Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Raised Her
Eleanor tried to stand too quickly.
Her knees buckled.
Grace caught her before she could fall.
For one terrifying second, Eleanor felt weightless in her arms, smaller than Grace remembered, as if weeks of fear had carved pieces out of her body.
Then Eleanor clung to her uniform.
“Grace,” she sobbed. “I knew you’d come home.”
Grace closed her eyes.
All the rage in her chest shifted.
Not gone.
Never gone.
But buried beneath something older and more fragile.
A child’s memory of her mother rubbing fever medicine on her back.
A teenager crying over rejection letters while Eleanor made grilled cheese at midnight.
A young soldier boarding a bus while Eleanor smiled too hard and waved until the vehicle turned the corner.
Grace held her tighter.
“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’ve got you.”
Vanessa stood frozen behind them.
For the first time since Grace had known her, Vanessa looked exactly like what she was: not elegant, not powerful, not untouchable.
Caught.
Officer Daniel Hayes stepped between Vanessa and the cage.
“Mrs. Calloway, we need you to remain where you are.”
Vanessa’s mask snapped back into place. “You have no idea what you’re doing. My husband is an attorney.”
Daniel said, “Then he can meet us at the station.”
Officer Reeves was already calling for medical assistance.
Eleanor pulled back just enough to look at Grace’s face.
“You came in uniform,” she said weakly.
Grace tried to smile. Failed.
“I didn’t have time to change.”
Eleanor touched the collar of her jacket with shaking fingers. “Your father would’ve been so proud.”
That hurt more than the courtyard.
More than Vanessa.
More than the cage.
Grace pressed her lips to Eleanor’s forehead.
Behind them, Vanessa said coldly, “You’re all being very dramatic. She had a bed. She had food.”
Grace turned slowly.
Her arms remained around Eleanor.
“You locked up the woman who raised me.”
Vanessa looked away.
But not before Grace saw the truth.
May you like
Vanessa was not ashamed of what she had done.
She was only afraid someone had finally seen it.
