Chapter 4 - “If She Snaps, You Need a Plan”
Ryan gave Detective Vega his messages with Linda.
He resisted at first.
“She’s still my stepmother.”
I looked toward Lily’s hospital bassinet.
“She put our daughter in a toilet.”
That ended the discussion.
The messages began two weeks after Lily’s birth.
Linda:
Emma looks terrible.
Ryan:
We all look terrible. Newborn.
Linda:
You joke but postpartum problems are real.
Reasonable.
Then:
She’s sleeping all day.
Ryan:
Because Lily barely sleeps at night.
Linda:
Still. Watch her.
A week later:
She seems detached.
Ryan:
She spent three hours holding Lily last night.
Linda:
You defend everything.
Then, four days before the bathroom:
If Emma snaps, you need a plan.
Ryan:
Stop.
Linda:
I’m serious. You cannot let loyalty make you stupid where your child is concerned.
Then:
If something happens and you ignored the warning signs, you’ll never forgive yourself.
I read that sentence three times.
“She was preparing you.”
Ryan said nothing.
Detective Vega asked:
“Was there any current dispute between Linda and Emma?”
I immediately thought no.
Then Ryan said:
“The move.”
I turned.
“What?”
We were considering relocating to Cincinnati the following spring.
I had been offered a management position.
Better hours.
Higher salary.
Closer to my sister.
Ryan worked remotely.
For us, it was opportunity.
For Linda, it meant Lily would live nearly two hours away.
She had become furious when we mentioned it.
“You cannot take my granddaughter away.”
I told her:
“We aren't taking anyone from you.”
She responded:
“That's easy to say when you're the mother.”
At the time, I thought it was grandmother anxiety.
Now Detective Vega wrote the sentence down.
Linda had a reason to want Ryan frightened about my parenting.
May you like
Not enough to explain what she did.
Enough to show where fear could be useful.
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