Chapter 4
For one second, I couldn’t understand the words.
“What do you mean gone?”
Tessa grabbed my arm.
Her mother was panicking.
“He was here. He was watching television. Someone knocked. I went upstairs for his backpack, and when I came back—”
“Who knocked?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Noah?”
“I don’t know!”
I looked at Daniel.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
“Where is my son?”
He frowned.
“Your son?”
“Don’t.”
Tessa stepped between us.
“Rachel, call 911.”
I already was.
Daniel watched me.
“You’re overreacting again.”
I nearly lunged at him.
“Where is he?”
“I have no idea.”
The dispatcher answered.
I gave Noah’s description.
Nine years old.
Brown hair.
Gray hoodie.
Sneakers.
No coat.
Then I told them his father had recently filed for custody and I suspected he might know where Noah was.
Daniel laughed.
“Seriously?”
I stared at him while speaking.
“My husband has plans describing a flight to San Diego and notes saying, ‘If Noah talks, move sooner.’”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
The dispatcher told me officers were being sent to both addresses.
Maya called before they arrived.
I put her on speaker.
“Do not accuse him physically,” she said. “Do not block him from leaving. Photograph every document you found.”
Daniel heard her.
“You brought an attorney into our bedroom?”
Maya replied through the phone.
“Mr. Miller, I recommend you contact your counsel.”
Daniel looked stunned.
It was the first satisfying moment I’d had in twenty-four hours.
Then his phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
I saw the name before he turned the screen away.
MOM.
Diane.
Daniel’s mother.
I stared at him.
“Is Noah with your mother?”
“No.”
“Call her.”
“I don’t take orders from you.”
“Call her.”
“No.”
That answer was enough.
I called Diane myself.
She picked up on the fourth ring.
“Rachel.”
“Where’s Noah?”
Silence.
“Diane.”
“You need to calm down.”
My blood turned hot.
“Is he with you?”
“He’s with family.”
Tessa whispered, “Oh my God.”
I closed my eyes.
“Put him on the phone.”
“No.”
“Diane, someone removed my child from Tessa’s mother’s home without permission.”
“Daniel is his father.”
“Daniel says he doesn’t know where Noah is.”
Another silence.
I looked straight at Daniel.
He looked away.
Diane lowered her voice.
“He thought it would be better if Noah had some space.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s upset.”
“Because he heard his father discussing how to take him away from me.”
“You’re filling his head with adult problems.”
I almost screamed.
“He called me because Daniel brought his mistress into our house.”
Daniel shouted, “Enough!”
Diane heard him.
“Oh, so you’re together.”
That sentence exposed everything.
She already knew exactly what was happening.
“Where did you take him?”
“Rachel, you work all night. You sleep all day. Daniel has been carrying this family.”
I started laughing.
It came out broken.
“You’re using his script.”
“What?”
“The same things he wrote in his custody notes.”
Diane went silent.
Then I understood.
“You knew.”
No answer.
“You knew about the affidavit.”
“Daniel said he needed protection.”
“From me?”
“He said you would try to take everything.”
“So he decided to take my son first?”
“He is Noah’s father.”
“And I am Noah’s mother. Put him on the phone.”
“No.”
Police sirens sounded outside.
I said, “Then explain it to the officers.”
Diane hung up.
Daniel moved toward the door.
Tessa blocked him.
“Don’t touch me,” he snapped.
She raised both hands.
“I’m not touching you.”
Two officers entered moments later.
I told them Noah was with Diane.
Daniel insisted he hadn’t arranged anything.
Then one officer asked for Diane’s address.
Daniel gave it reluctantly.
She lived forty minutes away in Woodinville.
I drove behind the police car.
The rain grew harder.
Every minute felt unbearable.
Maya called again.
“Rachel, listen carefully. Daniel has parental rights. His mother taking Noah with his permission could make this complicated.”
“He didn’t have my permission.”
“I know.”
“She took him from someone else’s home.”
“I know.”
“What if they leave?”
“We’re filing for an emergency order right now.”
I gripped the steering wheel.
“What happens if they get on that flight Monday?”
“They won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because now we know about it.”
I wanted to believe her.
When we reached Diane’s house, the porch light was on.
Her SUV was there.
Noah’s blue backpack sat near the front door.
I nearly cried with relief.
An officer knocked.
Diane opened the door wearing a robe.
She acted confused.
“Officers?”
“We’re looking for Noah Miller.”
“He’s sleeping.”
I pushed forward.
“Noah!”
Diane glared at me.
“Do not come into my home screaming.”
“Then bring me my son.”
“He needs rest.”
“He needs his mother.”
Daniel arrived behind us in his car.
Diane’s face changed when she saw him.
“Daniel.”
That one word told me everything.
This was planned.
Daniel walked up.
“Mom, just let Noah come out.”
Diane stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
He lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
She looked at the officers.
Then at me.
“You told me this was handled.”
The officer nearest me heard it too.
“Ma’am, what was handled?”
Diane’s face went blank.
“Nothing.”
I stepped closer.
“Where is Noah?”
She finally moved aside.
I ran upstairs.
“Noah!”
A door opened.
My son stood in the hallway.
His eyes were red.
“Mom?”
I dropped to my knees.
He ran into me.
I held him so tightly he complained he couldn’t breathe.
I loosened my arms.
“Did anyone hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did Grandma tell you where you were going?”
He looked toward the stairs.
“She said Dad needed me to stay here.”
“Did she say anything else?”
Noah hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“She said you were sick.”
My throat tightened.
“What?”
“She said you take bad medicine and Dad has to keep me safe.”
I closed my eyes.
They had already begun.
“Noah, look at me.”
He did.
“I am not sick in the way Grandma told you.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Dad lies.”
The words broke something inside me.
A nine-year-old should not have to say that.
We walked downstairs.
Diane folded her arms.
“You are coaching him.”
“No,” I said. “You are frightening him.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Everybody needs to stop.”
I turned on him.
“You arranged this.”
“No.”
Diane stared at her son.
“Daniel.”
“Mom, stop.”
“You said Rachel wouldn’t know until morning.”
Silence.
Even the officers seemed to freeze.
Daniel’s face drained.
Diane realized what she had said.
Too late.
I whispered, “Thank you.”
Daniel glared at her.
She looked horrified.
The officer asked Daniel to step outside.
He protested.
But he went.
Another officer asked Diane questions.
I took Noah to the car.
Before we left, Diane came onto the porch.
“Rachel.”
I turned.
For the first time, she looked uncertain.
“I was trying to protect him.”
“From what?”
She swallowed.
“Daniel said you were planning to disappear with Noah.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He accused me of the exact thing he was planning.”
“He showed me messages.”
“What messages?”
“From you.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did they say?”
“That you wanted to move to Portland. That you wanted to keep Noah away from us.”
“I never sent anything like that.”
Diane’s face changed.
“He showed them to me.”
“On his phone?”
“Yes.”
“Not mine.”
She didn’t answer.
I stepped closer.
“You didn’t even ask me.”
“He said you hated me.”
“That part might become true.”
She flinched.
I put Noah in the car.
At Tessa’s apartment, he refused to sleep unless I stayed beside him.
Around four in the morning, he whispered, “Mom?”
“I’m awake.”
“Is Dad going to take me?”
“No.”
“You don’t know that.”
The sentence stunned me.
He was right.
I couldn’t promise things I didn’t control.
So I told him the truth.
“I’m going to do everything legally possible to keep you safe.”
“Will I still see Dad?”
I hesitated.
“Do you want to?”
Noah stared at the blanket.
“I don’t know.”
That hurt more than if he had said no.
He loved Daniel.
Or at least the Daniel he thought he knew.
Children do not stop loving a parent simply because that parent fails them.
They just start wondering whether loving them is dangerous.
The emergency hearing was scheduled for the next afternoon.
Daniel arrived with an attorney named Grant Mercer.
Vanessa wasn’t there.
Megan wasn’t there.
Diane sat behind Daniel.
She wouldn’t look at me.
Maya presented Noah’s recording.
Daniel’s attorney objected.
The judge listened anyway.
Then Maya presented the forged deed.
The secret financial transfers.
Diane’s statement to police that Daniel had arranged for Noah to be picked up without telling me.
Grant stood.
“Your Honor, Mr. Miller denies any intention to abduct the child. The San Diego notation refers to a family vacation.”
Maya replied, “A vacation his wife knew nothing about, scheduled immediately after a note stating, ‘If Noah talks, move sooner.’”
The judge looked at Daniel.
“Mr. Miller, did you arrange for your mother to remove Noah from a third party’s home?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I asked my mother to pick him up.”
“Did the child’s mother know?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I was concerned about Rachel’s emotional state.”
Maya stood.
“Based on what diagnosis?”
Grant objected.
The judge overruled.
Daniel said, “She works extreme hours. She hasn’t been herself.”
The judge looked at me.
“Mrs. Miller, are you currently under treatment for any condition that impairs your ability to parent?”
“No.”
“Any controlled substances?”
“No.”
“Any disciplinary action at your hospital?”
“No.”
Daniel turned toward his lawyer.
Maya noticed.
So did I.
Then Grant said, “Your Honor, we may have documentation regarding that final question.”
My heart stopped.
Maya looked at me.
“What documentation?”
Grant opened a folder.
“This was received this morning.”
He handed a paper to the clerk.
The judge read it.
Then looked at me.
“Mrs. Miller, according to this notice, you have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation involving missing narcotics.”
The courtroom disappeared around me.
“What?”
Maya stood immediately.
“We have never seen that document.”
The judge handed her a copy.
My hands went numb.
Seattle General Hospital.
My department.
My employee number.
Pending investigation.
Controlled medication discrepancy.
Temporary suspension.
I whispered, “This isn’t true.”
Then my phone vibrated inside my bag.
I ignored it.
It vibrated again.
Maya glanced at me.
The judge called a brief recess.
I checked my phone.
Three missed calls from Tessa.
One text.
CALL ME NOW.
I called.
She answered immediately.
“Rachel, something happened at the hospital.”
“What?”
“Security came to your locker.”
My throat closed.
“And?”
May you like
Her voice shook.
“They found a bottle of oxycodone inside.”
