Chapter 3: What He Signed in March
The officers asked everyone to go home.
Most of the guests left quietly — paper plates still half-full, pink and blue streamers hanging limp in the afternoon heat.
A few of Emily's friends hugged her at the door.
Nobody knew what to say.
When the last car pulled out of the driveway, only four of us remained: Emily, Jake, the two officers, and me.
"Mr.
Calloway," the taller officer said.
His name tag read BRIGGS.
"I'm going to ask you one more time.
Do you know the man in that footage?"
Jake's jaw tightened.
"I told you.
I don't."
"Jake." Emily's voice was flat now.
The crying had stopped.
Something harder had taken its place.
"I saw your face when you looked at the screen.
Don't do this."
"Emily, I'm trying to protect you."
"From what?" She stepped toward him.
"From your own brother?
What did Michael do?
What did YOU do?"
Jake turned toward the window.
His hands went into his pockets.
Officer Briggs looked at me.
"Ma'am, you received a message during the review of the footage?"
"Yes." I held out my phone.
He read it without touching it.
Then he looked at Jake.
"Sir, the message references a specific month and a document.
Is there something you'd like to tell us voluntarily before this becomes a formal investigation?"
Jake said nothing for a long moment.
Then: "I want to call my lawyer."
Emily made a short sound — not a laugh, not a cry.
Something in between.
"Your lawyer.
At your wife's gender reveal."
"Emily—"
"Don't." She held up one hand.
"Don't say my name like that right now."
Officer Briggs stepped slightly to the side, giving Jake space to make the call.
Jake walked into the hallway.
The door didn't close all the way.
I moved to Emily's side.
She was staring at the white box still sitting in the center of the lawn through the back window.
The last black balloon had finally come loose from its string and was drifting slowly above the fence line.
"Mom," she said quietly.
"What happened in March?"
"I don't know, sweetheart."
"He went on that trip.
Remember?
He said it was for work." She paused.
"He was gone for four days.
He came back and he was different.
Quieter.
I thought he was just tired."
"Did you ask him about it?"
"He said everything was fine." Her hand moved to her stomach — a small, instinctive gesture.
"I believed him."
From the hallway, we could hear Jake's voice.
Low.
Controlled.
The words were too quiet to make out.
Then one word came through clearly.
*Michael.*
Emily closed her eyes.
Officer Briggs came back to us.
"Mrs.
Calloway, we're going to need you to come to the station tomorrow morning to make a formal statement.
The bracelet will go to our forensics team tonight."
"What does the date mean?" I asked.
"Tomorrow's date on the bracelet.
Is she in danger?"
Briggs didn't answer immediately.
"We're treating it as a credible threat," he said finally.
"I'd strongly recommend she not be alone tonight."
Emily didn't react.
She was still looking at the lawn.
I took her hand.
Jake came back into the room.
His face had settled into something careful and unreadable.
"My attorney is on his way," he said.
"Good," Briggs replied.
"We'll need you at the station as well.
Tonight, if possible."
Jake nodded once.
Then he looked at Emily.
Really looked at her — the way someone looks when they're trying to memorize something before it changes.
"Em.
I never wanted any of this to touch you."
She turned to face him slowly.
"Then why did it?"
He opened his mouth.
He closed it again.
May you like
His attorney arrived forty minutes later.
And Jake left without answering her.
