He looked up and nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably it. You’re good, Doc; do you know that? You’re really good.”
She blushed again, cursing herself for not being able to hide her own emotions better.
“I do my best.”
“I mean, that is totally what I have been thinking, that I want to control her. I mean, I even fantasized about locking her up in my basement, heh.”
Lynn looked up from her notepad. “Excuse me?”
He shook his head. “No, no, don’t take it the wrong way. I just fantasized about it; that’s all. Like people have fantasies, you know, but now that you’ve explained it to me, it makes complete sense. I just want to control her, and I need to stop that. It’s not so much her I want as it is the fact that I can’t stand that she is the one who left me. I have never been left before, Doc. It’s not easy for me.”
Lynn swallowed hard. She looked into Jeffrey’s eyes to be sure he was telling her the truth. He smiled softly, and that melted her heart. Then she nodded.
“I think you’re reaching new levels of understanding here, Jeffrey. Good work today.”
Chapter 14
“Scott, when you hear this, please call me back. I need to talk to you.”
I left the second message while Alex pulled my arm.
“Mom, Mom, listen to me!”
I hung up, then glared down at him. In the distance, I could hear a baby crying, but it wasn’t Angel. It was Owen.
“What?” I asked.
“The baby has been crying all afternoon, Mom,” Alex said and held his hands to his ears. “It’s driving me nuts.”
I exhaled. Owen had been crying incessantly almost since we took him and Amy in. I feared he would wake up Angel, who was taking another nap. I wondered if she was getting ready to stay up all night with all the sleeping she did during the day.
“Mo-o-om, make it stop, please.”
I looked down at my son, then kissed the top of his head. “Babies cry, Alex. Sometimes, there isn’t much we can do about it. Amy is doing her best.”
“I can’t stand it, Mom. It never stops.”
“Let me go check on them,” I said and let go of my son. I walked up the stairs and peeked inside Christine’s old room. I found Amy in there, standing by the window, looking out, while Owen was still in his crib, crying.
I walked to him and picked him up, then approached her by the window.
“Amy?”
She was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks while she stared at the trees outside.
“Amy? Are you okay?”
She sniffled, then shook her head. “I’m...I’m not sure.”
Owen quieted down for a few seconds but was still crying.
“I think he might be hungry,” I said. I felt his diaper. It needed changing too.
She slumped her shoulders and looked at her feet. “I…I can’t…it doesn’t really work. I’m not good enough.”
I sighed. “It’s not easy; believe me, I know. But he needs you.”
She shook her head. “He won’t eat. When I try, he just keeps on crying and crying.”
“It takes time, sweetie, for you two to get to know one another. How about you give it another go, huh?”
She looked at Owen in my arms, her eyes despairing.
“Come on. Sit in the chair, and I’ll try and help. I know you can do this, Amy. I’m here for you.”
Her eyes teared up again, but she sat down in the armchair I had put in the room for her. I handed her Owen, and she opened her bra. Owen cried a little more but then latched on and started to eat.
“There you go,” I said. “He’s eating.”
Amy moaned. She was obviously uncomfortable. “I think I’m doing it wrong.”
“No, you’re fine. Just relax, sweetie.”
Amy groaned, and Owen let go of the breast again, then cried even louder than before.
“See? It happens every time.” She got up and put Owen back in his crib. “I’m not doing it right. I’m not good enough.”
Being put back made Owen scream even louder, and Amy held her hands to her ears. “I can’t stand it. I can’t stand this anymore!”
She screamed, then stormed out of the room. I yelled her name when my phone rang. It was Scott. I had tried to get ahold of him all afternoon, so I had to pick it up. But I couldn’t just leave the baby like this.
I grabbed the crying Owen in my arms, then rocked him back and forth while walking out of the room, phone clutched between my shoulder and my ear.
“Scott?”
Chapter 15
Owen was crying helplessly, but I managed to get him to take the pacifier, and soon he calmed down slightly while remaining in my arms. I just prayed that Angel wouldn’t wake up as well.
“You called?” Scott asked. He sounded slightly out of breath, and I wondered if he had been running.
“Yes, we need to talk,” I said.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I spoke with the detective on Sarah’s case today, and they let me take a look at the case file.”
Scott went quiet for a second. Owen closed his eyes, and I kept rocking him until he dozed off.
“But that’s a good thing, right?” he asked.
“Depends on how you look at it,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe you tell me, Scott,” I said while looking down at the small creature sleeping in my arms. How something so cute and little could cause so much havoc was a mystery to me. “Maybe you should come over so that we can talk properly.”
Ten minutes later, he was in my living room. His cheeks were blushing.
“I don’t understand,” he said, sounding defensive. “You’re suddenly looking at me like I’m the criminal here.”
“The police seem to think you are. Why do they assume you hurt Sarah?” I asked. “They looked at you immediately, as soon as she went missing, and haven’t had their eyes on anyone else. Why is that?”
He went quiet. “I…I…”
“You haven’t been completely honest with me, Scott, and you have to if you want my help.”
A pause followed before he said: “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Okay, good. Tell me what happened. And don’t leave anything out this time, please. You were arrested four months ago?”
Scott scoffed. “It was a misunderstanding.”
“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t look good for you.”
“It is true. You have to believe me,” he said, sounding agitated now. “I didn’t hurt her. I would never…”
“Yet Sarah ended up in the hospital with a broken ankle and several bruises on her back. And she told the EMTs that you pushed her down the stairs, Scott.”
I could feel the anger rising in me, yet I tried to keep it down.
“It was an accident. She even admitted it later on.”
“Yes, the report said she pulled back her testimony the next day while still in the hospital. Then she suddenly said that she had slipped and fallen. But it’s a little hard to believe, Scott. Can you see that?”