Chapter 2 - Dominic Came Home to a Different HouseDominic drove faster than he should have.
He knew that.
He also knew his one-year-old son was crying on a screen while the woman he trusted to care for him stood three feet away.
Logic had become difficult.
Detective dispatch stayed on the phone.
“Officers are en route.”
“How long?”
“Sir, I can’t guarantee—”
“How long?”
“Approximately eight minutes.”
Dominic looked at the navigation screen.
He was twelve minutes away.
Too long.
At the house, Archer remained where the camera could see him.
He had pulled Toby from the high chair with surprising care for an eight-year-old and carried him toward the sofa.
Toby buried his face against Archer’s shoulder.
“Shh.”
Archer was shaking too.
“Dad’s coming.”
Gretchen stood across the room.
She had stopped pretending to be angry.
Now she was calculating.
Archer could see it.
Her eyes moved.
Front entrance.
Kitchen.
Back patio.
Hallway.
Office.
She wanted something.
“Archer.”
He didn’t answer.
“I’m sorry.”
He stared.
Gretchen softened her expression.
The same expression she used around Dominic.
“I lost my temper.”
Archer hugged Toby tighter.
“You hit him.”
“It was one mistake.”
“You called him a bastard.”
Her face tightened.
“I didn’t mean it.”
“You say it when Dad’s not home.”
Gretchen went still.
The camera heard that.
So did Dominic.
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“How many times?” he asked through the camera.
Archer looked toward the lens.
“What?”
“How many times has she called Toby that?”
Gretchen shouted.
“Do not answer him!”
Archer flinched.
Dominic heard it.
Something inside him broke.
“Archer.”
His voice became gentler.
“You can tell me.”
The boy looked at Gretchen.
Then at his brother.
“A lot.”
Dominic closed his eyes for half a second.
He had seen Toby cry when Gretchen held him.
He had seen Archer hovering around the nursery.
He had even joked once that Archer was becoming an overprotective big brother.
Now that memory tasted like poison.
“Why?” Dominic asked.
Archer shook his head.
“She says he ruined everything.”
Gretchen’s face hardened.
“That is enough.”
She moved toward the front door.
Archer shouted:
“Dad!”
“I see her.”
Dominic switched the app to a second camera.
The foyer.
Backup mode.
Gretchen reached the front entrance.
Dominic’s voice came through another speaker.
“Police are coming.”
She stopped.
“Dominic, don’t do this.”
“You touched my child.”
“He’s my grandson.”
“That does not help you.”
“You have no idea what Laura put me through.”
Dominic’s pulse jumped at his wife’s name.
“What does Laura have to do with this?”
Gretchen’s lips parted.
She had said too much.
Then the doorbell rang.
Two officers.
Gretchen looked toward the camera with something close to hatred.
Archer did not move until police entered.
Officer Jasmine Cole found him holding Toby on the sofa.
The baby’s face was red from crying, oatmeal dried across his clothing.
Archer was barefoot.
Pale.
Protective.
“Are you Archer?”
He nodded.
“Where’s your brother?”
He looked down.
“Toby.”
“Is he hurt?”
Archer hesitated.
“Grandma slapped him.”
Gretchen immediately spoke from near the foyer.
“It was a tap.”
Cole turned.
“Ma’am, please stay where you are.”
“He was refusing food.”
“He’s one.”
“I know his age.”
The second officer, Michael Ruiz, began speaking with Gretchen separately.
Cole crouched beside Archer.
“Did this happen before?”
Archer looked toward Gretchen.
Gretchen saw.
Dominic watched through the app.
“Archer.”
His voice came through the family-room camera.
“You will not get in trouble for telling the truth.”
The boy’s eyes filled.
“Sometimes.”
Dominic nearly pulled the car onto the shoulder.
“How many times?”
“I don’t know.”
Gretchen said from across the room:
“He’s exaggerating.”
Cole raised a hand.
“Please stop interrupting.”
Archer continued.
“She squeezes Toby’s face when he won’t eat.”
Dominic felt sick.
“She makes him sit there after he cries.”
“Archer…”
“She says I’m not allowed to tell Dad because he has enough problems.”
Dominic’s vision blurred.
He remembered Gretchen saying the same thing to him about Archer.
He needs stability.
Don’t make him relive Laura’s death every time he acts out.
She had controlled both sides.
Dominic pulled into the driveway just behind an ambulance requested to examine Toby.
He was out of the car before the engine fully stopped.
The front door opened.
Archer appeared.
“Dad!”
Dominic ran.
His son hit him so hard around the waist Dominic almost lost balance.
Then he saw Toby in Officer Cole’s arms.
Dominic took him.
The baby immediately clung to his shirt.
“Hey.”
His voice broke.
“I’m here.”
Toby cried into his chest.
Dominic kissed his hair.
Over the baby’s shoulder he saw Gretchen.
His mother-in-law.
The woman who cried beside him at Laura’s funeral.
The woman who moved into his house because she said two boys should not lose their mother and grandmother at once.
“What did you take from my office?”
Gretchen stared.
“You’re asking about paperwork right now?”
“I’m asking about everything.”
“The children need you.”
“I know.”
His voice sharpened.
“That’s why I’m finally asking.”
Gretchen looked toward the officers.
Then back at Dominic.
“You’re emotional.”
Something about the word made him cold.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“That’s exactly what you used to say about Laura.”
Gretchen’s face changed.
Tiny.
But Dominic caught it.
He handed Toby carefully to the paramedic.
Then looked at Archer.
“You said she went into my office more than once.”
Archer nodded.
“How often?”
“Lots.”
Gretchen sighed.
“I was looking for family documents.”
“You weren’t allowed in there.”
“I’m Laura’s mother.”
“That is not a key.”
Archer quietly said:
“She has one.”
Everyone turned.
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“A key.”
Archer pointed toward Gretchen’s handbag.
“She uses it when you’re gone.”
Gretchen reached for the bag.
Officer Ruiz stopped her.
“Ma’am.”
Dominic stared.
His office drawer had only two keys.
One was in his personal safe.
The other had belonged to Laura.
And Laura’s key had disappeared after her funeral.
The paramedic spoke.
“Toby looks okay physically, but given the report, we recommend evaluation.”
Dominic nodded immediately.
“Do it.”
Then Officer Cole opened Gretchen’s handbag with consent from the investigation process.
Inside were normal things.
Wallet.
Lipstick.
Phone.
Prescription glasses.
And one small silver key.
Dominic recognized it.
Laura’s.
Attached to it was a faded blue ribbon.
The same ribbon his wife had tied around it years ago because she was always losing keys.
Dominic stared.
Gretchen said nothing.
Officer Cole placed it into an evidence bag.
Then Dominic looked past her.
Toward the hallway.
Toward his office.
For the first time since Laura died, he knew he had to open the drawer and face whatever she had left him.
But when he unlocked it—
the blue envelope was gone.
Only one torn corner remained.
And beneath it was a note in Laura’s handwriting.
May you like
Three words.
Protect both boys.
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