Chapter 4: Everything She Said Was True. None of It Was the Whole Truth.
The officers kept everyone in the kitchen while a third unit took Lily and Noah to the hospital.
Lily didn't want to let go of my hand.
"Will you come?" she asked.
"As soon as I can," I said.
"I promise."
She looked at Rachel.
Rachel looked at the floor.
The paramedic lifted Noah gently and Lily followed without another word.
The front door closed behind them.
Then it was the four of us — me, Rachel, David, and the two officers — and the kitchen felt very small.
"Mrs.
Calloway," the older officer said, "can you tell us where you've been for the past three days?"
Rachel set her bag on the counter.
Her hands were steady.
That steadiness had always been one of the things I loved about her.
Now it made my stomach turn.
"I was trying to fix something," she said.
"I didn't realize how much time had passed."
"Your children were alone," I said.
"Noah is eight months old."
"Lily is responsible.
She knows where the food is—"
"She is five years old, Rachel."
The officer held up a hand between us.
"Ma'am.
Where specifically were you?"
Rachel looked at David.
Something passed between them that I couldn't read.
"There's a family," she said.
"In Claremont.
About ninety minutes from here.
They've had Marcus for two years."
David's chair scraped back.
The officer nearest him put a hand out.
"Sir.
Stay seated."
David sat.
His jaw was working.
"You placed him with a family," he said quietly.
"Without telling me."
"You would have fought it."
"He's my son."
"You had no legal standing.
I had full custody.
I made a decision."
"You gave away our child."
"I made a decision," Rachel said again.
Her voice didn't shake.
"I was twenty-six.
I was alone.
You were in no position to—"
"I was working two jobs," David said.
"I had an apartment.
I had a plan."
"You had a plan." Rachel's composure cracked — just at the edges.
"You always had a plan, David.
You never had a solution."
I had been standing against the counter watching two people argue about a life I had known nothing about.
A child.
A placement.
A secret carried into our marriage and locked behind a white door at the end of the hall.
"Why did you call him?" I said.
Rachel turned to me.
"Eight days ago," I said.
"You called David.
Why?"
She was quiet for a moment.
"Because the family contacted me.
The Hendersons.
They said Marcus had been asking questions.
About his real mother." She looked at her hands.
"They said he'd found something.
An old photo.
He'd been upset.
They were worried about him."
"So you went to them."
"I went to see him.
For the first time in two years." She pressed her lips together.
"He's three years old and he looked at me like he already knew I'd done something wrong."
The room was silent.
"And then you came back here," I said.
"And called David.
And told him to wait in the locked room."
"I needed time to think."
"You needed time to think," I repeated.
"While Lily fed Noah from whatever she could find in the kitchen."
Rachel flinched.
It was the first time she had.
"I didn't plan to be gone that long."
"What happened?"
She hesitated.
"The Hendersons," she said.
"They told me they want to return Marcus.
They're moving abroad.
They said they can't take him." She looked at David.
"They said they've been trying to reach you for six months."
David went very still.
"They have my number," he said.
"They said the number was disconnected."
"I changed it two years ago when—" He stopped.
"When I gave up trying to find him."
The older officer was writing something in his notebook.
The younger one was watching Rachel with an expression that had stopped being neutral.
"Mrs.
Calloway," the older officer said, "the children being left alone — that's something we'll need to address separately.
Child protective services will be contacted."
Rachel nodded.
She already knew.
I looked at her — really looked at her — and tried to find the woman I had married.
She was still there.
I could see her.
But she was standing behind something I hadn't known existed, and I wasn't sure yet whether the glass between us was new or whether it had always been there and I had simply never noticed.
"Where is Marcus right now?" I said.
"With the Hendersons.
In Claremont."
"Is he safe?"
"Yes."
"Is he being cared for?"
"Yes."
I picked up my keys from the counter.
"Then that's where we're going," I said.
"All of us."
David looked at me.
He hadn't expected that.
Neither had Rachel.
"He doesn't know either of you," I said.
"He's three years old and he's about to have his entire world change again.
The least we can do is walk in there together."
The older officer cleared his throat.
"Sir, I'll need statements from both of you before—"
May you like
"Then take them now," I said.
"Because after that, we're going to Claremont."
