Chapter 5
The next few days were a blur of doctors, police interviews, and phone calls.
Mara had been charged with kidnapping, child endangerment, and false imprisonment.
She was being held without bail.
Her lawyer called me once.
Asked if I’d consider a plea deal.
Said Mara was “mentally unwell” and “needed help, not prison.”
I hung up on him.
Detective Carter called that afternoon.
She’d found more in Mara’s apartment.
Bank statements.
Text messages.
A whole other side of Mara I’d never known existed.
“Your sister had gambling debts,” she said.
“Almost eighty thousand dollars. To some very dangerous people. She’d been stealing from you for six months. Small amounts at first, then bigger. She took out a credit card in your name. Maxed it out.”
I sat down hard on the hospital chair.
Mark was next to me, his arm around my shoulders.
“Jamie was supposed to be ransom,” Detective Carter said.
“She planned to call you two days after she took him. Demand a hundred thousand dollars. But then you filed the police report. Put up posters. The whole town was looking for him. She got scared. Thought if she turned him over, you’d know it was her. So she hid him. Kept moving him until the floor was done. Thought she could wait until the search died down, then figure something out.”
I thought of all the times Mara had offered to help with the bills.
Said she’d “take care of the bank stuff” while I was too distraught to think straight.
I’d given her my passwords.
My card numbers.
Trusted her with everything.
“Did she act alone?” Mark asked.
Detective Carter paused.
“Her ex-boyfriend helped her move Jamie to your house,” she said.
“We picked him up this morning. He’s cooperating. Says he didn’t know she was going to keep him that long. Thought it was just a quick ransom.”
I felt sick.
How many other people knew?
How many times had I smiled at someone in the grocery store who knew exactly where my son was?
“Thank you,” Mark said.
“For finding all this.”
“One more thing,” Detective Carter said.
Her voice softened.
“Mara told the police she did it because she was jealous. Said you had the perfect life. The husband, the kids, the house your mom left you. Said she deserved it more than you did.”
I stared at the wall.
Mara had struggled with infertility for years.
She and her ex had tried everything.
I’d held her when she cried after every failed IVF.
Brought her meals, listened to her talk about how unfair it was.
I’d thought we were closer than ever.
I never knew she hated me for it.
That every time I’d posted a photo of the kids on Facebook, every time I’d talked about Mark’s promotion, every time I’d mentioned the house, it had been eating away at her.
We hung up.
Jamie was awake now.
Coloring at the small table the hospital had brought in.
Lila was helping him, picking out the brightest crayons.
“Mom?” Jamie said.
Without looking up.
“Is Aunt Mara going to hurt us again?”
I walked over.
Kneeled next to him.
“Never,” I said.
“Never ever. She’s going to be gone for a very long time. You and Lila are safe. I promise.”
He looked at me.
His big brown eyes serious.
“Pinky promise?”
He held out his small, scraped pinky.
I wrapped mine around it.
“Pinky promise.”
That night, my parents showed up at the hospital.
They’d been out of town when everything happened.
Mara had called them, told them I was “overreacting” and “making things up.”
They’d believed her.
Until they saw the news.
My mom was crying.
My dad’s face was like stone.
“We had no idea,” my mom said.
She reached for me.
I stepped back.
“You believed her,” I said.
My voice cold.
“Your grandson was missing for three weeks. And you believed your daughter, who has lied to you about money her whole life, over me.”
My dad hung his head.
“We’re sorry,” he said.
“We were stupid. We want to make it right. For the kids.”
I looked at Jamie and Lila.
They were watching us, quiet.
I didn’t want them around this.
Didn’t want them to see their grandparents choose Mara over them.
“Go,” I said.
“Call me when you’re ready to be on our side. Not hers.”
They left.
My mom sobbing as she walked down the hall.
Mark held me.
“You did the right thing,” he said.
“They need to earn their way back.”
I nodded.
But my chest hurt.
First my sister.
Now my parents.
It felt like my whole family was falling apart.
But then Jamie held up his drawing.
A picture of our family.
Four stick figures, holding hands, big smiles on their faces.
“For you, Mom,” he said.
I took it.
Held it to my chest.
We were still here.
The four of us.
May you like
That was enough.
For now.
