Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT SOMEONE CAME FOR THE CHILD
Maisie was staying with Mrs. Alvarez while Nora remained hospitalized.
The arrangement had been reviewed by the appropriate professionals, and Rachel helped ensure they had food, transportation, and support.
I visited every evening.
Sometimes I brought books.
Sometimes puzzles.
Once, I brought a ridiculously expensive stuffed bear.
Maisie examined it.
Then asked:
“Why is it so big?”
I laughed.
“I may have made a mistake.”
She nodded solemnly.
“It's okay. Grown-ups do that.”
One evening, I arrived with a box of crayons.
Maisie sat at the kitchen table.
She was drawing a house.
A yellow house.
With flowers.
And three people standing outside.
I pointed.
“Who's that?”
“Mommy.”
“And that?”
“Me.”
I looked at the third figure.
“Who's the tall one?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“You.”
My chest tightened.
I smiled.
“That's a nice drawing.”
She looked up.
“Can you stay until Mommy comes home?”
I swallowed.
“I'll do my best to be here.”
She studied me.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
At 11:43 that night, Mrs. Alvarez called.
Her voice shook.
“Ethan, someone is outside.”
I sat upright.
“What?”
“A man. He's been standing across the street for twenty minutes.”
My stomach tightened.
“Lock the doors. Don't approach him. Call the police.”
I was already reaching for my coat.
By the time I arrived, officers were speaking with Mrs. Alvarez.
The man had disappeared.
But someone had left an envelope beneath the apartment door.
Inside was a photograph.
Maisie.
Standing on Michigan Avenue.
Taken the morning I found her.
Across the back were four words.
STOP OR SHE DISAPPEARS.
I felt rage rise through me.
Not the hot, reckless kind.
Something colder.
More focused.
I looked at the officers.
“I want this documented. Every detail.”
They nodded.
I handed over the photograph.
Then I called Daniel Price.
“Victor knows we're investigating.”
Daniel was silent.
Then said:
“We need to move quickly.”
The next morning, I met with federal investigators.
I provided the records.
The threats.
The evidence from Andrew's storage card.
And everything Nora had told me.
I didn't know how much of it would hold up in court.
But I knew one thing.
I would no longer protect my company's reputation at the expense of the people it was supposed to serve.
That evening, I returned to the hospital.
Nora was awake.
She looked at me.
“You're exhausted.”
I smiled faintly.
“So are you.”
She reached for my hand.
“Ethan, you don't have to do all this.”
I sat beside her.
“I know.”
She studied me.
“Then why?”
I looked toward the window.
“Because I finally understand what it means to stay.”
Nora's eyes filled.
Then she whispered:
“I'm scared.”
I held her hand.
May you like
“Me too.”
For the first time, neither of us pretended otherwise.
