Chapter 12 - The Report Against Me
The investigator arrived with a clipboard, but she didn't behave like an enemy. Her name was Dana Holt, and she asked me to walk her through the morning without my mother there to interrupt.
"Emma was downstairs with three adults," I said. "I went up to wash her sweatshirt. I heard the crash and ran back."
"Where is she living now?"
"Here with me, at my aunt's house."
Dana spoke privately with Tess, checked the sleeping arrangements, and reviewed the medical care and safety plan. She explained that a report was not the same as a finding. I knew that. My stomach still twisted every time she made a note.
Emma showed Dana her purple water cup. "This kitchen is nice," she said. "No loud pan."
I wanted to gather her up and carry her away from every question in the world. Instead, I let Dana work and waited until Emma went to play.
"I can't discuss who filed the report," Dana told me. "We assess the circumstances, not somebody's preferred version."
"She threatened me with that yesterday."
"Please tell Detective Brooks."
When Dana left, Tess found me sitting on the floor outside Emma's room.
"What if they believe her?" I asked.
"Then we keep telling the truth. Together."
The following afternoon, Brooks told me the hospital records, messages and witness interviews did not support the claim that I'd caused Emma's injury. Dana's inquiry would take its own course, and I didn't confuse that with a guarantee.
I went back to work part-time from Tess's dining table. Spreadsheets had never looked so comforting. A column always added up; a number didn't change because somebody shouted.
May you like
At four, an email arrived from my employer's general inbox. Mom had contacted the office to say I was unstable and unfit to manage accounts.
Gloria had forwarded it with one sentence: I believe you, Rachel. I've saved the original.
