Chapter 1 - The Cup and the Timer
I dialed 911 without taking my eyes off the bathroom.
Mark was kneeling beside the bathtub with a kitchen timer in one hand and a paper cup in the other.
Sophie sat in the water with her knees pulled against her chest.
She was wearing a thin bathing shirt that I had never seen before.
Her eyes looked heavy.
Too heavy.
“Drink the rest,” Mark said softly.
“You know the game does not finish until the cup is empty.”
Sophie shook her head.
“It makes my mouth sleepy.”
Mark’s smile disappeared.
“Do you want Mommy to be angry?”
Sophie immediately reached for the cup.
That sentence told me everything.
He had been using me as the threat.
I whispered our address to the dispatcher.
Then I pushed the bathroom door open.
Mark turned so quickly that the timer fell from his hand.
It struck the tile and stopped at twenty-seven minutes.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
His expression changed.
Surprise became irritation.
Irritation became the calm smile he used whenever he needed someone else to doubt what they had seen.
“You scared her.”
Sophie dropped the cup.
White liquid spilled across the bath mat.
She began crying.
“Mommy, I’m sorry.”
I moved between her and Mark.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
Mark stood.
“This is a sensory exercise.”
“Who prescribed it?”
He hesitated.
“Our pediatrician knows.”
“Which pediatrician?”
“You are becoming hysterical.”
The dispatcher heard him.
She told me officers were less than two minutes away.
Mark saw the phone in my hand.
His face hardened.
“You called the police?”
Sophie covered her ears.
I wrapped a towel around her and lifted her from the tub.
Mark reached for my wrist.
I stepped back.
“Do not touch us.”
He lowered his voice.
“You have no idea what you are destroying.”
The front door opened downstairs.
Mark moved toward the hallway.
Two officers reached the top of the stairs before he could leave.
The first officer ordered him to show his hands.
The second entered the bathroom and looked at the cup, the timer, and the powder-stained towel.
Mark spoke quickly.
“My wife is confused.”
“Our daughter has sleep problems.”
“This is a medically supervised routine.”
Sophie pressed her face against my shoulder.
The officer crouched at a careful distance.
“Sweetheart, do you feel safe?”
Sophie did not answer.
Mark smiled at her.
“Tell him about our games.”
Her entire body began shaking.
Then she whispered something against my neck.
I almost did not hear it.
“Daddy says the games only work if Mommy never finds out.”
The officer stood.
“Mr. Dalton, step away from the child.”
Mark’s calm finally broke.
He looked toward the paper cup.
Then toward the half-open bathroom cabinet.
May you like
Inside it, behind a stack of towels, a small red light began blinking.
The police officer reached in and removed a hidden camera.
