Chapter 2 - The Second Phone
The ambulance remained in the driveway while paramedics examined Dorothy.
She hated every second of it.
“My granddaughter needs you more than I do.”
One paramedic smiled patiently.
“The other team is with her.”
“I fell down.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“My pride is bleeding worse.”
Across the driveway, Hailey sat beneath a blanket in the open rear door of an ambulance.
An officer had removed the restraints.
She was physically unharmed.
But every time someone walked behind the SUV, her shoulders tightened.
Dorothy noticed.
Everything mattered now.
Every reaction.
Every silence.
Every lie Hailey had been taught to swallow.
Detective Ortiz arrived twenty minutes later.
She wore plain clothes and spoke softly.
Dorothy liked her immediately because she never treated Hailey like a piece of evidence.
She crouched several feet away.
“Hailey, I’m Lena. I’m a police officer, but I don’t have a uniform.”
Hailey stared at her.
Ortiz pointed toward the driveway.
“Your grandmother is right there. Nobody is taking you anywhere.”
Hailey nodded.
“Would you like her to stay close?”
Another nod.
Dorothy sat beside Hailey.
Ortiz asked only immediate safety questions.
Who had put the restraints on?
“Monica.”
Who had put her in the trunk?
“Monica.”
Had anyone else helped?
“No.”
Why had Monica done it?
Hailey’s lips trembled.
“She said we were going somewhere.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she tell you what would happen when you got there?”
Hailey stared at the ground.
“She said I was going to disappear for a while.”
Dorothy’s hand tightened around the blanket.
Ortiz remained calm.
“What did you think that meant?”
Hailey whispered, “That Daddy wouldn’t find me.”
Dorothy felt sick.
At the patrol car, Monica was speaking loudly now.
“My husband is in Denver. Call him.”
An officer answered, “We will.”
“He’ll tell you this woman has been harassing me.”
Dorothy looked over.
Monica saw her and gave the smallest smile.
Even handcuffed, she was still trying to control the story.
Nathan.
That was the weapon Monica had used for two years.
Nathan will believe me.
Nathan thinks you interfere.
Nathan says Hailey exaggerates.
Nathan wants peace.
And Dorothy had allowed fear of losing her son to make her cautious when she should have been relentless.
Her phone rang.
Nathan.
Dorothy looked at the screen.
Monica had probably demanded the officers call him.
Dorothy answered.
“Nathan.”
His voice was strained.
“Mom, what is happening?”
Dorothy closed her eyes.
“I need you to listen before you speak.”
“I just got a call saying Monica was arrested.”
“She put Hailey in the trunk of the SUV.”
Silence.
Then:
“What?”
“She restrained her.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Dorothy looked across the driveway at Hailey.
“I watched it happen.”
“Where’s Hailey?”
“With me.”
“Is she hurt?”
“Not physically.”
Nathan breathed hard.
“Put Monica on.”
Dorothy almost laughed from disbelief.
“She’s in handcuffs.”
“I need to understand what happened.”
“You understand enough to get on the next plane.”
“Mom—”
“Your daughter told police Monica said you wanted her gone.”
Another silence.
This one lasted longer.
“I never said that.”
“I know.”
“I would never say that.”
“I know.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“Does Hailey think I did?”
Dorothy looked at her granddaughter.
Hailey was watching the police search the SUV.
“I don’t know what she thinks anymore.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“I’m coming home.”
Dorothy ended the call.
Detective Ortiz approached.
“We’re going to need to take the phone we found.”
Dorothy nodded.
“Monica looked terrified when you found it.”
“We noticed.”
“Can you open it?”
“Not without consent or legal authority, depending on what we find first.”
Dorothy understood.
No television shortcuts.
No magical police access.
Evidence had rules.
Ortiz glanced toward Monica.
“We’re also photographing the vehicle, the restraints, the interior, and your injuries. Do you have exterior cameras?”
“Yes.”
Monica shouted from across the driveway.
“They’re broken.”
Ortiz turned.
Dorothy stared at her.
Broken?
Dorothy looked toward the small black camera mounted over the garage.
Nathan had installed six security cameras after a package theft the previous winter.
Monica had claimed the system had been “glitching” for weeks.
Ortiz looked at Dorothy.
“Do you know the login?”
“No.”
“Does your son?”
“Yes.”
Monica said nothing now.
Dorothy’s suspicion deepened.
An officer opened the rear passenger door of the SUV.
Inside were two suitcases.
One large.
One small.
Dorothy recognized the small pink case.
Hailey’s.
“Why is her suitcase packed?”
Hailey looked toward it.
“I didn’t pack it.”
Ortiz walked closer.
“Do you know what’s inside?”
Hailey shook her head.
The officer opened it carefully after photographing its position.
Three shirts.
Two pairs of pants.
Underwear.
A toothbrush.
A stuffed rabbit Hailey had not slept with in more than a year.
And a framed photograph.
Nathan and Hailey at the beach.
Dorothy stared.
Someone had packed enough belongings to make a frightened child believe she was being sent away.
The larger suitcase belonged to Monica.
That mattered even more.
Inside were clothes, toiletries, jewelry cases, and an envelope containing nearly twelve thousand dollars in cash.
Ortiz’s expression hardened.
“This doesn’t look spontaneous.”
Monica finally spoke.
“We were going on a trip.”
Dorothy turned.
“With a restrained child in the trunk?”
Monica’s mouth closed.
Another officer approached Ortiz carrying a small blue plastic device.
It had been found inside Monica’s purse.
Nathan used one exactly like it.
A hardware security key for sensitive financial accounts.
Dorothy had seen him plug it into his laptop.
Ortiz placed it into an evidence bag.
“What is that?”
Dorothy stared at it.
“I think it belongs to my son.”
Monica’s face changed again.
Not much.
But enough.
Dorothy remembered the phone.
The packed bags.
The cash.
The disabled cameras.
And now Nathan’s security key.
She looked at Ortiz.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
“What?”
Dorothy lowered her voice.
“Three weeks ago, I received a financial statement that wasn’t meant for me.”
Monica’s eyes snapped toward her.
Dorothy saw it.
Confirmation.
Ortiz saw it too.
“What statement?”
“An account belonging to Hailey.”
Monica pulled against the officer holding her arm.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Dorothy kept her eyes on Ortiz.
“There were withdrawals I didn’t understand.”
“How much?”
“I only saw three.”
Dorothy swallowed.
“Almost fifty thousand dollars.”
For the first time, Detective Ortiz stopped looking at the SUV.
May you like
She looked at Monica.
And the case changed.
