Chapter 5 - RACHEL TAKES OFF THE BADGERachel requested temporary reassignment from anything connected to the investigation.
Some colleagues questioned why.
Her captain didn't.
“You're his mother.”
Exactly.
Rachel could not simultaneously be victim's parent, witness, investigator and arresting officer without creating problems.
At the ballroom, she'd acted immediately to stop an assault.
Afterward, she stepped back.
That decision later mattered enormously.
Daniel's attorneys couldn't plausibly characterize the investigation as Rachel using police power to punish an ex-husband when independent investigators handled evidence.
Rachel hated surrendering control.
But control wasn't the same as protection.
That became her lesson.
She attended Noah's appointments.
Made breakfast.
Sat beside him during nightmares.
She stopped asking:
“What happened?”
Instead:
“Do you want to tell me anything?”
Sometimes Noah said no.
May you like
Rachel accepted no.
That was how trust returned.
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