Chapter 14 - THE LINE SHE CROSSED
James didn't panic.
That scared me more than panic would have.
He walked to the windows and closed every curtain.
Then he locked the doors.
“Call the police.”
I already was.
Mom stood in the middle of the living room trembling.
“Lauren wouldn't hurt Sarah.”
I turned on her.
“She hit my six-month-old baby.”
Mom stopped.
Finally.
No excuse.
No “she didn't mean it.”
No “she was upset.”
Just silence.
Police arrived within eleven minutes.
The photograph had metadata attached.
An investigator traced the number.
Lauren's phone.
She had made no effort to hide it.
Maybe she no longer cared.
Two patrol cars left to look for her.
James took me upstairs.
Emma was awake.
She smiled when she saw him.
Just smiled.
Like the world wasn't falling apart downstairs.
James picked her up.
She grabbed his nose.
He closed his eyes.
I knew what he was thinking.
I put my hand on his arm.
“We're okay.”
He looked at me.
“Tonight.”
“Yes.”
“And tomorrow?”
“We make sure we're okay tomorrow too.”
His eyes filled.
“I can't deploy again if this isn't settled.”
“James.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I won't leave you with this.”
“You won't throw away your career because of Lauren.”
“My family isn't a career obstacle.”
“And you're not abandoning us by doing your job.”
He stared at Emma.
“We'll figure it out.”
Downstairs, an officer called his name.
We returned.
“Captain Walker?”
“Yes?”
“We found Lauren's vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
My chest tightened.
“Was she in it?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“We don't know yet.”
Then the officer looked at me.
“But there was something inside the car.”
“What?”
“A packed suitcase.”
Lauren had planned to run.
There was also cash.
Thirty-two thousand dollars.
Two passports.
Hers.
And Derek's.
And a folder containing copies of financial records.
She had been preparing for something.
At 1:17 a.m., Derek called.
“She's here.”
James grabbed the phone.
“Where?”
“My apartment.”
“Is she armed?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't confront her.”
“She already knows I'm here.”
We could hear Lauren screaming in the background.
“YOU RUINED ME!”
Derek shouted, “Lauren, stay back!”
The phone hit something.
A crash.
Then silence.
“Derek?”
Nothing.
James was already telling police the address.
I felt every second like a blade.
Three minutes.
Five.
Seven.
Then Derek called back.
He was breathing hard.
“I'm okay.”
“What happened?”
“She threw my laptop.”
“Where is she?”
“Locked herself in the bedroom.”
“Police are coming.”
“I know.”
In the background, Lauren started crying.
Not angry screaming.
Crying.
Real crying.
“I didn't mean for this to happen!”
Derek didn't answer.
“I was going to fix everything!”
I listened.
The same sentence.
Again.
Always.
I was going to fix it.
I was going to repay it.
I was going to make everything right.
Someday.
After everyone else paid the price.
Lauren screamed through the door.
“Sarah stole my life!”
My stomach turned.
Derek shouted back, “Sarah didn't steal anything from you!”
“She always gets everything!”
“What does she have that you don't?”
Lauren's answer came instantly.
“People forgive her!”
Silence followed.
Even Lauren seemed to realize what she'd said.
Derek spoke more softly.
“Sarah doesn't need people to forgive her because she doesn't keep destroying them.”
A pounding sound came through the phone.
Police.
Commands.
Lauren screamed.
A door opened.
More shouting.
Then the line went dead.
At 1:43 a.m., an officer called us.
Lauren was in custody.
Forgery.
Identity theft.
Fraud.
Financial crimes.
And possible charges relating to the stolen documents.
My body finally gave out.
I sat on the staircase and cried.
Mom sat three steps below me.
She didn't touch me.
Maybe she'd finally learned not to assume she had the right.
After a long time, she whispered, “I did this.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I didn't commit her crimes.”
“No.”
“But I taught her there would always be someone standing between her and consequences.”
I couldn't argue.
Mom stared at the floor.
“Every time your father wanted to tell her no, I said she needed us.”
Her voice broke.
“Every time you were hurt, I said you'd understand.”
I swallowed.
“I did understand.”
She looked at me.
“That was the problem.”
“Yes.”
“You understood until there was nothing left of you in the decision.”
Tears slid down her face.
“I am so sorry.”
I wanted those words to fix something.
They didn't.
But they mattered.
A little.
“I don't forgive you yet.”
Mom nodded.
“I know.”
“I don't know if I ever will.”
“I know.”
“And you don't get access to Emma just because you're sorry.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
For the first time in my entire life, my mother accepted a boundary without arguing.
Then James came down the stairs carrying Emma.
Our daughter rested against his chest.
Safe.
Warm.
Half asleep.
He sat beside me.
And as Christmas night finally ended, I realized something.
Lauren had been arrested.
But the hardest part wasn't going to be what happened to her.
May you like
It was going to be deciding what happened to the family she left behind.
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