Chapter 4 - the woman who disappeared
Rosa had worked for us for five years.
She had been there when Liam was born.
She knew where we kept extra blankets.
Which foods Jeffrey pretended not to like but ate after midnight.
How Liam wanted his bath water warm, never hot.
She had also been the person who sent me photographs during my first six months in London.
Then the photographs stopped.
Jeffrey told me Rosa had quit.
He said her daughter had moved to Florida.
At the time, I believed him.
Now I wasn't sure I believed anything.
Elias found an old emergency contact for Rosa's sister.
I called.
A woman answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
"My name is Madeline Hale. I'm trying to reach Rosa."
Silence.
Then, "Why?"
"She used to work for my family."
"I know who you are."
Something in her tone changed my breathing.
"Is Rosa all right?"
Another pause.
"She told us not to speak to anyone from your family."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
"No. But I'm trying to."
I heard a child in the background.
Then the woman sighed.
"Rosa is in Marietta."
"Can I speak to her?"
"I'll give her your number. That's all."
She hung up.
Rosa called me forty minutes later.
I answered immediately.
"Rosa."
Her breathing sounded shaky.
"Mrs. Hale?"
"Madeline. Please."
"You came back?"
"Yes."
"Is Liam with you?"
The urgency in her voice terrified me.
"Yes."
She started crying.
Not loudly.
The quiet, exhausted crying of someone who had been carrying guilt for too long.
"I'm sorry."
"What happened?"
"I tried."
"Rosa, what happened to my son?"
"I tried to tell you."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"When?"
"Last year. I called the London office. They said you were traveling. I sent emails."
"I never got them."
"I know."
"How do you know?"
"Because Mr. Hale found out."
I stood near the hospital window.
"What did he do?"
"He fired me."
"Why?"
"I took pictures."
Of Liam.
I knew before she said it.
"What pictures?"
"His room."
"What was wrong with his room?"
"He wasn't sleeping there anymore."
I closed my eyes.
"Where was he sleeping?"
"Sometimes the laundry room. Sometimes on the floor in the playroom. When Mrs. Hale's mother was angry, under the dining table."
Noelle.
I forced myself to breathe.
"And Jeffrey allowed this?"
"Mrs. Hale..."
"Tell me."
"He was there."
I gripped the window ledge.
Rosa continued.
"After Miss Cynthia moved in, everything changed."
"Moved in?"
"Eight months ago."
I looked toward Liam.
Austin had been about ten months old then.
"Was Jeffrey sleeping with her?"
Rosa didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
"Why didn't you call police?"
"I did."
My head snapped up.
"What?"
"I called a child protection hotline."
"What happened?"
"Someone visited."
"The man with papers."
"What?"
"Liam said something about a man with papers."
Rosa went silent.
"Rosa?"
"Mrs. Hale, the day the investigator came, Mrs. Noelle locked Liam in the blue guest room upstairs."
The blue room.
My hands began shaking.
"How long?"
"Almost three hours."
"Did the investigator see him?"
"No."
"What did they tell him?"
"That Liam was staying with relatives."
I pressed my fist against my mouth.
"Then why wasn't there another visit?"
"There was."
"When?"
"Two weeks later."
"What happened?"
"By then Mr. Hale had paperwork."
"What paperwork?"
"Doctors. Therapists. Reports saying Liam had severe behavioral problems and sometimes had to be separated for safety."
The fake therapy.
The fake invoices.
They had not only stolen from the trust.
They had created documentation explaining away the abuse.
"Rosa, where are the pictures?"
"I kept copies."
"Do you still have them?"
"Yes."
"Please don't send them electronically."
She understood immediately.
"When can I see you?"
"Today."
Then her voice became quieter.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The night Mr. Hale fired me, he said if I ever contacted you again, he would tell immigration I stole from the family."
"Did you?"
"No."
"I know."
"He also said he knew where my daughter worked."
I closed my eyes.
Jeffrey had not simply fired a witness.
He had frightened her into silence.
"Rosa, I'm sorry."
"No."
Her voice hardened.
"I should have done more."
"We both should have."
Silence passed between us.
Then I asked the question I had been afraid to ask.
"Did you ever see anyone hit Liam?"
Rosa hesitated.
"Yes."
My body went cold.
"Who?"
Before she could answer, the hospital room door opened.
Diane, the social worker, stepped inside.
Behind her was a police detective.
May you like
Diane looked at me.
"Mrs. Hale, your husband has reported that you abducted your son."
