Read Online The Single Staircase by Matt Ingwalson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Matt Ingwalson
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illegal to look up ways to kill a baby on a cell phone. But she was going to do it. She was going to kill my baby. Sophia. She was going to kill Sophia. Imagine you’re me. Every time you go to work, you wonder if when you get home, your baby will be dead. Every time you go to the bathroom, you have to leave them alone together. Alone. Together. I had to get Sophia out.”
“So one night you put her to bed, told the wife you wanted to get high and fool around. While she’s waiting for the sedatives to kick in, you turned on a movie, but this is the thing. You got it on-demand. So you overdosed her .”
Owl paused, but David Grey didn’t move or say anything or even breathe. Owl continued.
“T hen all you had to do was hit pause, take Soph ia down to where your parents w ere waiting on the sidewalk outside, go back up and when you saw her waking up, you hit the play button and said, ‘Hey, why don’t you go check on Sophia?’ How was Daphne going to know, right? She thought she was high on roofies and wine. She never knew she lost a couple hours passed out while you kidnapped her daughter.”
“Her daughter? Hers?” David shifted, he leaned forward, desperate, hurting . “Detective, please. Listen, I’m not a perfect dad. I know I’ve done a terrible thing. The press conference…”
“Yeah, that had to have scared the piss out of you.”
“I didn’t think it would go that far. Daphne wasn’t going to take it that far. She thinks I did it. That I killed Sophia. Daphne thinks she’s covering for me. So I just thought if I kept my mouth shut, what are you going to do? I knew you wouldn’t find any evidence because there isn’t any. Because Sophia i s safe. And that’s a dad’s job.”
And now it was David Grey’s turn to stop, to look for affirmation, for confirmation, for understanding. But Owl gave him nothing. And so the man went on.
“ That’s my job, my most important job. To keep my baby safe. And she is safe now. And over the next month, I’m going to get myself out of my marriage to that, that thing. I’m going to leave her. I’ll have everything ready and I’ll just walk away. And Daphne will have no way to stop me. And then I’m going to pick up and go. I’m going to go to Indiana and raise my little girl. And love her. And keep her safe. I promise.”
Owl said nothing. David went on, desperate.
“What if you arrest me? What will it get you? I’m in jail, my baby will be returned to Daphne . Daphne doesn’t want her. She’ll neglect her. Maybe kill her. Maybe give her up for adoption while I’m in jail.”
“Maybe she’ll just give her back to your parents.”
“OK. Maybe. Maybe. Best case, that’s what she does. But this time, I won’t be coming for Sophia. I’m in jail for whatever it is I’ve done here. Kidnapping or false reporting or fraud or something. For the next ten years? They’re 65! How many years can they give her? My 65-year-old parents with a three-month-old? They could die, she could go to a foster home. Please, detective. What’s best for Sophia? Isn’t that what you want? Is that why you’ve been doing this? Don’t you want what’s best for her? Don’t you?” He looked at Owl and said, “I just love her. I love my baby so much. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
David Grey started to cry.
Chap. 65
It takes less time to forget a missing baby than you’d like to believe. A comet passes by the planet, a pretty coed gets a rare disease, a celebrity gets divorced. The world moves on and the memory of a little girl fades for everybody except those who really love her.
After three days, surveillance on the Greys ended. Owl and Raccoon quietly moved the affair into a cold case file.
After three weeks, David Grey left Daphne Grey. David A. Davidson showed up at her room with papers and a settlement. “David says he can’t go on. He’s not coming back.”
She had been confused, and she protested, “But he did that thing. H e did it
“So one night you put her to bed, told the wife you wanted to get high and fool around. While she’s waiting for the sedatives to kick in, you turned on a movie, but this is the thing. You got it on-demand. So you overdosed her .”
Owl paused, but David Grey didn’t move or say anything or even breathe. Owl continued.
“T hen all you had to do was hit pause, take Soph ia down to where your parents w ere waiting on the sidewalk outside, go back up and when you saw her waking up, you hit the play button and said, ‘Hey, why don’t you go check on Sophia?’ How was Daphne going to know, right? She thought she was high on roofies and wine. She never knew she lost a couple hours passed out while you kidnapped her daughter.”
“Her daughter? Hers?” David shifted, he leaned forward, desperate, hurting . “Detective, please. Listen, I’m not a perfect dad. I know I’ve done a terrible thing. The press conference…”
“Yeah, that had to have scared the piss out of you.”
“I didn’t think it would go that far. Daphne wasn’t going to take it that far. She thinks I did it. That I killed Sophia. Daphne thinks she’s covering for me. So I just thought if I kept my mouth shut, what are you going to do? I knew you wouldn’t find any evidence because there isn’t any. Because Sophia i s safe. And that’s a dad’s job.”
And now it was David Grey’s turn to stop, to look for affirmation, for confirmation, for understanding. But Owl gave him nothing. And so the man went on.
“ That’s my job, my most important job. To keep my baby safe. And she is safe now. And over the next month, I’m going to get myself out of my marriage to that, that thing. I’m going to leave her. I’ll have everything ready and I’ll just walk away. And Daphne will have no way to stop me. And then I’m going to pick up and go. I’m going to go to Indiana and raise my little girl. And love her. And keep her safe. I promise.”
Owl said nothing. David went on, desperate.
“What if you arrest me? What will it get you? I’m in jail, my baby will be returned to Daphne . Daphne doesn’t want her. She’ll neglect her. Maybe kill her. Maybe give her up for adoption while I’m in jail.”
“Maybe she’ll just give her back to your parents.”
“OK. Maybe. Maybe. Best case, that’s what she does. But this time, I won’t be coming for Sophia. I’m in jail for whatever it is I’ve done here. Kidnapping or false reporting or fraud or something. For the next ten years? They’re 65! How many years can they give her? My 65-year-old parents with a three-month-old? They could die, she could go to a foster home. Please, detective. What’s best for Sophia? Isn’t that what you want? Is that why you’ve been doing this? Don’t you want what’s best for her? Don’t you?” He looked at Owl and said, “I just love her. I love my baby so much. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
David Grey started to cry.
Chap. 65
It takes less time to forget a missing baby than you’d like to believe. A comet passes by the planet, a pretty coed gets a rare disease, a celebrity gets divorced. The world moves on and the memory of a little girl fades for everybody except those who really love her.
After three days, surveillance on the Greys ended. Owl and Raccoon quietly moved the affair into a cold case file.
After three weeks, David Grey left Daphne Grey. David A. Davidson showed up at her room with papers and a settlement. “David says he can’t go on. He’s not coming back.”
She had been confused, and she protested, “But he did that thing. H e did it
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