Chapter 13 - The Reply at 5:47
The reply contained only three lines.
Rachel, you will not frighten our donors with unsupported allegations.
The west corridor stays closed until I authorize otherwise.
We will discuss your employment tonight.
Leah read it once, then again.
"She knew Rachel was there," Leah said.
"She knew Rachel had raised the door issue," Price corrected gently.
"We still have to establish what happened when the fire started."
Holt had already asked the security vendor for every available recording.
The vendor kept copies of radio traffic from Harbor House because its alarms connected to an off-site monitoring service.
The retrieval would take several days.
In the meantime, a child welfare worker named Ruth Ellis visited Leah's home after an anonymous complaint.
Leah opened every door, showed Noah's school records, and answered questions about bedtime, food, and medical care.
"Am I in trouble?" Noah asked Ruth.
"No," she said.
"I'm here to see whether you're safe."
Noah looked at Leah.
"I am safe here."
Ruth smiled, but did not ask him to repeat the ballroom story.
She spoke privately with Leah and later wrote that Noah's daily needs were being met and that he showed a secure attachment to his aunt.
That evening, Noah wanted to make pancakes for dinner.
Leah let him stir the batter while she kept one hand near the bowl.
"Mommy said pancakes can be dinner if the day was hard enough," he said.
"Your mom was a wise woman."
He stared into the batter.
"Can Mrs. Ashcroft make you go away?"
Leah set down the spoon.
"No one gets to take me away just because I told the truth."
Her phone rang before she could say more.
It was Amir.
May you like
"The judge set the guardianship petition for an emergency hearing," he said.
"And Vivian's lawyers just filed a statement claiming Noah invented the blue door."
