Chapter 12 - TRENT FINALLY EXPLAINED THE RABBIT
Trent requested mediation concerning custody.
Separate rooms.
Lawyers.
No face-to-face contact required.
I agreed.
He wanted supervised access expanded.
Professionals would determine what was appropriate.
Not me alone.
Then he asked to send me one written statement.
Alicia reviewed it first.
I chose to read it.
He admitted installing the tracker.
His explanation:
I knew Shelby might take the girls during one of her panic episodes. I needed a way to make sure my daughters were safe.
I kept reading.
I never intended to frighten anyone.
Then:
Ruthie carried Bunny everywhere, so it was the most reliable option.
That sentence stopped me.
Not:
I hid a tracker because I panicked.
He selected the object because Ruthie loved it enough never to leave it behind.
A five-year-old’s attachment had become logistics.
Then Trent wrote:
I understand now that Shelby perceived some of my attempts to protect the family as controlling.
Perceived.
That word contained our entire marriage.
I wrote nothing back.
At a later legal proceeding, I heard him speak directly.
“I was under enormous stress.”
His attorney asked about finances.
He admitted sports betting had become a problem.
He admitted hiding debt.
He denied intentionally fabricating mental illness.
Then came one question.
“Why did you tell Gary that Shelby might run before she actually left?”
Trent hesitated.
“Because she had packed a bag.”
My heart stopped.
The emergency bag.
Hidden behind winter blankets.
“How did you know?”
Alicia asked later through proper questioning.
Trent had found it months earlier.
He did not remove it.
He opened it.
Photographed the contents.
Then put everything back.
The rabbit tracker was installed afterward.
He knew I was preparing to leave.
May you like
And rather than ask why his wife had hidden money and children's clothes behind blankets, he built a system to make sure leaving would fail.
That answer mattered more than any apology he might eventually invent.
