Chapter 6 - The Tracker
Simone enlarged the forged signature.
“That’s enough for a criminal complaint.”
“Against my husband?” Leah asked.
“Against whoever filed it.”
Mae gave her a hard look. “Leah, stop protecting him in your head. He helped build a cage around you.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Noah stirred. Leah kissed his forehead.
“I need him safe before I care what happens to Nathan.”
A car door slammed outside.
Everyone froze.
Mae killed the kitchen light.
Simone crawled to the window and lifted one corner of the curtain.
“Blue sedan. One man.”
“Police?” Leah whispered.
“No.”
The man walked toward the porch holding something the size of a phone.
Mae’s face changed.
“Tracker scanner.”
They searched everything: Leah’s hospital bag, Mae’s coat, the bassinet mattress, Simone’s camera case.
Nothing.
Then Noah began fussing.
Leah lifted the diaper bag.
Mae stopped her.
“Give me that.”
She cut open the padded strap with kitchen scissors.
A tiny black device dropped onto the table.
Leah stared.
“That bag was a gift from Doreen.”
The front door shook under a heavy knock.
“Mrs. Carver!” a man called. “We only want to talk.”
Simone whispered, “That is not how cops announce themselves.”
Mae grabbed the tracker and tossed it into a metal mixing bowl.
The knocking became pounding.
“Back door,” she said.
They slipped through the laundry room into the yard.
Leah moved slowly, biting down against pain.
Noah was strapped to her chest under Mae’s oversized coat.
They reached the fence.
A second man stepped from behind the garage.
“Going somewhere?”
Simone swung a shovel into his knee.
He dropped with a howl.
Mae pulled Leah through the gate.
They ran toward a neighboring field.
Behind them, the first man shouted into a phone.
“We found her.”
A pause.
May you like
Then he said the name that made Leah stop.
“Yes, Mr. Carver.”
