Chapter 6: Perimeter
By nightfall the first formal pieces were in place.
Gero had been located at the club, served with the emergency protection order, and instructed to stay away from Beate, the house, and the clinic. He attempted the charming explanation—misunderstanding, pregnancy hormones, a private marital matter—but Brenner had already watched the footage. The charm found no purchase. His keys to the marital home were collected. His access to the cloud camera account was locked pending further order.
Beate slept in the small upstairs bedroom of her father’s house with the stuffed fox Julia had rescued from the nursery and a monitor that tracked only her own breathing and the baby’s movements. Thomas sat downstairs with the lights low and the doors locked, not because he expected Gero to appear, but because thirty years of service had taught him that a perimeter was maintained until the threat assessment changed.
In the morning Brenner called. The video had been entered into evidence. A formal investigation for aggravated assault and endangerment was open. Beate would not be required to face Gero at any early hearing; statements and the recording were sufficient for the first stages.
Thomas listened to the update, thanked the detective, and ended the call.
Then he looked at his daughter across the kitchen table and said the only promise that mattered.
“He will not touch you again. He will not touch the child. The rest is process, and process is already moving.”
May you like
Beate nodded.
For the first time since the belt had left the closet, the cage had a visible door, and people stronger than her fear were standing on the other side of it, holding it open.
