Chapter 16
A month of peace passed, but it was a tense, fragile kind of peace.
Patricia had vanished from social media. Her house was sold at a sheriff's auction, and rumor had it she was staying at a cheap motel on the outskirts of town.
Ethan installed a state-of-the-art security system around their home. Ring cameras covered every angle, and heavy-duty deadbolts were added to every door. He even spoke to Noah’s preschool director, ensuring that only he and Lauren were authorized to pick Noah up, with no exceptions.
One rainy Tuesday afternoon, Lauren was at home organizing her art studio when her phone rang. It was an unknown number.
Normally, she would ignore it. But with everything going on, she picked up.
“Hello?”
There was no voice on the other end. Just the heavy, rhythmic sound of someone breathing.
“Hello? Who is this?” Lauren asked, her heart beginning to hammer against her ribs.
A voice finally spoke. It was raspy, hollow, and barely recognizable as Patricia.
“You think you won, Lauren,” the voice whispered. “You think you took my son and my grandson and left me with nothing. But a mother never truly loses her authority. Enjoy your perfect little house while you can.”
The line went dead.
Lauren dropped the phone, her hands shaking uncontrollably. She looked out the window at the pouring rain. The street was empty.
When Ethan got home, he found her sitting on the kitchen floor, clutching a kitchen knife, her eyes wide with terror.
He rushed to her, disarming her gently and pulling her into his lap. “Lauren, what happened? Talk to me!”
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When she told him about the call, Ethan’s face darkened. He called the police, but the responding officer shrugged. “It’s an untraceable burner phone, Mr. Miller. No direct threat of violence was made. We can file a report, but there’s not much we can do.”
Ethan realized then that the legal system couldn’t protect them from pure, unadulterated madness. He had to end this himself.
