The Good Father

“What about Nora?” The woman Ella had brought to the Stand from the hospital, he reminded himself. Her infant was Ella’s patient.

“Her baby was released today, and she took him home. To their permanent home.”

“I thought arrangements had been made for her to live at the Stand.”

“They had. She didn’t tell them she wasn’t coming back. We wouldn’t have known at all, until she didn’t show up downstairs for her ride, if an employee hadn’t noticed the change she’d made to her address on the discharge papers.”

He frowned. “I’m assuming the High Risk team has been notified?”

“Yes.”

So there was nothing more they could do for now. Except add another name to the prayer list. Keep a close eye out. And hope.

“I can’t believe she did this, Brett. I don’t get it. She was desperate for help. And was so grateful when it was provided to her. She couldn’t have faked that.”

“I’m sure she didn’t,” he said, and it dawned on him. This was a first for Ella. Her first domestic-violence case. Her first case on the High Risk team. Her first flesh-and-blood introduction to the manifestations of the insidious disease.

“She loves that baby, Brett. Much more than she loves her husband...”

“But she’s a victim, El.”

“Not if she stays away from him.”

“That’s a misconception. She’s a victim whether she’s currently being abused or not. Much like an alcoholic is an alcoholic even when he’s not around alcohol. She’s mentally and emotionally vulnerable to his conditioning.”

“Brainwashed, you mean.” She was drawing on the table with her finger.

“In essence.”

“I read about some of that, but you should have seen her, Brett. She was so glad to have a way to take back control of her life...”

“She had moments where she was able to think clearly. But in the beginning, those moments will be less frequent than the ones where she feels out of sync with herself every time she goes against his conditioning.”

He heard the passion in his tone and sat back. Blamed the wine.

“I spoke with her as soon as I got to work this morning and was told of her plans. When she heard that child protective services had cleared them, she called him,” Ella was saying. “She said she wanted him to know that she hadn’t gotten him in trouble. That he was free and not being looked at anymore. She said that as soon as he heard her voice he started going on about how wrong he’d been, how sorry he was, how things were going to be different. He said it took her leaving him like she did to open his eyes and that from now on, she’ll be in charge of their son’s care. That he’ll do whatever she tells him from now on.”

“You don’t believe him.” Neither did Brett, but he was understandably biased in cases like these. He’d heard his own father make similar promises when his sister had been in remission.

And then she’d relapse again.

First thing in the morning he was going to use some of his investigative skills and do a thorough online check on Ted Burbank. Before the day was done he’d know if the man had so much as ever gotten a speeding ticket.

And he didn’t kid himself about why, either. Yes, he’d do what he could to keep Nora safe, but there was no way he could keep track of every abuser of every resident they’d ever had at the Stand.

It wasn’t technically legal, either, with him having access to the residents’ personal information.

No, he was doing this for Ella.

Because he knew her well enough to know that she’d blame herself if something happened to that young woman and her son...

“I’ve never met Nora’s husband,” she was saying. “But based on what I’ve read, and seen with her, I don’t believe a word he said. If he was truly sorry, he’d get himself into some kind of program. And he’d want Nora to stay someplace safe until he was confident that he had his issues under control.”

Which was exactly what Chloe was telling Ella she was trying to do.

And he was back to where he’d started—knowing that getting her to cooperate with his plan wasn’t going to be easy.

Knowing, too, that his idea was their best shot at reaching their goal—getting Chloe back home with Jeff. Though their ideas of what it would take to fix the situation were different—he and Jeff believed that Chloe needed time alone to find herself, while Chloe and Ella hoped that the separation would prompt Jeff to acknowledge his anger issues and seek help—the time apart was key. And the only way that Jeff was going to be able to give Chloe that time was to see her again and assure himself that their love was still there. As it stood, the last time they’d been together had been angry. If they could spend some time together and then separate on good terms, Jeff’s chances of giving Chloe what she needed were far greater.