Chapter 2 - Bruises Under the Pajamas
Deputies arrived thirty-eight minutes later because the storm had nearly closed the mountain road.
By then Daniel had moved Sophie and Ethan into the kitchen, wrapped them in blankets, and refused to let Madeline enter the room.
He had also made one crucial decision.
He had not touched the fireplace.
The burned letters remained where they had fallen.
So did the black cord.
When Deputy Laura Mendoza walked into the chalet and saw the scene, her expression became professionally blank.
“Everyone stays where they are.”
Madeline immediately began talking.
“My husband assaulted me.”
Daniel said nothing.
Mendoza raised a hand.
“One at a time.”
A second deputy separated Daniel from the children while paramedics examined Sophie upstairs.
Daniel hated every second of it.
He stood in the hallway, listening to Sophie answer questions in a small voice behind a closed bedroom door.
Madeline sat downstairs with an ice pack against her cheek.
She looked composed now.
Almost fragile.
Daniel understood why that frightened him.
He had seen Madeline negotiate with donors, attorneys, and hostile board members. She could change personalities as easily as changing coats.
When Mendoza finally approached him, she held a notebook.
“You admit you struck your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She tried to get around me after I disarmed her. I thought she was going after Sophie again.”
“You had already taken the cord?”
“Yes.”
“So the immediate threat was gone?”
“I didn’t know that.”
Mendoza watched him.
Daniel forced himself not to justify more.
“I shouldn’t have hit her.”
That answer seemed to surprise the deputy.
“I’m not asking whether you regret it.”
“I know.”
She wrote something.
Then she asked, “How long has your wife been disciplining the children physically?”
“I didn’t know she was.”
“Your daughter says otherwise.”
Daniel felt his throat tighten.
“What did she say?”
“I can’t discuss her full interview with you yet.”
“Is she okay?”
Mendoza paused.
“The paramedic found bruising at different stages of healing.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
“Across the upper legs and lower back.”
His knees nearly buckled.
He gripped the banister.
Different stages.
Not tonight.
Not once.
Mendoza lowered her voice.
“Mr. Mercer, your son also has marks.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
He saw every recent moment differently.
Sophie refusing swimming lessons because she did not want to change clothes.
Ethan crying when Madeline told him bath time was over.
Sophie begging to sleep in Ethan’s room.
Madeline explaining that both children were “regressing.”
Daniel had nodded.
He had thanked her.
He felt sick.
“Can I see them?”
“When the paramedics finish.”
Downstairs, Madeline’s voice rose.
“I want him arrested.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
Mendoza said, “We’re investigating everyone’s actions.”
“Do what you need to do.”
A child protection worker named Nina Foster arrived after midnight.
By then the storm had intensified so badly no one could safely leave.
The chalet became a sealed crime scene occupied by people who could barely stand one another.
Nina interviewed Sophie alone.
Then Ethan.
Then Daniel.
At two in the morning, she returned to the kitchen.
“Your children will not remain in Madeline’s care.”
Daniel almost laughed from relief.
Then Nina continued.
“But until law enforcement determines what happened between you and your wife, I need to assess whether they can remain solely with you tonight.”
Daniel stared.
“You think I would hurt them?”
“I think you admitted striking your spouse in front of them.”
“She was beating Sophie.”
“I understand.”
“Then why are we having this conversation?”
“Because protecting children means I don’t get to ignore one act of violence because another act appears worse.”
The words cut through him.
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
He wanted to argue.
Instead, he said, “What do you need from me?”
Nina’s face softened slightly.
“A safe adult who can be here with you.”
Daniel thought immediately of Rebecca Lane.
Claire’s older sister.
They had barely spoken in six months.
Rebecca had accused Daniel of disappearing into work and letting Madeline erase Claire from the house.
Daniel had responded by telling Rebecca she was interfering in his marriage.
He had been cruel.
Now his hands shook as he called her.
She answered on the fifth ring.
“Daniel?”
“Rebecca.”
A pause.
“What happened?”
He had no idea how she knew something had.
Maybe because people did not call at two in the morning with good news.
“I need you to come to Vail.”
“The roads are closed.”
“When they open.”
Another pause.
“Sophie and Ethan?”
Daniel swallowed.
“They need you.”
Rebecca’s voice changed.
“What did she do?”
Daniel looked across the kitchen.
“What makes you ask that?”
Silence.
Then Rebecca said, “Because Sophie called me three weeks ago.”
Daniel went cold.
“What?”
“She hung up before she could tell me anything.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I did.”
Daniel remembered.
Rebecca had called during a board dinner.
Madeline had glanced at his phone and said, She’s trying to start drama again.
Daniel had silenced it.
He sat down heavily.
“What did Sophie say?”
“Only four words.”
“What words?”
Rebecca inhaled.
“She said, ‘Mom was right.’”
Daniel looked toward the fireplace room.
Claire’s burning letters.
Don’t trust Aaron—
“Right about what?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Rebecca said something Daniel would remember long after the call ended.
“But I know Claire was afraid before she died.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Of the cancer?”
“No.”
May you like
Rebecca answered quietly.
“Of someone inside your house.”
