CHAPTER 9 — THE VISIT
“Put Janet on the phone,” Daniel said.
Patricia laughed quietly.
“Your mother-in-law and I are having a conversation.”
“Leave her house.”
“You don’t give me orders.”
“Where is she?”
A sound came through the line.
A chair scraping.
Then Janet’s frightened voice.
“Daniel, don’t come here. Call the police.”
The line disconnected.
Daniel dialed emergency services while Olivia stood in the bedroom doorway, holding Sophie.
“What happened?”
“Patricia is at your mother’s house.”
Olivia went pale.
Daniel grabbed his keys.
“You’re not going,” Olivia said.
“I can’t leave her there.”
“You can’t charge into that house angry.”
“She threatened your mother.”
“And she wants you to lose control.”
Michael arrived before the police response came through. He had been driving toward Daniel’s home after Patricia’s phone call.
“I’ll go,” Michael said.
“No.”
“I know how to handle her.”
“You didn’t handle her for fifteen years.”
Michael absorbed the blow.
“You’re right. But you need to stay with Olivia and Sophie.”
Daniel hated that he was right.
Police arrived at Janet’s home twelve minutes later.
Patricia was on the front porch when they came.
She claimed Janet had invited her.
Janet denied it.
According to the officers, Patricia had entered when Janet opened the door and refused to leave. She spent twenty minutes insisting Olivia was mentally ill and demanding that Janet help remove Sophie from Daniel’s care.
When Janet reached for her phone, Patricia grabbed it.
That was when Daniel called.
Patricia was arrested for trespassing and interfering with an emergency call.
She was released the next morning pending a court appearance.
The judge granted Daniel and Olivia a temporary protective order.
Patricia could not contact them, enter their property or approach Sophie.
For three days, the house remained peaceful.
Olivia slept.
Her infection markers improved.
Daniel changed diapers, prepared bottles and learned to recognize the difference between Sophie’s hungry cry and her tired cry.
One evening, Olivia watched him rock their daughter beside the window.
“You’re different,” she said.
“I should have been different sooner.”
“Yes.”
Daniel appreciated that she did not rescue him from the truth.
“I don’t know whether you’ll ever trust me again,” he said.
“I don’t know either.”
He nodded.
“But I’m here.”
“For now.”
“For as long as you’ll let me prove it.”
The next morning, Daniel received a call from the bank.
A woman from the fraud department explained that someone had attempted to access Sophie’s newly created savings account.
The person had provided Daniel’s Social Security number, Olivia’s date of birth and Sophie’s hospital information.
The bank had blocked the attempt.
“Who made the request?” Daniel asked.
“We can’t confirm identity over the phone. But the caller claimed to be Sophie’s legal guardian.”
Daniel’s mouth went dry.
Only three people had copies of Sophie’s hospital registration paperwork.
Daniel.
May you like
Olivia.
And Patricia.
