Chapter 6: The Day Melissa Almost Won
Walter listened to Sophie’s message three times.
He tapped the table when the bells rang again.
“That’s St.
Matthew’s,” he said.
“There’s a motel across from the church.”
Detective Ortiz reached for her radio.
“Walter, are you certain?”
“I repaired that bell tower for twenty-seven years.
The third bell is cracked.”
We found Melissa’s car behind the motel before sunrise.
Ortiz knocked while I stood to one side.
“Melissa Hayes, open the door.”
Sophie pulled it open before Melissa could stop her.
“Daddy!”
I lifted her into my arms.
Melissa dragged the door wider and waved a court order at Ortiz.
“You cannot take my daughter.”
“She called Ryan for help,” Ortiz said.
“She is four.
She wanted her father.”
“Then why were you hiding?”
Melissa looked at me.
“Because Claire has filled your head with lies.”
“You confined her for five years.”
“She agreed to stay at first.”
“She did not agree to a locked door.”
Melissa’s attorney emerged from the bathroom, fastening his tie.
“This conversation is over.
The hearing begins in two hours.”
At the courthouse, Melissa sat across from me with Sophie beside her.
Claire, Hope, and Ruth waited behind my attorney.
The judge examined the documents.
“Mr.
Hayes, did you consent to the fertility procedure that resulted in Sophie’s birth?”
“I consented to storage, not to Melissa using the sample.”
Melissa’s attorney stood.
“The clinic records carry his signature.”
“Those records were altered,” I said.
“Can you prove that today?”
I looked toward Ortiz.
She shook her head once.
The burned records were still being examined.
The judge turned to Claire.
“Ms.
Bennett, there is no official record of your confinement.”
Hope rose from her seat.
“There was a lock.”
Claire pulled her back gently.
“Hope, sit with Grandma.”
Melissa dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
“Your Honor, these people are frightening Sophie.
Ryan met this child yesterday and now wants to remove the daughter I have raised since birth.”
“I am not removing Sophie from her father,” I said.
“You chose them the moment you opened that wall.”
The judge lifted one hand.
“Enough.”
He read the emergency reports again.
Then he placed them on the bench.
“Until their authenticity is determined, temporary physical custody remains with Melissa Hayes.
Ms.
Hayes may not leave the county, and Mr.
Hayes will receive daily supervised contact.”
Melissa’s shoulders relaxed.
She had won the first round.
Sophie clung to my neck in the corridor.
“I don’t want to go.”
“I will see you this afternoon,” I promised.
Melissa peeled her arms away from me.
“You should have signed my agreement.”
Claire stepped between us.
“This is not over.”
“It was over five years ago,” Melissa replied.
“Ryan simply took too long to understand.”
Hope watched Melissa lead Sophie toward the elevator.
Her lower lip trembled.
“Mommy,” she said, “why does Daddy have to let her go?”
Claire sank to her knees.
“Because grown-ups sometimes hide lies inside official papers.”
“Did you hide things too?”
The question drained the color from Claire’s face.
“I hid my plan to leave from your father,” she said.
“I was afraid.
That choice opened the door for Melissa.”
Hope pulled away.
“So you helped her take us?”
Claire covered her mouth and began to sob.
I knelt beside them.
“Hope, your mother made one frightened choice.
Melissa made thousands of cruel choices after it.”
Hope slowly put her arms around Claire.
Ruth joined them, and Claire finally let herself cry against her mother’s shoulder.
Sophie suddenly ran back from the elevator.
She pushed Melissa’s phone into my hand.
“I pressed the red button when Mommy talked to the lawyer,” she whispered.
Melissa rushed toward us.
“Give me that.”
Detective Ortiz stepped between us as the recording began.
Melissa’s voice came through the speaker: “Once the judge gives me Sophie, burn the original clinic ledger.
Without it, Ryan can prove nothing.”
The attorney’s voice followed.
“And Claire?”
Melissa answered with a cold laugh.
May you like
“She survived five years behind a wall.
She can survive being called a liar.”
