Chapter 13 - The Other Mother
The flash drive contained one hundred eighty-seven emails.
Simone read them from her laptop.
Mae closed the room door.
Elena stood behind her.
Leah held Owen while the others searched.
At first, the messages concerned Leah.
Appointment scheduling.
Insurance.
Medical records.
Doreen repeatedly asked Dr. Rusk to document Leah’s anxiety.
Then Simone found an older folder.
CARVER FAMILY.
The first email was eight years old.
Simone frowned.
“Who is Rachel Carver?”
Nathan, still standing near the doorway under supervision, went pale.
“My sister.”
Leah looked at him.
“You told me Rachel moved to Oregon.”
“She did.”
“Why is your mother emailing Dr. Rusk about her?”
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“Rachel had a baby when she was twenty-three.”
Leah stared.
“You never told me that.”
“No one talks about it.”
Simone opened another email.
The language was disturbingly familiar.
Emotional instability.
Unsafe attachment.
Family intervention.
Temporary placement.
Leah felt nauseated.
“What happened to Rachel’s baby?”
Nathan looked at the floor.
“Mom became guardian.”
“For how long?”
“Eleven months.”
“And then?”
“Rachel disappeared.”
Leah’s heart stopped.
“What do you mean disappeared?”
“She left the family.”
“Where is her child?”
Nathan hesitated.
“With Rachel now.”
Simone turned sharply.
“So Rachel got custody back.”
“Yes.”
“Why did your family say she disappeared?”
“Because Mom told everyone Rachel abandoned us.”
Leah stared at Nathan.
“Did she?”
Nathan looked broken.
“No.”
The room went silent.
He continued.
“Rachel fought Mom.”
“She eventually proved the psychiatric claims were exaggerated.”
“She moved away with her daughter.”
“Mom told me Rachel was unstable and dangerous.”
“I believed her.”
Simone scrolled through the messages.
“Doreen used the same doctor.”
Nathan nodded.
“Dr. Rusk.”
Leah’s anger rose.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know the details until yesterday.”
“How?”
“I called Rachel.”
Nathan pulled out his phone.
“She told me everything.”
Leah stared at the device.
“Where is she?”
“Driving here.”
Simone checked the time.
“She’s coming to the hearing?”
“If she makes it.”
Leah looked down at Owen.
Eight years earlier, another young mother had been described using the same words.
Anxious.
Unstable.
Dangerous.
Doreen had done this before.
Perhaps that was why everything had seemed so smooth.
The prepared forms.
The cooperative physician.
The language designed to make fear sound pathological.
Leah looked at Nathan.
“You knew your mother was controlling.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t know this.”
“No.”
“Would it have changed anything?”
Nathan opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
That silence answered for him.
Leah handed Owen gently to Mae.
Then she stood.
The incision pulled painfully.
Mae reached toward her.
Leah shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
She walked toward Nathan.
“You are going to testify tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“You are going to tell the truth about everything you did.”
“Yes.”
“You are not doing it to save our marriage.”
Nathan’s face crumpled.
“I know.”
“You are doing it because your son deserves one parent who finally tells the truth.”
Nathan lowered his eyes.
Then Simone’s laptop chimed.
A new email had arrived in the secure account.
The subject contained only three words.
FROM RACHEL CARVER.
Simone opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A twenty-three-year-old Rachel lying in a hospital bed.
Beside her stood Doreen.
And in Doreen’s hands was Rachel’s newborn daughter.
May you like
On the back of the scanned photograph, Rachel had written one sentence.
She told me I was too sick to be a mother.
