Chapter 22 - THE DAY DANIEL BELIEVED THE WRONG PAPER
Daniel called Eli’s attorney but reached voicemail. The child-services caseworker’s phone had been redirected. A police dispatcher confirmed an order number without noticing it belonged to a draft docket entry.
Every safeguard appeared to support the visit.
Hannah offered to remain with Eli. She did not say Orion.
Daniel noticed and refused to leave.
Hannah whispered that Diane had Carol inside and would flee if officers approached. She said the only way to keep her there was to make the arrival look normal, then call police after Daniel drove away.
“You are asking me to use Eli again.”
“For five minutes. I’ll bring him straight back outside.”
Daniel should have said no.
He saw a chance to end the search and mistook his own urgency for a calculated risk. He told himself he would drive around the block, alert investigators, and return before any locked-room session began.
Eli heard only that his father was taking him to Diane’s.
He clutched the astronaut backpack and cried all the way there.
Outside the modest suburban house, cold daylight made everything look ordinary. Mrs. Calder watched from her window as Daniel, Hannah, and Eli stepped from the car.
No police surveillance vehicle remained nearby; Diane’s contact in the clerk’s office had sent a false relocation notice.
Daniel walked Eli toward the porch.
The child wrapped both hands around his father’s brown knit coat.
His entire body shook.
“Daddy! Please don’t leave me!”
Daniel looked down in alarm.
Eli gripped tighter.
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“She locks the door!”
Hannah grabbed Eli’s wrists and pulled him away.
