Chapter 2 - THE VIDEO
Her name was Melissa Carter.
I had met her twice before my deployment.
She was one of Rachel's coworkers.
She held the phone against her chest as though she regretted admitting she had it.
Rachel moved toward her.
"Melissa, don't do this."
Melissa backed away.
"You said he was dead."
Her eyes flicked toward me.
"You told all of us he died three weeks ago."
My stomach tightened.
Three weeks.
Lily had been living with that lie for three weeks.
Rachel shook her head rapidly.
"It's complicated."
"No."
I said it quietly.
"It's becoming very simple."
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Brad headed toward the hallway.
Buster moved in front of him.
Brad stopped.
"Control your damn dog."
"Buster is under control."
I looked at him.
"You should worry about yourself."
Within minutes, red and blue lights filled the front windows.
Paramedics came through the door first.
The moment they saw Lily, everything became serious.
One paramedic knelt beside us.
"Sir, how long was she outside?"
"I don't know."
I hated saying those words.
A father should know.
But I had been thousands of miles away.
Lily whispered from my shoulder.
"Since the cake."
Melissa covered her face.
The cake had been served almost three hours earlier.
The paramedic looked at me sharply.
"We need to get her warm."
They wrapped Lily in thermal blankets.
She refused to let go of my hand.
Police officers separated everyone.
Rachel tried to follow us toward the ambulance.
Lily began crying again.
"Please don't make me go with Mommy."
The officer beside Rachel stopped her.
That sentence did more than any accusation I could have made.
I climbed into the ambulance with my daughter.
Before the doors closed, Melissa hurried over.
She handed her phone to an officer.
"I want him to see it."
The officer nodded.
Rachel shouted from the porch.
"Melissa."
Melissa flinched.
But she didn't take back the phone.
At the hospital, doctors examined Lily.
Mild hypothermia.
Dehydration.
She was underweight.
There were small bruises along her upper arm.
The doctor asked where they came from.
Lily stared at the blanket.
"Brad grabs hard when I'm bad."
I closed my eyes.
For one second, I imagined myself walking out of that hospital and finding Brad.
Then I looked at my daughter.
She needed a father.
Not another angry man making reckless choices.
So I stayed beside her.
At 3:17 in the morning, an officer entered the room.
His expression told me something had changed.
He placed Melissa's phone on the table.
"We've reviewed the video."
I stood.
"What does it show?"
He looked at Lily sleeping beside me.
Then back at me.
"It shows Mr. Collins carrying your daughter outside."
I felt my jaw tighten.
May you like
The officer wasn't finished.
"It also shows your wife locking the door behind him."
