Betrayed: She Took My Son novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Clayton's POV

Clayton's POV

The sheriff's deputies came down the lawn at ten past seven.

Someone on the next porch had called them before Lacey finished talking.

There were two, a man and a woman, and neither one hurried.

Lacey did not run.

She stood up from the end of the dock when the woman said her name.

She held out both wrists before anyone asked.

Philip did not watch her go.

He stood with his back to the lake and his hands hanging.

When she passed him on the boards, she said his name once.

He didn't turn his head.

Melanie walked up the lawn with the baby against her shoulder.

I had my hand out to take her elbow. I put it back in my pocket.

She stopped in front of me.

"He's cold," she said.

"We'll get him checked."

"I'm not letting go of him."

"I know. I'll drive."

The ER at Mercy was the building where all of this started.

She walked in through the automatic doors with her chin up.

A young nurse in pink scrubs saw the name LIAM stitched in white on the blanket hem.

She looked at Melanie, and her face changed.

She said nothing about it. She put the baby on a warm table herself.

I leaned in the doorway and watched a pediatrician listen to a seven-month-old chest.

"He's fine," the doctor said at last. "A little chilled. Keep him warm and fed."

Melanie laughed once and sat down hard on the stool.

Philip was waiting in the hall.

He had washed his face in the men's room, and his collar was straight again.

His voice had gone back to the soft, reasonable one.

"Melanie, can we talk?"

"You can talk."

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