Chapter 2 - The Missing Passport
I called 911 with one hand and untied Elena with the other. Lily stood in the doorway, too frightened to step inside.
"Tell them she attacked me," Vanessa said. "Aaron, listen. Elena has been unstable for months."
"You locked her in a pantry."
"She was going to take our family apart."
"You already did that."
The dispatcher told me officers were coming and ordered me not to follow Vanessa if she left. I wanted to ignore that last part. Then Lily reached for me, and I understood who needed me more.
Vanessa snatched her car keys off the counter. Brandon slid out of his chair.
"Mom," he said quietly, "you said she wouldn't be hurt."
She froze. For one terrible second, mother and son stared at each other as though I had vanished.
"Get upstairs," Vanessa ordered.
"You told us to say she fell," he whispered.
Vanessa ran through the garage. Tires shrieked against the driveway a moment later.
Elena tried to stand and nearly collapsed. I caught her while Lily pressed herself against my side.
"How long?" I asked.
"Since eleven this morning. I came because Lily called me from a neighbor's phone. Vanessa took mine when I got here."
Officer Ruiz arrived seven minutes later with another patrol car. He photographed the broken latch, the restraints, and the plate beside the garbage. He listened while Elena described the threats, then called for an ambulance.
"Where would she take Lily?" Ruiz asked.
"I don't know," Elena said. "But she kept talking about getting both of us out of the way."
A second officer took Brandon and Kayla into the living room. Neither child protested. Their faces were blank with the effort of being brave.
I carried Lily upstairs for her jacket. Her small backpack lay open on her bed. Her favorite rabbit was gone. So were two sweaters and the little pink suitcase we used for weekend trips.
May you like
In my desk drawer, the envelope containing Lily's birth certificate had been emptied.
And her passport was missing.
