I've always been bossy."
"You used to call it decisive."
"I improved my branding."
Claire smiled despite herself.
Then the front door opened.
Dana came back inside.
Her face had changed.
"What?"
Dana closed the door behind her.
"Law enforcement wants the address of Jeffrey's house."
Claire stood.
"Why?"
"They're sending officers there."
"Tonight?"
"Yes."
Claire's pulse accelerated.
"Because of the camera?"
"Partly."
Dana looked at her notebook.
"Your mother-in-law just contacted the hotline independently."
Claire stared at her.
"Marilyn?"
"She reported what she witnessed."
Claire sat back down.
For several seconds she could not speak.
Mara crossed her arms.
"What does that change?"
"It gives us an additional direct witness."
Dana looked at Claire.
"And she reported something you did not mention."
Claire felt the room narrow.
"What?"
Dana hesitated.
"She said Jeffrey did not forget Liam was in the room."
Claire's body went cold.
"What did she say?"
"She reported that shortly after one, she asked Jeffrey to let him out."
Claire waited.
Dana continued.
"According to her, Jeffrey checked the security camera on his phone."
Claire stopped breathing.
"He could see Liam?"
"That's what she said."
Claire stared at Dana.
"So he knew."
"According to Marilyn, yes."
Claire's voice barely worked.
"What did he do?"
Dana looked toward the kitchen before answering.
"He watched the feed."
Claire felt something inside her collapse quietly.
"And then?"
"Marilyn says Cynthia asked whether Liam was still crying."
Claire's fingers curled.
May you like
"What did Jeffrey say?"
Dana's face hardened.
