Chapter 2 - Tessa Refused to Give Her the BottleTessa had never seen Opal look at her that way.
Not angry.
Not irritated.
Afraid.
That frightened her more than shouting.
“Give me the bottle.”
Tessa shook her head.
Her fingers tightened around it.
“No.”
Opal stepped forward.
“Katherine Mercer, hand it to me.”
Nobody called her Katherine except teachers and people who were angry.
Tessa backed toward the hallway.
Kai was still crying in the high chair.
“I said give it to me.”
Celeste’s voice exploded through the camera speaker.
“Don’t go near her!”
Opal looked upward.
“You are making this worse.”
Celeste was already running through the clinic lobby.
“Worse than hitting my baby?”
“I barely touched him.”
“You called him a bastard.”
Opal’s face hardened.
“Tessa exaggerated.”
Tessa shouted:
“I heard you!”
Dr. Moreno followed Celeste outside while speaking to 911.
Celeste reached her car.
Her hands shook too badly to fit the key into the ignition.
The doctor caught her wrist.
“Don’t drive like this.”
“My kids are there.”
“Police are already on the way.”
“My kids are there with her!”
Dr. Moreno took the keys.
“I’ll drive.”
Celeste didn’t argue.
Back inside the house, Tessa moved toward Kai.
Opal blocked her again.
“You’re upsetting him.”
Tessa stared.
“He’s scared of you.”
Opal’s expression changed.
“He is one year old.”
“He still knows.”
Tessa had no idea where the sentence came from.
But she believed it.
Kai stretched both arms toward her.
“Tess…”
Not quite her name.
Close enough.
Tessa moved.
Opal caught her shoulder.
Tessa screamed.
The sound went through the live camera.
Celeste heard.
“TESSA!”
Dr. Moreno accelerated.
“Four minutes.”
Celeste stared at the phone.
“Get your hand off her!”
Opal looked up.
For a second, the familiar calm returned.
The professional voice.
The one she used around Celeste.
“You’re misunderstanding what you’re seeing.”
Celeste nearly laughed.
“I’m looking at you holding my daughter.”
“She has medication in her hand.”
“Then step away and let the police take it.”
That ended the argument.
Opal released Tessa.
Tessa immediately rushed to Kai.
She unfastened the high-chair tray.
She struggled with the buckle.
Opal watched.
“Tessa.”
The girl froze.
“Your mother doesn’t understand what that bottle is.”
“Then tell her.”
Opal didn’t answer.
Tessa pulled Kai free and held him awkwardly against her chest.
He was heavy for her.
She nearly lost balance.
But she refused to set him down.
“Go to the front door,” Celeste told her.
Opal stepped toward them.
Celeste shouted:
“STOP.”
Opal stopped.
A doorbell rang.
Then pounding.
“ALBUQUERQUE POLICE!”
Tessa’s whole body sagged.
Opal closed her eyes.
Two officers entered moments later after Tessa unlocked the front door.
One took Kai.
The other separated Opal.
Tessa handed over the bottle.
“Don’t throw it away.”
The officer frowned.
“We won’t.”
“My mom said it’s important.”
Opal spoke immediately.
“It’s his supplement.”
Tessa turned.
“No, it isn’t.”
Opal stared at her.
The officer asked:
“How do you know?”
Tessa swallowed.
“The old one had a white lid.”
Opal’s face tightened.
“And this one?”
“Black.”
Small detail.
Huge consequence.
The officer sealed the bottle inside an evidence bag.
Opal’s calm began to fracture.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Ma’am, we need you to stay here.”
“I live here.”
Celeste arrived six minutes later.
She barely waited for the car to stop moving.
She ran through the front door.
“Tessa!”
Her daughter collided with her.
Celeste hugged her with one arm.
Then reached for Kai.
He was still sniffling.
Porridge had dried around his mouth.
A faint red patch marked one cheek.
Celeste’s vision blurred.
“Oh, baby.”
Kai immediately buried his face against her chest.
That was when Celeste broke.
She cried into his hair.
Tessa wrapped both arms around her waist.
For several seconds, the three of them stood in the foyer while police watched.
Opal spoke from the kitchen.
“Celeste.”
Celeste slowly turned.
Opal sat in a chair.
An officer stood nearby.
The woman who had run the household with quiet authority for almost a year suddenly looked older.
Smaller.
But Celeste no longer trusted appearances.
“What did you give him?”
Opal shook her head.
“Nothing harmful.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It was something to help him settle.”
“What?”
“Celeste—”
“What?”
Opal looked toward the officer.
Then toward Dr. Moreno.
“I want an attorney.”
Celeste’s stomach dropped.
That was not what an innocent caregiver said when asked about a baby’s supplement.
Dr. Moreno took Kai gently.
“We need him evaluated.”
Celeste nodded.
Opal stood.
The officer told her to sit.
She did.
Then she looked at Celeste.
“You are going to regret turning this into a police matter.”
Celeste stared at her.
“My baby has been sick for six weeks.”
Opal’s eyes moved.
Tiny.
But Celeste saw it.
“You know that.”
“Of course I know.”
“You were there.”
“I helped you.”
“You gave him something every night.”
Opal said nothing.
Celeste stepped closer.
“I sat in doctors’ offices trying to figure out why my son couldn’t stay awake.”
Still nothing.
“I blamed myself.”
Opal’s face softened.
“Celeste—”
“No.”
She backed away.
“You don’t get to comfort me.”
Tessa tugged her sleeve.
“Mom.”
Celeste looked down.
“There’s another thing.”
Opal’s head snapped toward her.
“Tessa.”
The girl flinched.
Celeste moved between them.
“What thing?”
Tessa looked at Opal.
Then whispered:
“Sometimes she poured the bottle into the sink before you got home.”
Celeste stared.
“What?”
“I thought she was throwing away medicine.”
“How many times?”
“I don’t know.”
Tessa’s eyes filled.
“But she always washed the bottle after.”
Opal stood again.
“That is enough.”
The officer moved toward her.
Tessa continued.
“And once she said she had to make the color look right.”
Nobody spoke.
Dr. Moreno looked at the evidence bag.
Then at Kai.
Her face became grim.
Celeste’s voice dropped.
“Color?”
Tessa nodded.
“She mixed something.”
Opal stopped denying.
Instead she looked at Celeste and said something far worse.
“You should be asking why I needed you out of this house so often.”
Celeste froze.
“What?”
Opal smiled faintly.
May you like
Then she asked for her lawyer again.
And refused to say another word.
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