Chapter 3 - The Tickets Had DisappearedAlistair reached Willa's school at 3:06.
A police cruiser was already outside.
He barely remembered parking.
He entered through the main doors and found his daughter sitting inside the principal’s office with her backpack on her lap.
Willa was eleven.
Old enough to recognize panic.
Young enough to hide it badly.
The moment she saw him, she stood.
“Dad?”
Alistair crossed the room and hugged her.
For longer than normal.
Willa stiffened.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened to you.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He closed his eyes.
She sounded like Elise when she did that.
Direct.
Sharp.
Unwilling to accept comforting nonsense.
“Corinne arranged for Uncle Malcolm to pick you up.”
Willa’s face changed.
“Oh.”
Alistair noticed immediately.
“You knew?”
She looked away.
“Willa.”
“He told me yesterday.”
“Who?”
“Uncle Malcolm.”
“At school?”
“No.”
“Where?”
She hesitated.
“At the house.”
Alistair stared.
“When?”
“After you went to work.”
“He said he was picking you up today?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
Willa’s eyes filled.
“Corinne said you already knew.”
There it was again.
Adults using his children's trust in him as camouflage.
“What did she say?”
“That we were going on a trip.”
“Where?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Did she say Theo was coming?”
Willa nodded.
Alistair sat beside her.
“Were you scared?”
She didn't answer.
That was an answer.
“Willa.”
“Corinne said if I made Theo nervous, she’d leave him behind.”
Alistair’s stomach turned.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she say who was traveling with you?”
“Uncle Malcolm.”
Not Corinne.
The two tickets suddenly made more sense.
Children's tickets.
Malcolm had perhaps booked himself separately.
“Did you see the tickets?”
Willa nodded.
“Names?”
“One was mine.”
Alistair stopped breathing.
“And the other?”
“Theo.”
There it was.
The mystery ended.
The danger became specific.
Corinne had purchased flights for both children without telling their father.
“Where were you going?”
“Denver.”
“And then?”
Willa looked toward the office door.
“Some school.”
His chest tightened.
“What school?”
“I don't know.”
“She said school?”
Willa nodded.
“She said we needed help.”
Alistair felt rage surge.
“Help with what?”
Willa shrugged.
“Being difficult.”
His mouth went dry.
“What did she say was wrong with you?”
“She says I lie.”
“About what?”
Willa looked down.
“Her.”
Alistair went still.
“And Theo?”
“She says he has anger problems.”
Alistair almost laughed.
Theo, who apologized when other children bumped into him.
Theo, who cried if he accidentally stepped on an insect.
“Does he?”
“No.”
Willa's voice hardened.
“Corinne makes him scared and then says being scared proves something is wrong with him.”
Alistair closed his eyes.
He had missed it.
That was the thought becoming impossible to escape.
He had lived in the same house.
How had he missed it?
His phone rang.
Police.
He answered immediately.
“Mr. Grant, we're at your residence.”
“Is Theo okay?”
“He appears physically okay. EMS is evaluating him.”
Alistair exhaled.
“What about Corinne?”
“She's here. Her brother is also here.”
“Do not let either take the children.”
“We're establishing circumstances now.”
“She bought airline tickets in my children's names.”
“We were told two printed tickets were present. We haven't located them.”
Alistair frowned.
“Beatrice recorded them.”
“Yes.”
“Search Corinne.”
“We'll handle evidence appropriately.”
Alistair forced himself to stop trying to command police.
“I’m bringing Willa home.”
The officer paused.
“I'd recommend you come to the station first. Child protective services has been notified, and we may want both children interviewed away from the home.”
Alistair looked at Willa.
She watched him.
“Okay.”
He ended the call.
Willa whispered:
“Is Theo hurt?”
“No.”
“Did she do the bathroom thing again?”
Alistair’s entire body went cold.
“What bathroom thing?”
Willa froze.
“Willa.”
“I wasn't supposed to say.”
His chest tightened.
“Corinne told you?”
Willa nodded.
“What did she do?”
Willa began crying.
Alistair immediately regretted the question.
He pulled her against him.
“You don't have to explain everything right now.”
“She gets mad when Theo cries.”
“Okay.”
“She says boys shouldn't.”
“Okay.”
“Sometimes she makes him wash his face with cold water until he stops.”
Alistair closed his eyes.
No graphic injury.
No dramatic beating.
Just repeated humiliation disguised as discipline.
And somehow that made it even harder to see how long it might have been happening.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Willa pulled away.
The look she gave him hurt.
“I tried.”
Alistair stopped.
“When?”
“Three times.”
He stared.
“What did I say?”
“You said Corinne was stricter than Mom.”
His face went numb.
Willa continued.
“You said she loved us in her own way.”
Alistair looked down.
He remembered.
Small complaints.
Corinne yelled.
Corinne makes Theo stay at the table.
Corinne says I'm disrespectful.
He had interpreted them as conflict between children and a stepmother.
He had wanted the blended family to work so badly that every warning became ordinary.
Willa wiped her face.
“The last time I told you, you said I needed to give her a chance.”
Alistair could not defend himself.
“You're right.”
Willa looked surprised.
“I should have listened better.”
She started crying harder.
He held her.
“I’m sorry.”
For once, the apology wasn't meant to fix anything.
It was simply true.
On the drive to the police station, Willa was quiet.
Then she asked:
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“What happens to the school?”
“What school?”
“The place Corinne said we were going.”
“You're not going.”
Willa looked toward the window.
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
“She has papers.”
Alistair frowned.
“What papers?”
Willa turned.
“Papers you signed.”
He almost missed the traffic light changing.
“I didn't sign anything.”
Willa stared.
“But Corinne showed me.”
“What did they say?”
“That you agreed.”
Alistair’s pulse slowed.
“Agreed to what?”
May you like
Willa swallowed.
“To send us away for six months.”
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