Chapter 2 - Don’t Tell Daddy
I dropped to my knees.
Mia ran into my arms so hard she nearly knocked me backward.
“Mommy!”
“I’m here. I’m here.”
Her whole body trembled.
I pressed my cheek against her hair and forced myself not to cry until I understood what had happened.
Officer Grant crouched beside us.
“Is she hurt?”
I checked Mia’s arms, legs, face.
No blood.
No obvious injury.
But her feet were cold.
Her lips were dry.
A half-empty juice box sat on the floor beside the laundry basket.
“How long was she in here?” I whispered.
Mia buried her face against me.
Grant looked around.
There was no bathroom inside the room.
No phone.
No food except the juice box.
The window had a child lock.
Rivera pointed toward the key in Mia’s hand.
“Where did you get that, sweetheart?”
Mia squeezed it.
“Grandma dropped it.”
“When?”
Mia looked at me.
“Grandma was mad.”
My heart thudded.
“What happened to Rosie?”
Her eyes filled instantly.
“Aunt Cass did it.”
Cassandra.
Jackson’s sister.
The same woman I had called.
The same woman who hadn’t answered.
“What did Aunt Cassandra do?”
“She pulled Rosie.”
“Why?”
Mia whispered, “Because I wouldn’t go.”
Officer Grant’s expression changed.
“Go where?”
Mia started crying again.
“I wanted Mommy.”
I held her tighter.
“You’re okay. You don’t have to talk anymore.”
But Mia shook her head.
“Grandma said I had to be a big girl.”
“A big girl for what?”
Before she could answer, tires squealed outside.
A car door slammed.
Then another.
Jackson’s voice came from the front hallway.
“Emily?”
I stood with Mia in my arms.
He appeared in the doorway and stopped cold when he saw the broken front door, the police officers, and Mia clinging to me.
“What the hell happened?”
I stared at him.
“Your mother locked our daughter in a room.”
His face went blank.
“What?”
“A chair was wedged under the handle.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Officer Grant stood.
“Sir, we’re still determining what happened.”
Jackson reached for Mia.
“Come here, baby.”
Mia recoiled.
Not from him.
From something behind him.
Her little fingers dug into my shoulder.
“No.”
Jackson froze.
“What is it?”
Mia pointed toward the hallway.
Cassandra stood near the broken front door.
I hadn’t even heard her enter.
Her face was pale.
“Mia,” she said softly.
Mia started screaming.
“NO! NO! I DON’T WANNA GO IN THE CAR!”
Every adult in the room went silent.
Cassandra stopped moving.
Jackson stared at his sister.
“What car?”
Cassandra opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then Officer Rivera lifted Lorraine’s key from Mia’s hand and looked at the logo.
“Buick.”
Jackson turned slowly toward Cassandra.
“Where is Mom?”
Cassandra swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
I saw the lie immediately.
So did Grant.
“Ma’am,” he said, “I need you to stay right there.”
Cassandra took one step backward.
May you like
Then Mia whispered against my neck.
“Grandma took the baby.”
