Chapter 5 - The Footage
Principal Alvarado called that night, his voice careful. "Melissa, I reviewed two weeks of footage. There's an elderly woman in a red scarf, exactly like you described. She sits on the bench near the gate around dismissal every day."
"Does she approach him?"
"She sits down beside him. They talk. She never touches him, except when he shows her something out of that little book you packed him. Then your car pulls up, and she leaves. Every single clip ends the same way, Melissa. The moment you arrive."
I closed my eyes. Every clip ended with me. Late.
"Tomorrow," I said, barely above a whisper. "I want to talk to her. Tomorrow, if I can."
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"I'll have Mrs. Ibarra stationed at the gate at dismissal," he said. "She won't step in unless we need her to, but she'll be right there the whole time, so you can approach the woman safely. You won't be doing this alone."
I thanked him, hung up, and stood staring at the fridge covered in Caleb's drawings. That woman had been in my son's life for months, and I hadn't noticed, because I hadn't been looking.
