Chapter 4 - THE MISSING WIFE
For one second, I couldn’t breathe.
Rachel stood up so fast her chair scraped the floor.
“She’s not missing.”
The officer raised one hand.
“I can see that.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Rachel,” I said quietly.
She sat back down, but her whole body stayed tense.
The officer introduced himself as Officer Collins.
He was maybe forty, with gray beginning at his temples and a voice that was calmer than I expected.
“Your husband contacted Columbus police last night. Said his pregnant wife left the house in active labor and disappeared.”
I almost laughed.
“Did he mention giving me cab fare?”
Collins paused.
“No, ma’am.”
“Did he mention refusing to drive me?”
“No.”
“Did he mention telling me not to expect him to come after me?”
His expression changed slightly.
“No.”
Of course he hadn’t.
Derek was good at editing reality.
Officer Collins pulled out a small notebook.
“Are you here voluntarily?”
“Yes.”
“Are you in danger?”
I looked at Rachel.
Then at Emily sleeping beside me.
“I’m not sure.”
“That’s not a no.”
My eyes burned.
“My husband has never punched me.”
Collins didn’t move.
“But?”
“But he controls money. He tracks spending. He has threatened to take the baby if I leave. He tells people I’m unstable. He blocks doorways when we argue.”
“Has he ever damaged property?”
I hesitated.
Rachel answered.
“He punched through a closet door last Christmas.”
I looked at her.
“You told me that,” she said.
I had forgotten.
That scared me more than the memory itself.
Officer Collins wrote something down.
“Mrs. Hale, you are an adult. You are not required to return home. I can notify Columbus that you’ve been located and that you’re safe.”
“Will you tell him where I am?”
“No.”
My shoulders dropped.
“Thank you.”
He closed the notebook.
“But there’s something else.”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“What?”
“Your husband also told officers the vehicle your sister is driving contains stolen property belonging to him.”
I stared.
“He said what?”
“He claims you took financial documents, jewelry, cash, and personal records.”
I felt a slow, dangerous anger rise through my exhaustion.
“Those are my documents.”
“Some may be. I’m not here to decide ownership.”
“He’s doing this because I left.”
Collins nodded slightly.
“I’ve seen situations where property disputes become leverage.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“So what happens?”
“For now? Nothing. But document everything.”
He looked directly at me.
“Every message. Every call. Every threat.”
The word threat sat heavily in the room.
After he left, Rachel closed the door.
“This is going to get ugly.”
“It already was ugly.”
My hospital phone rang.
I stared at it.
Rachel said, “Don’t answer.”
It rang again.
Then stopped.
A nurse entered five minutes later.
“There’s a man downstairs asking for you.”
My heart slammed.
“Derek?”
She shook her head.
“No. He says he’s your father-in-law.”
That was worse.
Richard Hale never came anywhere unless Derek had already decided what he wanted.
And when Richard walked into my room twenty minutes later, he didn’t look at his granddaughter first.
He looked at me.
Then he placed a manila envelope on the table.
May you like
“I’m here,” he said, “to give you one chance to fix this before my son destroys you.”
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