Chapter 2
“Please don’t make me go back inside.”
“You’re not going back in there, sweetheart.”
The paramedics found dehydration, bruising around her wrists and ankles, and signs that she had not been eating properly. Nothing they described was immediately life-threatening, but they wanted her taken to the hospital because nobody yet knew how long she had been confined or what else had happened before I found her.
Before the ambulance left, one of the officers asked whether Maya had said anything about the pool. I explained that she had specifically begged me not to look at it, and the officer’s expression changed when Mrs. Harris repeated what she had witnessed the previous night.
Police secured the entire property while Maya and I were taken to the hospital. I spent the ride beside her trying not to ask questions because the detective had warned me that a trained child interviewer should document her account without adults accidentally influencing what she remembered.
Elena still hadn’t appeared.
That frightened me almost as much as everything else.
At the hospital, Maya was given fluids while doctors documented her condition. A social worker stayed nearby, and after Maya had eaten a little soup, she finally asked whether the police had found her mother.
“I don’t know yet, sweetheart, but they’re looking for her.”
Maya stared down at her blanket.
May you like
“Mom tried to help me.”
Those five words changed the direction of my fear because until then I had been struggling with the possibility that Elena had allowed everything to happen. I wanted to ask what she meant, but I stopped myself and told Maya she could explain everything to the interviewer whenever she felt ready.
