Chapter 2 - THE DOOR
Michael called 911.
Diane tried to stop him.
Not physically.
With words.
“Think about what you’re doing.”
He stared at her.
“What I’m doing?”
“You’re bringing police into this house.”
“Our daughter won’t answer.”
“She’s punishing us.”
Michael shouted:
“She’s eight!”
The dispatcher told him not to force the door if emergency services were seconds away unless he believed immediate entry was necessary.
Michael almost broke it anyway.
Then he remembered something that made him freeze.
The bathroom.
“Does she have water?”
Diane looked at him.
“What?”
“The bathroom.”
“She has a sink.”
“Does it work?”
Diane did not answer.
Michael’s face went white.
Three weeks earlier, Emily had flooded the bathroom by leaving the faucet running during an argument.
Diane said Emily did it deliberately.
A plumber came.
The vanity cabinet was damaged.
Diane complained about repair costs for days.
Michael remembered telling her:
“Shut the water off until the cabinet dries.”
He meant overnight.
Maybe a day.
He had never checked whether it was turned back on.
He ran to the utility panel in the hallway closet.
The labeled valve for:
UPSTAIRS EAST BATH
was still closed.
Michael stared.
“No.”
Diane stepped toward him.
“She had bottled water.”
“How much?”
“I gave her bottles.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“How many, Diane?”
Diane snapped:
“Enough!”
Police arrived.
Then firefighters.
The door was opened.
Michael did not enter.
One firefighter did.
Then another.
Their movements slowed.
A paramedic came back into the hallway.
His expression answered the question before his words did.
“I’m sorry.”
Michael collapsed against the wall.
Diane stood completely still.
“What?”
The paramedic repeated:
“I’m sorry.”
Diane shook her head.
“No.”
Michael made a sound Claire—no one—would ever forget.
Not a scream.
Something smaller.
Worse.
Diane moved toward the door.
An officer stopped her.
“Ma’am, please stay here.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t understand. She does this. She pretends. She—”
The officer looked at Diane.
May you like
Then at the locked door.
And Diane finally stopped speaking.
