Shoot from the Lip Read Online Free PDF Page B

Luke’s bruises.”
    “And the child was never returned to the family?” I said. “You three were never interviewed?”
    They nodded.
    Right then I knew this whole CPS story Emma had been fed was nothing more than a corral full of bullshit. This was not how CPS did things. All the children would have been taken to Chimney Rock, and Emma would have been interviewed. But then, this story was from childhood recollections. She may have forgotten facts or not been told the whole truth. Emma’s mother, Christine O’Meara, could have simply given up her baby for adoption.
    “You never mentioned this baby again?” I asked Emma.
    “My mother told me that if I even hinted about her to anyone, CPS would take us all away. I’d be separated from Scott, Luke and Shannon. So I kept my mouth shut. And this may sound awful, but for a while, I thought I’d dreamed the whole thing.”
    Kate said, “Children often protect themselves from emotional trauma by blocking out events.”
    “But I felt terrible for forgetting.” Emma bit her lip, looked down. “I had a CPS caseworker of my own when I turned thirteen, and she helped me understand that Mom probably sold the baby. Turns out there was no previous file on any of us. Luke’s bruises had never been reported. It seemed too late to do anything after five years, and with Mom gone—”
    “She’d left again?” I asked.
    “Right. That’s why CPS took custody of us. I tried to hold things together at home for more than a month when she split that last time, but Shannon missed a week of school with the chicken pox, and I missed the same week to take care of her. The truant officer came, quickly followed by CPS. Mrs. Henderson, my caseworker, was awesome, though. She got a placement for all of us in the same foster home, and that lasted about three years.”
    “How did that go?” Kate asked.
    “Lots of kids coming and going, and our foster parents were pretty cold people. Mrs. Henderson suggested I become an emancipated minor at sixteen. I still owned the house, and we were able to move back in. She’d made sure I didn’t lose it by helping me keep up the insurance and tax payments from the trust.”
    Kate said, “Mrs. Henderson sounds like a great person.”
    “She was the best,” Emma said.
    “Was?” Kate asked.
    “She retired. Moved away.”
    “Bet you miss her,” Kate said.
    “Sort of,” Emma said. “But foster care teaches you to never get too close. We saw about twenty kids come and go. Good-byes can be hard, so you get hard.”
    Kate nodded, and I saw her eyes fill as she looked down at her tablet. She’d had a rough day and was probably ripe for a crying session even without hearing this story.
    I looked at Luke and Shannon. “I hear from Emma the baby part is new information for you guys.”
    Luke said, “When Emma found out that Mr. Mayo knew, she told us.”
    “But someone outside the family obviously was aware of the missing baby,” I said. “The person who wrote that letter to the Reality Check staff. Could it have been the day care lady, as you called her?”
    “Not her. She was almost as nasty as my mother,” Emma said.
    “Then who?” I asked.
    Emma said, “I have no idea.”
    “Finding that person is important, because whoever it is may know what your mother did with the child,” I said.
    “I agree,” Emma replied. “But I’d like to find out if there’s any way I can get out of the contract first. Since the demolition is set for the day after tomorrow, I realize that’s asking a lot.”
    “Day after tomorrow? I had no idea,” I said. “The way I read that contract, once the city tears the house down, Venture sends their builder in immediately. Any chance we can delay the demolition to give Mark, my lawyer friend, more time? Meanwhile, I could start hunting for the person who wrote the letter.”
    Emma shook her head, looking discouraged. “Right after I found out Mr. Mayo knew about my baby sister, I asked for a delay from the