Chapter 9 - the eleven minutes my sister chose silence
Lauren asked for a private conversation.
I refused.
She asked again through Samuel.
I refused again.
Then Detective Cole called.
"You may want to hear what she has to say."
"Why?"
"Because Grant's version is changing."
Of course it was.
"What now?"
"He says Lauren discovered the baby was in the basket at two one."
My stomach turned.
Eleven minutes.
If true, my sister knew Mila was outside for eleven minutes before Helen carried her back in.
"What does Lauren say?"
"She says two three."
Nine minutes.
I closed my eyes.
Either version was unforgivable.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"She says Grant threatened her."
"With what?"
"The financial records."
I laughed.
A short, ugly sound.
"So she left my newborn outside to protect herself from being exposed as a thief?"
"That is one possible interpretation."
I agreed to see Lauren.
Not alone.
Detective Cole sat in the interview room.
Lauren's attorney sat beside her.
I sat opposite.
For several seconds, neither sister spoke.
Then Lauren said, "I didn't put Mila in the basket."
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"Try harder."
"Grant told me there were old financial files in the family room. He said Peter had arranged to get them out during the event."
"You agreed."
"Yes."
"You entered the family room."
"Yes."
"And saw the basket."
"Yes."
"Did you look inside?"
"No."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because Grant told me not to."
That sentence alone revealed how deep the conspiracy had become.
"What exactly did Grant tell you?"
"That the basket contained archived invoices. That Evan would move them to the service area. Peter would pick them up."
"And you believed this was acceptable?"
"No."
"But you did it."
"Yes."
"Then what happened?"
Lauren pressed her lips together.
"At two one, Grant told me there was a problem."
"What problem?"
"He said Peter had found something unexpected."
My hands curled into fists beneath the table.
"What?"
"He wouldn't say at first."
"Lauren."
Her eyes filled with tears.
I felt nothing.
"Then he told me Mila was in the basket."
The room became perfectly quiet.
"What did you do?"
"I told him to bring her back."
"You told him."
"Yes."
"Did you run outside?"
"No."
"Did you tell me?"
"No."
"Did you call police?"
"No."
"Did you call Helen?"
"No."
"Did you call anyone?"
"No."
"Why?"
Lauren began crying.
"Because Grant said if I made a scene, Peter would leave."
I stared at her.
"What does that even mean?"
"He said Peter was panicking."
"So?"
"He had the financial records."
There it was.
Even now.
The records.
The money.
Her reputation.
Before my child.
"You were worried he would leave with evidence."
"Claire."
"My six week old daughter was outside in February."
"It wasn't freezing."
I stood so quickly my chair scraped backward.
Cole raised one hand.
Lauren immediately realized what she had said.
"I didn't mean that."
"You knew the temperature."
"Claire."
"You knew she was outside and your thought was that it wasn't freezing."
"I told Grant to fix it."
I felt something break inside me.
Not love.
Love does not disappear that cleanly.
It was trust.
The last piece.
"You told Grant to fix it."
"I was terrified."
"So was Mila."
"I didn't know how long she'd been there."
"You knew enough."
Lauren covered her face.
"I thought Peter would bring her back immediately."
"Then why did you tell me she was fine?"
"I was trying to keep you calm."
"No. You were trying to keep me on schedule."
She lowered her hands.
The paper had 2:05 Claire at microphone.
Her eyes moved away.
"You knew about the child welfare call too."
"No."
"Lauren."
"I swear."
Cole spoke.
"Grant says you did."
Lauren turned sharply.
"Grant is a liar."
"So are you."
The words came from me.
She looked back.
For once, she had no answer.
After the interview, Cole walked me toward the elevator.
"There's something else."
I almost laughed.
"There always is."
"We identified the volunteer who called Diane downstairs."
"Who?"
"Peter's son."
I stopped.
"Peter's son?"
"Jordan Sloan. Twenty four."
"Why was he volunteering?"
"He wasn't on the original list. Lauren added him Friday."
My stomach dropped.
I turned toward the interview room door.
Lauren had added Jordan.
Which meant even if she did not know Mila was inside the basket initially, she had participated in arranging the mechanics of the plan.
"Did she know who he was?"
"Yes."
"Then why add him?"
"We asked."
"And?"
"She says Grant requested it."
Everything led back to Grant.
Until it led back to Lauren.
Until it led back to Peter.
Three adults building excuses around one another.
Then Cole's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed almost immediately.
"When?"
Pause.
"Is he alive?"
Another pause.
"Good."
She ended the call.
"They found Peter."
"Where?"
"At a motel forty miles north."
"What happened?"
"He tried to leave through a bathroom window."
Despite myself, I stared.
Cole almost smiled.
"He is fifty three."
"Was that a bad decision?"
"Extremely."
"Is he talking?"
"Not yet."
As the elevator doors opened, she added, "But they found the notebook."
"What notebook?"
Cole looked at me.
"The handwriting on the schedule appears to be Peter's."
That should have answered the question.
Instead it created another.
May you like
Why would Peter plan where my baby should be moved?
And how had Mila gotten into the basket before Lauren ever entered the room?
