Chapter 5 - THE ROOM MARGARET HAD ALREADY PREPARED
Hannah asked one question over breakfast.
“Where was Margaret taking Owen?”
Claire put down her coffee.
“I don’t know.”
That bothered her more each time she said it.
Somewhere you can’t get him back.
Not:
To my house.
Not:
Until you calm down.
Margaret had chosen language meant to terrify.
Claire texted Ryan.
Ask her where she was taking Owen.
He replied twenty minutes later.
SHE WON’T ANSWER ME.
Then:
I’M GOING TO HER HOUSE.
Claire called immediately.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you confronting her alone and then telling me what happened.”
Ryan went silent.
The old pattern was visible now.
He handled Margaret.
Then translated.
Claire had trusted the translation.
“No more intermediaries,” Claire said.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing today.”
Later, Ryan’s half sister, Brooke, called Claire.
Brooke lived thirty minutes from Margaret and had heard there was a family emergency.
Claire explained cautiously.
Brooke went quiet.
Then said:
“I think I know where she was going.”
Claire’s pulse jumped.
“Where?”
“The lake condo.”
Margaret owned a two-bedroom condo near Lake Geneva.
Claire had visited twice.
“What makes you think that?”
Brooke hesitated.
“Because there’s a crib there.”
Claire stopped.
“What?”
“Not a full crib. A portable one.”
“When did she buy it?”
“I don’t know. A few weeks ago?”
Claire put the phone on speaker so Hannah could hear.
Brooke continued.
“There’s formula. Diapers. A baby monitor.”
Claire felt sick.
“Why didn’t you ask?”
“I did.”
“What did she say?”
“That you and Ryan might need a break.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Another clue.
Margaret had prepared an entire second nursery.
Not after Owen was born.
Before.
Brooke continued.
“She also asked me whether I could stay there for a few nights if she needed help.”
“With Owen?”
“She didn’t say.”
“But you assumed.”
“Yes.”
Claire thanked her.
Then called Ryan.
He listened without interruption.
When she finished, he whispered:
“I didn’t know.”
Claire believed him.
That did not make her feel better.
“What exactly did you authorize?”
Ryan took a breath.
“If you left unexpectedly and I couldn’t immediately leave work, I told Margaret she could pick Owen up and bring him to our house or hers until I got there.”
“Our house or hers.”
“Yes.”
“Not Wisconsin.”
“No.”
“Not overnight.”
“No.”
“Not without telling me.”
“Absolutely not.”
Claire looked toward Owen asleep in Hannah’s portable bassinet.
Margaret had taken a limited backup arrangement and expanded it into something else.
A suitcase.
A second nursery.
A secret destination.
May you like
A threat that Claire could not get her child back.
The difference between preparation and possession was becoming painfully clear.
