Chapter 14 - The Cabin
Police reached the cabin before we did.
We stayed twenty minutes away at a sheriff's substation while Mom paced and Dad sat with his head in his hands.
Lauren's three children were brought out first.
Safe.
Terrified, but safe.
Lauren came out next in handcuffs.
Martin was not there.
Inside the cabin, detectives found Grandma's trust file, forged court documents, blank notarized forms, and copies of my driver's license.
They also found a laptop containing draft petitions that had never been filed.
One document made Megan go silent.
PETITION FOR PERMANENT GUARDIANSHIP FOLLOWING MATERNAL INCAPACITY.
"Following?" I asked.
She scrolled.
The draft described an event that had not happened.
It claimed I had been hospitalized after a "dangerous medication incident" while alone with Emma.
There was even a date.
Two weeks from now.
James read it twice.
"They were planning something."
The detectives seized medication bottles from the cabin, but they belonged to Lauren, not me.
One officer asked whether she had access to our house.
"Not anymore," I said.
James looked at me.
"We changed the locks."
Then his face shifted.
"The garage code."
We had changed passwords and doors.
Not the detached garage keypad.
We drove home with police.
The garage looked untouched.
Inside, James opened the cabinet where we kept old paint, tools, and camping gear.
A cardboard box sat on the floor.
It wasn't ours.
The detective opened it wearing gloves.
Inside were copies of my prescription labels.
A blank hospital intake form.
And a small voice recorder.
James pressed play.
May you like
Martin's voice filled the garage.
"Once Rachel looks unstable enough, nobody will question Lauren stepping in."
