Chapter 7 - The Birthday Alibi
Emma listened to the recording three times.
Each time, she heard more.
Jason was speaking quietly, probably from the nursery earlier that morning. Valerie’s voice answered through his hidden phone.
What if she refuses the second dose?
Jason paused before replying.
Then you’ll need to come back.
The audio ended there.
Emma held the monitor against her chest and fought the urge to cry.
She could not afford panic.
Jason planned to leave Friday afternoon. His birthday dinner would take place at the Blackridge Lodge, surrounded by relatives and friends who could confirm he was miles away.
If Emma collapsed after he left, Jason would appear innocent.
He could claim she had taken the wrong amount of medicine while confused.
He could claim she had refused help.
He could claim anything because there would be no one else inside the cabin.
Except Noah.
Emma looked toward the crib.
“No,” she whispered. “You don’t get to take him.”
She searched the nursery for another way to communicate.
The cabin had no neighboring houses within sight. The lower windows did not open fully, and the front door required a keypad code Jason had recently changed.
The nursery window opened, but the drop to the ground was too far for Emma to climb safely while carrying a newborn.
The landline downstairs worked, yet the nursery door was locked.
Emma checked the closet.
Behind several boxes of baby clothes, she found a narrow access panel leading to the attic crawlspace. The opening was barely wide enough for a person.
She placed Noah safely inside the crib, climbed onto a low storage chest, and pushed the panel open.
Cold air moved against her face.
A row of wooden beams disappeared into darkness.
Emma climbed inside.
Every movement exhausted her. The medicine’s effects made her arms heavy, but fear kept her moving.
She crawled above the hallway until she found an opening near the staircase.
Below, Jason stood in the kitchen, speaking into his hidden phone.
“She heard the recording,” he said.
Emma held her breath.
Valerie answered faintly through the speaker.
How?
“The monitor stored it.”
Then stop waiting until Friday.
Jason leaned against the counter.
“She’s holding Noah constantly.”
You are his father.
“She won’t give him to me.”
Valerie’s tone became colder.
The forms are ready. Leonard filed the first request this afternoon. We only need medical confirmation that she is confused and unsafe.
“What if Caleb really came back?”
Then finish what you should have finished six years ago.
Jason lowered the phone.
Emma crawled backward before he could look up.
The wooden beam creaked.
Jason stopped.
“Emma?”
She moved faster.
By the time he reached the nursery, Emma had replaced the panel and returned to the rocking chair. Her heart pounded so violently she feared he could hear it through the door.
Jason unlocked the room.
He looked at the crib, the closet, and then Emma.
“What were you doing?”
“Trying to sleep.”
“I heard something.”
“Noah kicked the crib.”
Jason approached her.
“Tomorrow is my birthday.”
“I know.”
“I need one peaceful day.”
Emma forced her voice to remain calm.
“Then go to your dinner.”
He studied her suspiciously.
“You’ll take your medicine first.”
“Of course.”
The answer relaxed him.
He left the door unlocked when he went downstairs.
Emma waited until the house became quiet.
Then she crawled through the attic again.
This time, she reached the top of the staircase.
She descended silently and picked up the landline.
There was no dial tone.
Jason had cut the wire.
Emma opened a kitchen drawer, searching for tools.
Instead, she found the original bottle of her prescribed medicine.
It was almost full.
May you like
Taped beneath it was a card containing the cabin’s old security code and four words written in Caroline’s handwriting.
Caleb knows the second exit.
