The Dark Side

by Danielle Steel

  “This is a confidential, closed investigation, Mrs. Roberts, which is why I didn’t mention it to your assistant. It comes from the medical sector, from one of the physicians or hospitals you’ve seen in the past three years. It’s an investigation of you and your husband. Your daughter has had a number of minor injuries, and past a certain point, they are required to notify us.” Zoe looked horrified and narrowed her eyes at him. He knew just what to say so that she didn’t feel directly accused or at fault. He made it sound entirely routine, and had protected Cathy’s identity.

  “Which doctor was it?”

  “My superiors don’t tell me that. It’s confidential, and so is our investigation. You’ve seen quite a number of physicians apparently as well, it could have been any one of them.”

  “She’s a very active child, she fell a lot as a toddler, she was very unsteady on her feet. And she had severe gastric problems as an infant, and apnea. We had to use a monitor for a year so she didn’t stop breathing and die in her sleep. I sat up with her every night,” she said angrily, furious that she had been reported, but not wanting him to see it. But her eyes looked like blue fire, and her mouth was set in a hard line. The charming smile was gone.

  He was careful not to mention the recent pool incident, or the dog bite, because she would have known it came from Cathy and he protected his sources. He didn’t mention having seen her husband a week before.

  “Has your daughter had any surgeries or stitches?” he asked, following a list of questions.

  “Only one surgery, if you can call it that. She had ear tubes put in for recurring earaches, and a stitch in her lip when she fell down the stairs when she started walking. We had a gate up, but someone left it open.” He nodded and made a note with a bland face, well aware that she had already lied to him. She had taken the gate down herself, according to Austin, so there was none, and she didn’t mention the stitches in Florida because they were in another state and she figured he wouldn’t know, or the dog bite, because it was done in the surgeon’s office, and she was a friend of Cathy’s and she was sure he wasn’t aware of it. And she wouldn’t suspect Cathy of reporting her in a million years.

  “Any major illnesses? We understand she’s missed quite a bit of school.”

  “Kids catch everything the first year and she just started preschool. She’s had the usual colds and flu, nothing major.”

  “Hospital records show that she was admitted for a febrile seizure.”

  “She never had another one,” Zoe said in a clipped tone.

  “Broken bones?”

  “Two. A wrist and an arm.” She was trapped on that one.

  “And two dislocated elbows?”

  She could barely contain herself when he asked her. “What are you suggesting? That my husband and I are child abusers? This is outrageous. She’s a normal child who falls down and gets hurt from time to time. I run the most respected shelter for abused children in the city. You don’t actually think I beat my child?”

  “Good Lord, no,” he said, looking dumb for a minute. “These are all standard questions. And I know the work you do. I’ve worked with some of your clients. Every agency in the city admires your agency and uses you as a role model for theirs.” Her ruffled feathers smoothed down a little after that. “I didn’t even think we should be following up on this, but CPS can’t make exceptions, or some of the real abusers would slip through our nets, so occasionally we wind up investigating respectable people. It’s all routine, and then that’s it. Your little girl must be a bit of a tomboy,” he said, smiling at her.

  “Very much so,” she said, smiling back, but he could see that she would have liked to strangle him and throw him out of her office, but she was too smart for that. And he had couched it well. She looked at her watch then. “How much longer will this take? I have a meeting with the head of foster care.”

  “Just a few minutes. Mrs. Roberts, would you say your child is in good health?”

  “Of course. She has regular checkups and her shots are up to date.”

  “Do you trust your nanny and think she’s responsible?”

  “Yes, I do.” She looked bored by then and annoyed, but she had definitely lied to him about several things, which he found more interesting than what she’d said.

  “Has your daughter had any recent injuries? Significant falls, broken bones, stitches, anything that required medical attention by a doctor or in a hospital?”

  “None.” She lied again, about Jaime’s chin in Florida, and the dog bite.

  “I’m happy to hear it,” he said as he stood up. “Thank you for your time. We’ll just file this for now.”

  “I assume the file will be closed after this. Or are you going to continue counting doctors’ visits until she goes to college?” She was trying to intimidate him and it didn’t work. He looked her squarely in the eye when he answered.

  “You know how CPS works. Once a report is made and we investigate it, the file stays open for a year. We check in now and then if we think it’s necessary, which is unlikely in your case. But we’re obliged by law to keep the case open for a year. You deal with CPS all the time, so you know that.”

  “That applies to us too?” She almost shrieked at him.

  “It applies to everyone. If we made exceptions, we’d be all over the press for favoritism, or saying that money talks. You know what the media do with that.”

  “I can’t believe this. Have you seen my husband yet?”

  “No, I haven’t. I plan to, but I haven’t had time and I wanted to make you aware of it first.” She nodded and walked him to the door.

  “Thank you for your visit,” she said with clenched teeth, and she almost slammed the door behind him and would have liked to. She called Austin five minutes later after she tried to calm down, but Dan Knoll beat her to it, and he was talking to Austin when she called.

  “I just saw your wife,” Dan warned him. “She’s not too happy with me. I told her I haven’t seen you yet, and I wanted to give you a heads-up. I told her this is just routine when a child gets injured as often as Jaime has, and is treated at a hospital. I told her that either a physician or the hospital reported it, as they are obliged to. She couldn’t say much to that. She also lied to me about several things. She said you had a gate when Jaime fell. She said Jaime has had no recent injuries. She’s only had stitches once, not three times, and she didn’t tell me about the pool accident in Florida or the dog bite. I think she figured I’d have no record of either one. Let’s agree now on when you say you saw me. How about late this afternoon?”

  “That’s fine, I’ll be in the office.”

  “I asked her questions about childhood diseases, vaccinations, missed school, very benign stuff. You can say that I asked you the same questions as a matter of record.”

  “Thank you. You may save my marriage yet.” Dan wasn’t sure that was a good idea. She was a liar, which confirmed what he thought of her.

  “She asked me how long the case would stay open, and I told her we keep our files open for a year and then we close them, which is true. We want to make sure everything is solid and a child is in a stable situation. I said there are no exceptions to the one-year rule, and she was livid. And since she adheres to the rules at the shelter, she could hardly object to doing it at home. She was very unhappy about it.” She had called Austin four times while he was on the phone with Dan, so he could tell that she was pissed.

  “Thanks for the warning.” He called Zoe back then and she sounded crazed.

  “Can you goddamn believe it? Someone reported us to CPS because of Jaime’s hospital visits. Are they crazy? What kind of parents do they think we are? How could they do such a thing?”

  “What did you tell them?” Austin asked, immediately tense.

  “The truth of course, within reason. They don’t have to know everything, Austin. The same
investigator is going to come and see you. Don’t tell him anything he doesn’t already know. Don’t volunteer anything.”

  “Like what?” He played dumb.

  “They don’t have to know about the pool in Florida, it’s in another state. And I didn’t mention the dog bite, we didn’t go to the hospital for that. We don’t want to look like child abusers, for God’s sake, or have them in and out of our house every ten minutes for the next year. This is ridiculous. And I could lose my job over it, if it winds up in the press.”

  “I thought those things were confidential,” Austin said innocently.

  “They’re supposed to be, but who knows. And I told him we had gates up when Jaime fell down the stairs and broke her arm.”

  “We did have a gate up,” he said quietly. “You took it down.”

  “Are you on my side or not?” she snapped at him. “We’re in this together, you know. If they accuse me of child abuse, they’ll accuse you too.”

  “There’s nothing to accuse us of, Zoe. We’re not child abusers. And you’re the darling of the non-profit world for rescuing children. It will all calm down,” but he sounded dead as he said it. She wanted him to lie for her, and she sounded frightened to him. Of what? What else was there? What didn’t he know?

  Dan had told Cathy that the orthopedic surgeon had admitted that Zoe wanted rods put in Jaime’s back, but he hadn’t told Austin. The case was growing and Austin felt better about it. There wasn’t enough yet to prove that Zoe was purposely endangering their child’s life, but there was enough to make a serious case for Munchausen by proxy, even if some of Jaime’s injuries had been mild. But it was still child abuse in the eyes of the state. She didn’t have to be paralyzed or brain dead for them to make a case. Child endangerment was a felony too. And Dan’s goal now was to protect Jaime and keep Zoe away from her in the future, and get full custody for Austin. Their marriage would be the inevitable casualty, and Austin understood that too. But he couldn’t stay married to a woman who was harming his child and might kill her one day. The Titanic was going down, it just hadn’t sunk yet.

  Austin listened as Zoe continued to instruct him about what not to say. Essentially, she was telling him to lie.

  “Don’t blow it!” she told him before they hung up. She had no idea that in his eyes, she already had. He had told the truth, which was dangerous for her. She couldn’t afford for anyone to be honest. Not Cathy, or him, or even Jaime, like the discrepancy in the story about the dog. He believed Jaime, and so did Dan Knoll.

  Austin called Cathy after he and Zoe hung up. She could hear the minute she answered that he was depressed, and who wouldn’t be. Everything was on the line, their marriage, possibly her job, and their child’s life. What else was there? And somewhere in his heart of hearts, Austin kept hoping that they were wrong, but he knew in his head and his gut that they weren’t. Their whole life was about to go out the window. And what if they were both charged with child abuse, because he hadn’t reported her sooner? He wondered if that could happen, and hadn’t dared ask Dan. He felt cowardly now for not dealing with it earlier. He had been so blind for so long.

  “Dan Knoll interviewed Zoe today,” he told Cathy.

  “How did she take it?”

  “Badly, of course. And she lied to him.”

  “I thought she would.” She didn’t sound surprised, and her loyalties were clear. They were with Jaime, and Zoe was no longer a true friend, if she had been purposely injuring her child for three and a half years. Zoe had lost Cathy’s support when she made her decision and turned her in to CPS. She was ready to stand by it. It was harder for Austin, he had more to lose and at times still felt torn, between love and disbelief, and wanting to grab Jaime and run, and save her from her mother. But he was still terrified they were wrong and doing Zoe a terrible injustice. He would never forgive himself if that was the case. But even less if she killed Jaime. That was unthinkable.

  “He told her he hadn’t seen me yet, and I went along with it. So I guess I’m a liar too.”

  “You have no choice,” she said gently, “you have to protect Jaime. If you don’t, something bad could happen.”

  “Bad things have already happened. A lot of them,” he said grimly.

  “I know it sounds crazy, but I think it will turn out okay in the end.”

  “For who?”

  “For Jaime, for starters. If Zoe is doing what we think, she has to be stopped. For everyone’s sake. If what we believe is true, her demons are running her life. She needs help.” He sighed, listening to her. He didn’t know where to turn anymore or what to believe.

  “I wish I could just grab Jaime and run away,” he said sadly.

  “And how would you explain that to Jaime?”

  “How will I explain it if her mother goes to jail? This is more than just a custody battle in the making, Cathy. There will be felony charges, if they can prove any of it.”

  “I know,” and she had started it, but she didn’t feel guilty anymore. She had done the right thing. She had no doubt.

  Things calmed down for a few weeks after that. Dan Knoll’s interviews were over, and he was writing his report. He wanted to think about it carefully and make the right recommendation, and he didn’t know what that was yet. Possibly to wait until they had stronger evidence to bring criminal charges against Zoe. But he didn’t want Jaime at risk in the meantime, until the next injury. He had consulted a psychiatrist about it too, and done extensive reading about Munchausen by proxy. He felt like an authority on it now. They all did.

  Austin was still having lunch with his mother once a week. She asked what was happening with the investigation and he said he didn’t know, which was true. Cathy didn’t know anything either. He checked in with her every few days.

  Zoe had calmed down after Dan Knoll’s visit. She was still incensed about it, but since they’d heard nothing further, she assumed everything was in order and the file would be in a holding pattern now for the next year. And she was satisfied with what Austin had reported he’d said to Dan Knoll. She was warmer again after that, but Austin didn’t trust her anymore, ever, for a single second, especially with their daughter. And Zoe was such a convincing liar, who knew what was true?

  * * *

  —

  Zoe came home early from work one Friday afternoon after Jaime got out of school at two. She let Fiona leave early, and took Jaime with her to buy some groceries. She was in a good mood, and Jaime loved spending time with her. It felt like a special treat when her mom came home early from work, and they could have mother-daughter time alone. Zoe promised her they would buy colored sprinkles for a surprise.

  When they came home from the grocery store, Zoe smiled at her.

  “I have the surprise for you! Let’s have a party!” Zoe said and clapped her hands.

  “With balloons and cake?” Jaime’s eyes lit up instantly.

  “How about cake, no balloons?”

  “Okay!” As Jaime watched, her mother pulled out a see-through box from a supermarket bag with a pink frosted cake in it. She’d picked it up on the way home and Fiona hadn’t seen it before she left. She took off the label and tossed it into the garbage, crushed the plastic lid and shoved it way down to the bottom of the trash, and took out pink paper plates left over from Jaime’s last birthday. She even had pink candles and strawberry ice cream. “It’s a pink party!” Jaime said, clapping her hands, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother put something on the counter. It was her EpiPen, which Zoe had in her purse. Zoe carried one all the time now, and so did Fiona. “What’s that, Mommy?”

  “Just some medicine Dr. Clown gave us. He was funny, wasn’t he?”

  “I liked him.”

  “Me too.” Zoe put the cake on a round plate, cut two slices, and put sprinkles on them. She lit the candles on Jaime’s for her to blow out, which she did with a giggl
e and blew her mom a kiss. “I love parties with you, Mommy,” she said happily as the buzzer from downstairs rang, and Zoe looked annoyed. She answered the intercom. It was Cathy.

  “What are you doing here?” Zoe asked into the speaker.

  “I took the afternoon off. I thought I’d drop by to say hi to Jaime. Are you playing hooky too? Can I come up?”

  “Invite her to the party, Mommy!” Jaime was excited. This was fun.

  “It’s just our party. A mother-daughter party. Let’s save the cake till later,” she whispered and buzzed Cathy up. She was about to put the cake away when Cathy rang the doorbell. Zoe put the whole cake into a cupboard, and then opened the door and hugged her. She turned around and saw that Jaime had taken a big bite of one of the slices with a plastic fork. “Don’t eat that!” she said sharply to Jaime, but she was already halfway through the slice Zoe had cut for her.

  “Why not?” Cathy looked confused, as Jaime started to choke. Cathy thought it was stuck in her throat but her face turned bright red and her eyes rolled up in her head, as she fell off the stool she’d been sitting on, and Zoe caught her as she fell, grabbed the EpiPen off the counter, and pulled off the cap, as Cathy understood what had happened and grabbed it from her. “Oh my God, what did you do?” She jabbed the adrenaline shot into Jaime’s thigh, and felt her pulse immediately. It was racing and then stopped as she started giving her CPR, and shouted at Zoe. “Call 911! Now! Tell them she’s code blue. And we need a defibrillator!”

  Zoe called them and pushed the paper plates into the garbage, as she watched her friend try to revive Jaime. Her heart had stopped, and Cathy was maintaining her heartbeat artificially with the CPR, pressing on her heart rhythmically and blowing into her mouth alternately. She could keep her going until the paramedics got there, and longer if she had to, but technically, Jaime was dead. Her heart wouldn’t beat on its own. What Cathy was doing was keeping her heart beating and oxygen flowing to Jaime’s brain. The EpiPen hadn’t been strong enough to save her.