Chapter 5 - The Daycare Director Who Paid Attention
Valerie subpoenaed Meadowbrook’s records.
Two days later we sat in her office reviewing copies with Ms. Reyes, the daycare director.
“She’s meticulous,” Valerie had said about her on the phone.
She was right.
Ms. Reyes had a file that might as well have been an indictment.
Three weeks earlier, Alden had updated Mateo’s emergency contacts and added both Teresa and Rosalind as approved pickup adults.
I had never been told.
Even stranger, he had marked the update as “urgent due to anticipated household instability.”
I felt sick reading it.
“Did you ask what that meant?” Valerie said.
Ms. Reyes nodded. “Mr. Finch said there had been tension at home and he wanted backup caregivers in place if needed.”
“Did he mention domestic violence?” Valerie asked.
“No. But he specifically asked what documentation would be needed if one parent became emotionally unfit.”
The room went quiet.
I looked at Valerie.
She was already thinking three moves ahead.
“Do you still have that email?”
Ms. Reyes slid over a printed copy.
Subject line:
Question re: temporary pickup limitations
Alden had written it ten days before Rosalind slapped Mateo.
I pressed my fingertips against my forehead.
This wasn’t panic.
This wasn’t a messy family reacting badly.
Alden had been gathering procedure before anything happened.
On our way out, Ms. Reyes hesitated, then said something else.
“There’s one more thing. The morning Teresa came, she told our receptionist, ‘His mother always overreacts. Once the court sees that, he’ll be where he belongs.’”
Where he belongs.
Not safe.
Not with his father.
Where he belongs.
I strapped Mateo into his car seat afterward and sat behind the wheel without starting the engine.
For the first time since I’d left the apartment, fear gave way to something more useful.
Pattern.
They were not trying to calm things down.
May you like
They were building a case.
And somehow, my son’s injury had been meant to help them do it.
