Chapter 3: The House With the Locked Door
“Stay outside the house,” the hotline worker said.
“Emergency services are on their way.”
A shadow crossed the upstairs curtain.
Then the porch light went out.
“Sophia is still inside.”
“Do not confront the parents alone, Michael.”
My brother opened the front door before I could answer.
Ryan had removed his Christmas sweater, and his sleeves were rolled above his elbows.
“Who did you call?” he asked.
“No one you need to worry about.”
“Then give me your phone.”
Ryan came down one step.
I backed toward my car and raised the phone where he could see it.
“Go back inside.”
“You’ve always wanted to make me look like the bad brother.”
“This isn’t about us.
It’s about Sophia.”
“She fell off her bicycle.”
“She said there’s a secret in your house.”
His jaw tightened.
“Five-year-olds invent stories.”
The front door opened wider.
Lauren stood behind him, holding Sophia’s rabbit by one torn ear.
“This?” she asked.
“Is this the secret you’re talking about?”
Stuffing hung from the rabbit’s stomach.
A small black recorder lay in Lauren’s palm.
“You tore open her toy?” I asked.
“She’s been recording private conversations,” Ryan said.
“Someone taught her to spy on us.”
“Who gave her that recorder?”
Sophia appeared behind Lauren.
Her cheeks were wet, but she looked directly at me.
“Mrs.
Parker gave me the rabbit.”
Lauren seized Sophia’s shoulder.
“Go upstairs.”
“Take your hand off her,” I said.
Ryan stepped between us.
“You don’t give orders in my home.”
Red and blue lights moved across the windows.
Ryan turned toward the street, and the confidence left his face for one brief second.
“You called the police on your own family?”
“I called for Sophia.”
Officer Reed reached the porch with a child protection investigator named Dana Walsh.
Dana showed her identification while Officer Reed positioned himself between Ryan and me.
“We need to speak with Sophia privately,” Dana said.
“No,” Lauren answered.
“She’s exhausted and confused.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
Ryan pointed at me.
“He coached her.
He’s been jealous of my family for years.”
“What did he coach her to say?” Dana asked.
Ryan’s mouth opened, but no words came out.
Sophia looked at the broken rabbit.
“Daddy found the recorder.”
Dana crouched several feet away.
“Do you know what was on it?”
“Daddy shouting.
Mommy telling him to stop.
The closet door.”
Lauren dropped the rabbit.
“There is no locked closet,” Ryan said.
Sophia’s fingers closed around the hem of her red dress.
“Yes, there is.”
Officer Reed entered the house with Ryan.
Lauren remained on the porch while Dana guided Sophia toward an unmarked car.
“You’re destroying this family,” Lauren whispered to me.
“No.
I’m finally looking at it.”
Ryan returned holding a medical letter.
“Sophia has a clotting condition.
This explains every mark.”
Dana read the letter twice.
“Who is Dr.
Marsh?”
“Our family physician,” Ryan said.
“Call him.”
Officer Reed emerged behind him.
“The upstairs closet has a lock on the outside.”
Ryan gave a short laugh.
“It keeps cleaning supplies away from our daughter.”
“Why is there a child’s blanket on the floor?”
Lauren covered her mouth.
Ryan glared at her.
Then Sophia reached for Dana’s hand.
“Mrs.
Parker said the rabbit would remember everything,” she whispered.
“But Daddy doesn’t know the most important part.”
Ryan moved toward her.
Officer Reed blocked him with one arm.
“What important part?” Dana asked.
May you like
Sophia looked at the recorder in Lauren’s hand.
“The rabbit already sent the secrets away.”
