Chapter 4
The sirens grew louder. Red and blue lights flashed through the trees at the top of the path.
Harrison stepped back. He ran a hand through his hair, composing himself. By the time the first officer appeared, he looked like the picture of concerned fatherhood.
"Officer," he said, holding up his hands. "Thank God you're here."
The officer was young, with a serious face. He looked from Harrison to Celestine to me holding Elodie.
"What's going on here?" he asked.
"This woman is trespassing," Harrison said. "She's my ex-wife. She has no custody rights. She crashed my sister's wedding and took my daughter."
The officer looked at me.
"Is that true?" he asked.
"I'm her mother," I said. "And I have proof she's being hurt."
I pushed up Elodie's sleeve again. The officer leaned in to look. His jaw tightened.
"Who did this?" he asked Elodie gently.
Elodie looked at Celestine. Then she looked down at her shoes.
"I fell," she whispered.
The officer sighed. He looked at me like I was the problem.
"Ma'am," he said. "If you don't have custody, you need to let the child go."
"She's scared to tell the truth," I said. "Look at how she acts. She apologizes for everything. She's terrified of making mistakes."
"Children are resilient," the officer said. "And bruises happen."
Another officer joined us. Then another. Three of them now. All looking at me like I was the dangerous one.
"Please," I said. "Just ask her about the bracelet. Someone sent me a photograph—"
"She's unstable," Harrison cut in. "She's been making these claims for years. The courts already ruled on this."
He pulled a folded paper from his pocket. Custody papers. I'd seen them a hundred times in my nightmares.
The lead officer read them. His face hardened.
"Ma'am," he said. "I need you to hand over the child. Now."
Elodie's grip on my neck tightened.
"Don't make me go," she whispered.
Tears streamed down my face.
"I won't let anything happen to you," I whispered back. "I promise."
But what good was a promise I couldn't keep?
The officer stepped forward. He gently pried Elodie's arms from around my neck. She screamed. She reached for me.
"Mommy!" she cried.
She called me Mommy.
The sound of it broke me and put me back together all at once.
They handed her to Celestine. Celestine held her like a trophy. She shot me a look of cold triumph.
"Take her away," Harrison said.
The officers escorted me up the path. I looked back over my shoulder. Elodie was still reaching for me. Still crying.
"I'll come back!" I shouted. "I promise I'll come back!"
They put me in the back of a police car. The metal was cold against my legs. The door clicked shut. Locked.
I watched through the window as Harrison and Celestine walked back toward the estate, Elodie between them. She looked so small. So defeated.
The car started moving.
I had nothing. No custody. No proof anyone would believe. Just a photograph with no return address and a bracelet with dried blood.
And the sound of my daughter calling me Mommy.
I pulled my phone from my pocket. I still had the anonymous email address that had tipped me off about the wedding. I typed a message.
She's hurt. Bruises on her wrist. They won't listen. Please. Help me.
I hit send.
I didn't expect a response. I didn't even know if anyone was on the other end.
Thirty seconds later, my phone buzzed.
Meet me at the lighthouse. Midnight. Come alone.
I stared at the message.
The lighthouse was abandoned. It stood on a rocky outcrop three miles down the coast. I'd been there once, years ago, when Harrison and I were still together.
I looked at the police officer in the front seat. He was watching me in the rearview mirror.
I had a choice.
I could go to the station, get booked for trespassing, call a lawyer, and start the long, impossible battle all over again.
Or I could find out who was helping me. And why.
"Officer," I said. "I think I'm having a medical emergency. I can't breathe."
The officer swore. He pulled over. He jumped out and opened the back door.
May you like
I didn't waste the opportunity.
I pushed past him and ran.
