Chapter 5 - THE RECORDING
The emergency hearing happened the next morning.
Milo remained temporarily in Savannah's care.
Derek was ordered to stay away from him.
Janice was allowed supervised contact only.
Caleb received no immediate custody rights.
The judge wanted answers first.
So did Savannah.
Caleb showed her the old evidence.
Eight years earlier, Janice had received threatening voicemail messages.
A man's voice warned her:
“If you let him near my son, you'll regret it.”
Another:
“Take that baby away and I'll find you.”
Police reports followed.
Janice claimed Caleb had driven past her house repeatedly.
A witness confirmed it.
That witness was Derek Holloway.
Savannah stared at the document.
“Derek knew Mom before Milo was born?”
Caleb nodded.
“She told me they met afterward.”
“So did she.”
Savannah looked up.
“What?”
“Janice told me Derek was just a coworker helping her because she was frightened of me.”
Savannah replayed the threatening voicemail.
Something bothered her.
The voice was distorted.
Deep.
Muffled.
She listened again.
Caleb watched her.
“What?”
Savannah had heard Derek yell for years.
He had a habit when angry.
A small click before certain words.
His tongue striking the side of his teeth.
The distorted voice did it too.
Savannah's stomach tightened.
“Play the second one.”
Caleb did.
There.
Again.
Savannah whispered:
“That sounds like Derek.”
Caleb didn't react with surprise.
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I hired someone to analyze the recordings last year.”
He handed her another report.
A forensic audio examiner couldn't conclusively identify Derek.
But several speech characteristics were consistent.
Savannah stared at the report.
“Why didn't you show this to the court?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“Not enough to overturn the order.”
Savannah looked through the original case.
Then she found something worse.
The date of the first threatening voicemail.
Three days after Janice had filed for sole custody.
Five months before Janice claimed she met Derek.
Savannah felt cold.
May you like
Her mother hadn't merely hidden Caleb.
She may have constructed the reason he was removed.
