Chapter 3 - The Woman in the Driveway
“Who?” Claire whispered.
The dispatcher didn’t answer right away.
Outside the bathroom, the screwdriver stopped moving.
Claire heard Diane’s shoes hurry down the hall.
Grant remained by the door.
“Mom went to tell them you’re having a postpartum episode,” he said softly. “You can end this before you embarrass yourself.”
Claire stared at the wood between them.
Postpartum episode.
The phrase was too polished. Too ready.
He had used it before.
Three weeks after Noah was born, Claire had cried in the kitchen because she had slept forty minutes in two days. Grant had filmed her without telling her. Later he showed her the video and said, “See? You’re unstable.”
At the time, she had apologized.
Now she understood why he kept the video.
The dispatcher came back. “The officers are staying. Do you hear me? They are not leaving.”
Claire closed her eyes.
A heavy knock shook the front door.
“Police!”
Grant swore.
Everything changed at once.
Footsteps raced through the hall. Diane’s voice rose in a syrupy panic. “Officer, thank God. She locked herself in there with the baby. She’s confused.”
Grant instantly became gentle.
“My wife needs help.”
Claire almost shouted, but the dispatcher said, “Stay where you are. Let the officers come to you.”
A male officer called from the hallway. “Ma’am? Claire? Can you hear me?”
“Yes!” she yelled.
Grant struck the door once with his palm.
“Don’t scare the baby,” he snapped.
The absurdity of it hit Claire like cold water.
An officer ordered Grant away from the bathroom.
“I’m her husband.”
“Step back.”
“This is my house.”
“Step back now.”
Silence.
Then slow retreating footsteps.
Claire’s knees nearly gave out.
An officer spoke through the door. “Claire, my name is Officer Ramirez. I need you to keep the door locked until I tell you otherwise. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
“Are you injured?”
Claire looked at the dark mark on her shoulder.
“Yes.”
“Is the baby injured?”
“No.”
Grant interrupted from farther away. “She fell.”
Claire said, “No, I didn’t.”
The hallway went quiet.
Officer Ramirez asked, “Can you say that again?”
Claire forced her voice steady.
“I did not fall.”
For the first time that night, someone believed her without asking for proof.
Then the baby monitor beside her crackled again.
A recorded voice played through the tiny speaker.
Diane said, “We need the doctor to put it in writing before she changes her mind.”
May you like
Officer Ramirez heard it.
“So,” he said slowly, “what exactly is on that device?”
