Chapter 5 - THE FINAL STAGE
The email was short.
That made it worse.
Evelyn had written that Maya was becoming increasingly unstable.
She predicted that a medical emergency would occur before Ryan returned home.
She claimed witnesses would confirm that Maya became aggressive.
She asked the attorney to file the emergency custody petition first thing the next morning.
Ryan read the final sentence three times.
“Once Ryan sees her lose control, he will understand that Noah belongs with me.”
Maya stared at the page.
“She wasn’t trying to help us.”
“No.”
“She was trying to replace me.”
Detective Ortiz nodded.
“We also found evidence that Mrs. Carter contacted a private psychiatric facility.”
Ryan’s face tightened.
“For Maya?”
“She requested information about involuntary evaluations.”
Maya turned pale.
Ortiz continued.
“She prepared a statement claiming Maya threatened self-harm and posed a danger to Noah.”
“I never said that,” Maya whispered.
“We know.”
“Who else saw these documents?”
“Her attorney.”
“Did he know they were false?”
“We’re determining that.”
Ryan set the email down.
“What happens now?”
“We interview your mother formally.”
“You should arrest her.”
“We need the prosecutor to review the medical endangerment evidence.”
“She took a child’s inhaler.”
“And we have to establish intent.”
Ryan pointed toward the email.
“She wrote that the final stage would begin tonight.”
Ortiz’s expression remained controlled.
“That is significant.”
“But it is not the only thing we found.”
She opened another folder.
Inside were photographs of Maya.
Maya at the grocery store.
Maya at Noah’s pediatrician’s office.
Maya sitting alone in her car.
Maya crying outside a pharmacy.
Someone had followed her for weeks.
Ryan turned each photograph slowly.
“Who took these?”
“A private investigator.”
“My mother hired him?”
“Yes.”
Maya looked toward Noah.
Her son slept beneath the oxygen mask.
“She knew everything I did.”
“She knew when I was alone.”
Ortiz placed a business card on the table.
“The investigator wants to cooperate.”
“He says Evelyn asked him to provoke you.”
Maya looked up.
“How?”
“He was instructed to approach you in public and accuse you of neglecting Noah.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“He was supposed to create witnesses.”
Ortiz nodded.
“The investigator refused.”
“But he recorded the conversation.”
Maya’s voice became cold.
“When can we hear it?”
Ortiz reached into her bag.
“Right now.”
She placed a small recorder on the table.
May you like
Evelyn’s voice filled the hospital room.
“If she does not appear unstable naturally, give her a reason.”
