Chapter 3 - The Story Aaron Had Been Building
Leah was admitted to Regions Hospital shortly before three in the morning.
Sedated.
Dehydrated.
Bruising around both wrists.
Her bloodstream contained clonazepam and zolpidem.
Neither was currently prescribed to her.
Aaron told deputies she took medication voluntarily because she had been “spiraling since the twins were born.”
That story sounded plausible because he had spent six months making it familiar.
Leah was anxious.
Leah wasn’t sleeping.
Leah was overwhelmed.
Leah had postpartum problems.
Each statement contained just enough truth to support the lie around it.
She had experienced postpartum anxiety after the twins.
She had sought treatment voluntarily.
Her doctor prescribed sertraline.
She attended therapy.
She improved.
Aaron took those facts and kept extending them.
If Leah disagreed with him:
She was anxious.
If she asked where money went:
Paranoid.
If she objected to Tessa entering the house without notice:
Jealous.
If she wanted access to company accounts:
Obsessive.
By winter, Aaron had begun accompanying her to appointments and answering questions before she could.
I had noticed.
I had not named it.
That failure sat heavily with me.
At the hospital, Leah woke late that morning.
I stood beside her bed.
She looked toward the doorway first.
“Aaron?”
“Not here.”
“The kids?”
“With me.”
“All three?”
“Yes.”
She began crying.
“Lucy made it?”
I took her hand.
“She pulled the twins almost three-quarters of a mile through a snowstorm.”
Leah covered her face.
“I shouldn’t have made her do that.”
“You gave her a way out.”
“She’s seven.”
“You were trapped.”
Leah turned toward me.
“Did she have the key?”
“Yes.”
“Did you open it?”
“The police did.”
Her entire body relaxed.
That reaction told me the box mattered almost as much as the children.
I hated myself for noticing.
“What’s on the flash drive?”
Leah looked toward the door.
Then said:
“Enough to explain why Aaron kept telling people I was crazy.”
I waited.
She swallowed.
“Tessa too.”
“What did they do?”
Leah closed her eyes.
“Aaron’s company has been stealing medication.”
I thought I had misheard.
“What?”
“Controlled drugs from patients.”
My stomach turned.
Leah whispered:
“I found the records.”
May you like
Then she looked directly at me.
“And two weeks later, my husband started telling everyone I was having a breakdown.”
