The sirens grew louder until the sound filled the narrow street beneath my balcony.
Carol looked toward the intersection.
For the first time since she had arrived, certainty slipped from her face.
Jake stepped backward.
Alex remained beside me with his phone in one hand and both eyes fixed on the family below.
The first cruiser stopped beside the curb.
A second vehicle pulled in behind it, followed by an unmarked car.
Two uniformed officers got out.
The detective Alex had called emerged from the unmarked vehicle, already speaking into his radio.
Carol recovered quickly.
She straightened her coat, arranged her expression, and walked toward them as though she had summoned the police herself.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” she said.
“My daughter-in-law is having some kind of episode.
She attacked us after the wedding and stole jewelry from the bridal suite.”
I felt Alex’s body go still beside me.
The detective looked up at our balcony.
“Mrs.
Miller?” he called.
“That’s me.”
“We need to speak with Sarah.”
Carol spun toward the building.
“You cannot take her word seriously.
She is unstable.”
One officer raised a hand.
“Ma’am, step back.”
“I am her mother-in-law.”
“And right now, you need to step back.”
The authority in his voice finally stopped her.
Inside the apartment, Sarah had heard the sirens.
She was sitting upright on the sofa with the blanket pulled to her chin.
When I told her the police were downstairs, her breathing became shallow.
“They’ll make me go back,” she whispered.
“No one is taking you anywhere,” Alex said.
She looked at him as if she wanted to believe him but no longer trusted the world enough to accept promises easily.
Alex crouched several feet away, leaving space between them.
“You do not have to speak in front of Carol,” he said.
“You do not have to see Jake.
You can tell the detective what happened from this room.”
Sarah’s gaze moved to the door.
“What if they say I’m lying?”
I sat beside her.
“Then we show them what the truth looks like.”
The detective came upstairs with a female officer and a medical responder.
Sarah panicked when she saw the medical bag, but the responder spoke gently and explained every movement before touching her.
The injuries beneath the dress were worse than the ones on her face.
Bruises had begun darkening along her ribs, thighs, and back.
Several were shaped like fingers.
Her scalp was tender where Carol had pulled her hair.
The responder warned that Sarah could have injuries that were not visible.
Sarah still resisted the hospital.
“They said they would kill me if I told.”
The detective leaned forward.
“Did Carol say that?”
“Carol and Jake.
Jake said next time would be worse.”
“Was anyone else present?”
