Chapter 18 - THE BIRTHDAY ROOM
Rachel entered through the backyard while police focused on the front street.
She knew where the cameras could not see.
She had learned during the birthday party.
Mark spotted movement near the kitchen window.
He pushed Emma and me into the pantry and locked the inner door.
Rachel broke the glass beside the back entrance.
Police officers shouted from outside.
She ignored them.
She walked into the kitchen holding the missing clinic box against her chest.
The birthday decorations were still there.
I had not been able to take them down.
The balloons had begun to sag.
The cake had been thrown away.
A faint pink stain remained on the tile where Emma’s lemonade spilled.
Rachel stopped beside it.
“Claire,” she called.
“I know you’re here.”
Mark stepped out of the hallway.
“Put the box down.”
“You knew what they did to me.”
“I learned too late.”
“You still kept her.”
“She isn’t an object to return.”
Rachel laughed.
“You sound exactly like Claire.”
“That’s because we are Emma’s parents.”
Rachel pulled a small bottle from her pocket.
Mark froze.
“Is that what you used?”
“I only wanted her to sleep.”
“She stopped breathing.”
“David added more.”
“You planned the entire thing.”
“I planned to take back what was mine.”
Police began forcing the rear door open.
Rachel moved toward the pantry.
I could hear her footsteps outside.
Emma pressed both hands over her mouth.
The pantry door had a thin glass panel.
Rachel looked through it.
Her face changed when she saw Emma.
For a moment, the anger disappeared.
“Sweetheart,” she whispered.
Emma moved closer to me.
Rachel’s eyes filled with tears.
“I’m your real mother.”
Emma looked up at me.
I expected confusion.
Fear.
A question I could not answer.
Instead, she looked back at Rachel.
“My real mother doesn’t put bad things in my drink.”
Rachel recoiled as if Emma had struck her.
The police entered the kitchen.
Rachel raised the bottle.
Mark moved between her and the pantry.
Detective Hayes aimed her weapon but did not fire.
Rachel looked at Emma one final time.
May you like
Then her fingers opened.
The bottle struck the floor.
