Chapter 4
I didn't let go of Rabbit the whole time Andrea talked to the man in the hallway.
Marcus stayed kneeling by my bed. His hand wasn't on the rail anymore. It was on the blanket near my foot, not touching me, just there. His knuckles looked worse up close, all scraped and purple at the edges. I could hear him breathing slow like he was trying to make me breathe slow too.
Andrea came back in with a deputy. He had a brown uniform and a radio that crackled every few seconds. He didn't turn on the big overhead light. He left the door half open.
"Lily," Andrea said soft, and crouched down so her eyes were level with mine. Her gold necklace caught the fluorescent light. "Sweetheart, can I look at Rabbit for just a second? I won't take him away. I just want to check his ear, okay? Like Mommy showed you?"
My chest got tight. I remembered Mommy's hands. She'd been sitting on the edge of my bed at the apartment, the one with the noisy heater. She'd taken Rabbit and folded his left ear over, and there was tape inside, white medical tape. She'd pressed it down and said, "If I don't come back tonight, you give this to someone safe. Don't tell the bad man. Only someone safe." Her voice had been weird and fast.
I held Rabbit tighter.
"It's okay," Marcus said, low. "Nobody takes Rabbit. Andrea just looks."
I nodded after a second and turned Rabbit so his left ear faced her. I didn't let go. Andrea's fingers were careful. She felt along the seam of the ear, then found the edge of the tape. She peeled it back slow and something cold and small dropped into her palm. A silver key, little, with a blue plastic top shaped like a house.
Andrea's breath caught. She looked at Marcus, then at me.
"Did Mommy put that there for you?" she asked.
I swallowed. My eyes were still wet. "She said use Rabbit key if she didn't come back."
The deputy stepped closer and looked at the key but didn't touch it. "Ma'am, is that to your residence?" he asked Andrea.
"It's her mother's apartment," Andrea said. "Sarah Ellis. Greenfield Apartments on County Road 9. The child is saying her mother hid something there and the mother hasn't returned."
Deputy Harris — his name was on his vest — checked his notepad. It was 1:17 then, I saw the clock over the door. "We got the call about Sarah Ellis," he said. "Boyfriend Ray Donahue. No answer at her phone, no answer at the apartment when we knocked earlier. But I can't just go in and search because a seven-year-old has a key. I need consent from a lawful occupant or a warrant, or exigent circumstances. A key alone doesn't give me authority to go through someone's home."
Marcus's jaw moved. I saw it clench under his beard. "So we wait for paperwork while he gets there first?" he said, his voice still low but harder. "Sarah told Lily that bad man might come back before sunrise. That's like four hours left. If there's something in that apartment he wants that bad—"
"I understand the urgency, sir," Harris said. He kept his voice even, professional. He glanced at me, then lowered his voice a little. "But if I go in wrong, anything we find gets thrown out. And I can't leave a child's statement as sole basis for a burglary-style entry without more. I need a welfare check angle or parental consent."
Andrea stood up, still holding the key in her open palm so I could see it. "Lily lives there," she said. "She's a resident. She's giving us permission through her guardian ad litem — me, as the on-call CPS worker. And her mother is missing. That's a welfare check. We have a credible fear the mother is endangered and the child is signaling hidden evidence related to domestic violence."
Harris considered that. His radio crackled again. He pressed the button and said he'd be out of service a few minutes.
He looked at me again. "Lily, do you want Ms. Andrea and Mr. Marcus to go check your home to make sure it's safe and to find what your mommy hid? So the bad man doesn't get it?"
I nodded fast. Rabbit's ear was still folded back where the tape had been. I fixed it with my fingers.
"Yes," I said. My voice was small. "Please don't let him go there."
Marcus leaned forward a little. "I'll drive. Andrea comes with. You follow as welfare check, Deputy. We don't touch nothing we shouldn't. We just secure the place and what Sarah left. Before sunrise."
The clock ticked to 1:19. The window was still black. Andrea slipped the key into a small plastic bag from her purse, then zipped it shut, but she let me touch the bag after, so I knew Rabbit's key was safe.
Harris nodded once. "Alright. We do it by the book. Welfare check for missing adult Sarah Ellis, child present at hospital, minor gives consent via CPS to enter with key to ensure safety and locate mother. I lead, you two follow, I document everything. No search beyond plain view until we see what's there. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Andrea said. She looked at Marcus. Marcus nodded.
I grabbed Andrea's sleeve before she could step away. "You will bring Rabbit key back?" I asked.
"We will," she said. "And we'll lock your apartment again. I promise."
May you like
Marcus put his big hand gently on the bed rail again, close to mine. "Hey, kiddo. We're coming right back. Nurse Jill stays with you right outside. Okay?"
I held Rabbit up against my chest. His ear was empty now but I still held him with both hands, just like before.
