Chapter 3
Tasha was waiting by the airport’s short-term parking exit with her hazard lights blinking. She didn’t ask why I’d called or why Ruby was clutching her backpack like someone might take it. She opened the back door, let Ruby climb in, and wrapped both arms around me before I could make my face look calm.
“I’ve got you,” she whispered.
I wanted to believe her. Instead, I looked past her shoulder toward the terminal, where every opening door made my pulse jump.
Sergeant Price had arranged for us to leave without going near our car. He stayed until Tasha had us buckled in, then gave me a number to call if anything changed. He didn’t promise we were safe. I trusted him more for that.
Tasha’s townhouse was across town, tucked behind bare maples and a row of nearly identical brick homes. Eric had never been there. As she guided us inside, the smell of coffee and clean laundry met us in the hallway. It was ordinary enough to hurt.
Ruby stood just inside the door, still wearing her coat.
“You can take it off,” Tasha said gently. “There’s no hurry.”
Ruby glanced at me before unzipping it.
I sat beside her at the kitchen table and kept one hand over hers. The familiar gesture steadied us both, though neither of us said so. When Tasha set down two mugs of hot chocolate, Ruby wrapped her hands around hers but didn’t drink.
My phone was face down on the table. Price’s warning about the security account had followed us here, settling into every quiet space. Eric might be watching our home cameras—or using some other connection to find us. I didn’t know what he could see. I only knew I couldn’t keep pretending our usual routines were harmless.
“I’m turning off the location sharing,” I said.
Tasha pulled out the chair across from me. “Do you want me to sit with you?”
“Yes.”
I left the security app alone, as Price had told me, and opened the settings I knew Eric could use to see where my phone was. My thumb hesitated over the switch. A small part of me still expected him to call and ask why I’d changed it, as though I owed him an explanation for wanting privacy.
I turned it off.
Nothing dramatic happened. No alarm sounded. The screen simply returned to its list of settings. Ruby watched my face.
“Can he still find us?”
“I don’t know,” I said, choosing the truth over comfort. “But we’re not going back to the house, and you’re staying with me.”
She nodded once and lowered her eyes to the hot chocolate.
A school notification appeared while I was checking Ruby’s messages. At first, the school emblem looked like any other reminder. Then I read the subject line.
Emergency pickup request: confirmation needed.
The mug shifted in my hand. A thin brown ripple crossed the surface without spilling.
“What is it?” Tasha asked.
I opened the message.
The school portal showed a request submitted that morning to add Eric as an authorized pickup contact. It had arrived under his name, through the account he used for school messages. The school needed me to confirm before changing Ruby’s record.
My husband was supposed to be on his way to Denver. His message from the airport was still on my phone, bright and cheerful: Flight should be on time.
Ruby saw his name over my shoulder.
“Dad wants to pick me up?”
“I’m not sure what he wants,” I said, because I couldn’t tell her what I feared as if fear were proof. “But I’m going to make sure the school knows you’re with me.”
The phone rang before I could reply. The school’s number appeared on the screen.
I answered and put it on speaker.
“Hi, this is Ms. Delaney from Ruby’s school,” a woman said. Her voice was careful, as though she’d already sensed something was wrong. “We received an emergency request from Eric to add himself to Ruby’s pickup list. Before we make any changes, we need to confirm with you.”
I looked at Ruby. She had set down her cup and was watching me with the same fixed attention she’d given the airport doors.
“Is Eric listed as an authorized pickup now?” I asked.
“Not on the form we have for this school year. That’s why we’re checking with you.”
The school-year form. A simple piece of paper I could almost picture: Ruby’s handwriting on the emergency-contact line, my own quick signature at the bottom. I had filled it out months ago while Eric packed lunches and said he’d take care of the rest.
My stomach tightened. I had thought the danger was at the house. Now his name was on a screen connected to the place where Ruby spent her days, where she knew which coat hook was hers and which lunch table was hers.
“Please don’t add him,” I said. “Don’t release Ruby to him. I’ll explain more when I can speak to the principal.”
There was a pause. “Of course. Is Ruby safe with you right now?”
I looked at my daughter’s small fingers, curled around the sleeve of her coat.
“She’s with me,” I said. “And she’s not to leave with anyone unless I confirm it directly.”
“I’ll note that and notify the office staff. We’ll call you back if anything else comes through.”
When the call ended, the kitchen seemed too quiet. Tasha reached across the table, not touching my hand, only leaving hers close enough that I could choose.
Ruby stared into her cup. “I don’t want him to come to school.”
“Then he won’t take you from school,” I said. My voice shook, but the words didn’t. “I’m telling them now, and I’ll keep telling them.”
Tasha gave me a small nod. “That’s right.”
I picked up my phone to message Price. Before I could type, it buzzed with an incoming call from him.
“Are you somewhere safe?” he asked.
“For now. We’re with Tasha.”
“Good. Fire crews have secured the house. No one’s going inside until they finish their work.” He paused, then continued. “We got a still image from the SUV. There’s a contractor logo on the door. It appears to be a local heating company.”
The word heating made my grip tighten around the phone.
“Do you know who owns it?”
“Not yet. We’re checking. Don’t try to identify the driver yourself, and don’t contact anyone you think might be involved.”
“I won’t.”
I told him about the school request. His voice sharpened—not louder, but suddenly all business.
“Send me a screenshot of the alert. Tell the school to preserve the request and any messages attached to it. Don’t reply to Eric through the portal.”
“I haven’t.”
“Good. Stay where you are. I’ll call when I have more.”
The call ended. I took a screenshot and sent it to the number Price had given me, then placed my phone on the table.
Ruby had heard every word. She had also heard what I hadn’t said: that her father had asked to reach her at school while telling me he was flying west.
She moved her chair closer until her shoulder pressed against my arm.
May you like
The school’s number appeared again on my screen. This time it was a text.
We have received a second request from Eric. Please confirm whether he is allowed to collect Ruby today.
