Chapter 2 - Chloe’s Secret Notebook
Chloe kept the notebook beneath a loose wooden board inside her closet.
It was small, purple, and decorated with faded stars. On the first page, she had written a sentence in careful handwriting.
Things Dad says we must not tell.
The entries began simply.
Dad took Mom’s phone for two days.
Dad told Grandma that Mom was sick, but Mom was not sick.
Dad unplugged the house phone.
Dad said we might move soon, but Mom does not know.
Chloe did not fully understand why the details mattered. She only knew that her father often said one thing in front of Sarah and another when Sarah left the room.
One afternoon, David collected Chloe and Ethan from school without warning. Their teacher seemed surprised, but David smiled and said Sarah had approved it.
In the car, he gave them milkshakes and announced they might soon take a long trip.
“Will Mom come?” Ethan asked.
David’s smile tightened.
“We’ll see.”
Chloe looked out the window and said nothing.
That evening, she found Sarah folding laundry.
“Are we going on a trip?” Chloe asked.
Sarah stopped folding.
“What trip?”
Chloe immediately understood that her mother knew nothing.
Before she could answer, David appeared in the doorway.
“She means summer vacation,” he said.
His eyes remained on Chloe.
“Children misunderstand adult conversations.”
Later that night, Chloe added another sentence to the notebook.
Dad told us about a trip without Mom.
The next day, she asked her teacher what someone should do if they felt unsafe at home.
Her teacher did not panic or demand answers. She calmly explained emergency calls, trusted adults, and the importance of knowing an address.
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Chloe memorized every word.
Then she memorized the code to David’s locked office by watching his reflection in the hallway mirror.
