Then he tried something else.

“Piper needs her parents together.”

I thought of a child holding a napkin to her mother’s head because adults had failed her.

“Piper needs adults who listen when she says something is wrong.”

The call ended with Wyatt asking whether he could visit her that weekend.

Naomi told him any parenting arrangements would be handled through appropriate channels, taking Piper’s well-being and the ongoing investigation into account.

After the screen went dark, my hands began trembling.