Chapter 2 - THE SITTER WHO NEVER CAME
Elsie was dehydrated.
Her fever was high.
But she was responding to fluids and treatment.
The pediatrician said the illness itself appeared consistent with a common infection that had worsened while she was not receiving adequate care.
No dramatic diagnosis.
No miracle recovery.
Just a sick little girl who should never have been left with an eight-year-old responsible for deciding when she needed an adult.
A hospital social worker interviewed Rowan.
Then Micah separately.
Rowan hated letting his son walk into another room without him.
The social worker explained why it mattered.
“We need his account without worrying about what he thinks you want him to say.”
Rowan nodded.
Facts.
Not rage.
When Micah returned, he climbed into the chair beside Elsie and held her hand.
A child-protective-services report was made.
Police were also notified because of the length of time the children had apparently been left without adult supervision.
Rowan sat in the corridor and called Delaney again.
This time she answered immediately.
“I’m coming.”
“From where?”
Silence.
“Delaney.”
“Nashville.”
“What hotel?”
“Why does that matter?”
He closed his eyes.
“You told me you were at your mother’s cabin.”
“I was supposed to go.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“I can explain.”
“Did you leave the kids alone?”
“No.”
Rowan sat straighter.
“Micah says you did.”
“I hired Kelsey.”
Kelsey Hart was nineteen, a Belmont University sophomore who occasionally babysat for them.
Rowan knew her.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You left three days ago.”
“She was supposed to arrive Monday night.”
“And did she?”
“I assumed so.”
Rowan almost shouted.
Then he remembered Elsie twenty feet away.
His voice dropped.
“You assumed somebody stayed in our house for three days?”
Delaney sounded angry now.
“She texted that there was an emergency.”
“When?”
A pause.
“Monday.”
“Before or after you left?”
Silence.
There it was.
Rowan hung up.
Kelsey answered his call in less than a minute.
She started crying when he explained where the children were.
“Mr. Mercer, I told Delaney I couldn’t come.”
“When?”
“Monday afternoon.”
“What time?”
“Like four.”
Delaney had left the house around six thirty.
Kelsey’s younger brother had been injured at soccer practice. Their parents were out of state. She needed to stay home.
“I told her I was sorry.”
“What did she say?”
Kelsey hesitated.
“She said she’d figure something out.”
“Did she ask you to come later?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you anybody else was staying with the kids?”
“No.”
Rowan closed his eyes.
Delaney had known.
That mattered more than the hotel.
Then Kelsey added:
“She asked me not to text you.”
Rowan looked up.
“What?”
“She said you were on a huge job and she didn’t want you distracted.”
The same explanation Micah later gave.
Mom said Dad could lose his job if they bothered him.
Rowan returned to Elsie’s room.
Micah was staring at the floor.
“Buddy.”
Micah looked up.
“Did Mom tell you not to call me?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
“She said you’d have to come home and then we wouldn’t have enough money.”
Rowan sat beside him.
“How many times did you try to call her?”
“Mom?”
“Yes.”
Micah thought.
“A lot.”
“Did she answer?”
“Sometimes.”
“What did you tell her?”
Micah looked toward Elsie.
“That Elsie was hot.”
Rowan’s stomach tightened.
“What did Mom say?”
“That she had medicine in the bathroom and I should keep giving Elsie water.”
Rowan stared at his son.
“Did you tell her there wasn’t food?”
Micah nodded.
“She said groceries were coming.”
The grocery delivery had never arrived.
Why?
Rowan checked the family account from his phone.
The order had been attempted.
Then declined.
May you like
Their checking balance was seventy-three dollars.
Three weeks earlier, it had been more than nine thousand.
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