Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO SIGNED THE PAPER
Her name was Marlene Pike.
By midnight, everyone in the sheriff’s office knew it.
Sarah locked the interview-room door and placed a folder on the table.
Noah sat across from her with Emma asleep against his chest, wrapped in a gray emergency blanket.
The child had refused to let go of his hand for almost two hours.
A social worker named Tessa Grant sat beside them, quiet and careful, filling out emergency placement forms without pushing Emma to answer questions.
Sarah opened the folder.
“Marlene Pike has supervised child welfare intake for eleven years.”
Noah kept his voice low so Emma would not wake.
“And she closed the case.”
“Twice.”
“You said once.”
“I only knew about the recent referral.” Sarah tapped the file. “There was another one nine months ago.”
Noah felt sick.
“For what?”
“Teacher reported Emma coming to school with the same clothes four days in a row. She also said Emma was hoarding crackers in her backpack.”
Tessa stopped writing.
“That should have triggered a home visit.”
“It did,” Sarah said. “On paper.”
Noah understood.
“No one came.”
Sarah shook her head.
“The report says Marlene personally conducted the visit and found ‘adequate food, clean sleeping arrangements, and a cooperative father.’”
Noah almost laughed.
It came out bitter.
“She lied.”
“Looks that way.”
Tessa asked, “Any connection between Pike and Walter?”
Sarah slid over an old photograph recovered from the mill office.
Walter stood beside a younger Marlene at a county fair. Both were smiling. Walter’s arm was around her waist.
Noah stared at it.
“My father knew everybody.”
Sarah’s face was grim.
“This looks like more than knowing.”
Noah’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A text appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE GIRL WHERE SHE WAS.
Noah showed Sarah.
She took the phone.
Another message came.
YOU HAVE UNTIL MORNING.
Then a photo loaded.
Noah’s stomach dropped.
It was a picture of the sheriff’s office parking lot.
Taken minutes ago.
His rented SUV was circled in red.
Sarah stood immediately.
“Lock down the building.”
Tessa pulled Emma closer.
The girl woke.
“What happened?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Noah said.
She looked at his face.
Children who survive chaos learn to read lies quickly.
“That’s not true.”
Noah had no answer.
Sarah returned ten minutes later.
“We found a vehicle across the road. Empty.”
“Who owns it?”
“Stolen plates.”
Tessa whispered, “If Pike is involved, she may have access to placement records.”
Sarah nodded.
“Which means we don’t put Emma’s temporary address in the normal system yet.”
Noah looked at her.
“Can you do that?”
“I can request protected placement until we know who’s compromised.”
Emma slid off his lap.
“I want to go home.”
Noah’s heart broke all over again.
“Your house?”
She shook her head.
“No. Grandma June’s.”
Noah stared at her.
“Who’s Grandma June?”
Emma looked confused.
“My grandma.”
Noah glanced at Sarah.
Their mother had died fourteen years ago.
Denise’s mother lived in another state and had never met Emma.
Caleb had never mentioned anyone named June.
“Where does Grandma June live?” Noah asked.
Emma pointed vaguely toward the highway.
“In the blue house.”
“How often do you see her?”
“Not now.”
“When did you last see her?”
Emma counted on her fingers.
“Before my birthday. She gave me the red shoes.”
Noah frowned.
“What red shoes?”
“Dad sold them.”
Tessa closed her pen.
“Emma, what is Grandma June’s last name?”
The child thought hard.
“Pike.”
The room went silent.
Sarah slowly sat down.
“Marlene Pike?”
Emma nodded.
“She says I’m not supposed to call her Grandma when people are there.”
Noah felt the air leave his lungs.
“What does she do when you visit?”
Emma’s face changed.
“She asks what I saw.”
“At the mill?” Sarah asked.
Emma nodded.
“And what did you tell her?”
“I told her about the man sleeping in the box.”
Noah’s hands went cold.
“What did she say?”
Emma looked at him.
“She said if I told anybody else, you would die too.”
Noah stood so fast the chair fell backward.
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At that exact moment, every light in the sheriff’s office went out.
