Chapter 5: Unearthing the Ice
I liquidated my savings and hired a private investigator, a former detective named Marcus. His instructions were simple: tear apart Evelyn’s past.
For three weeks, Marcus dug through old property records, interviewed former neighbors, and chased down dead ends. Finally, he called me into his office. Spread across his desk were copies of heavily redacted medical records from the 1990s.
"I found a retired pediatrician who used to treat Taylor when she was a little girl," Marcus explained, pointing to the highlighted dates. "Look at this. July 1994. August 1996. June 1997. Taylor was brought to the clinic for 'unexplained cold-weather exposure.' Frostbite on her fingers. Dangerously low body temperatures. In the middle of the Colorado summer."
My stomach churned. The physical proof of Taylor’s silent torture.
Armed with copies of the files, I asked Taylor to meet me at a neutral coffee shop. She looked exhausted, shadows heavy under her eyes. I slid the records across the table.
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"Your mother did this to you, Taylor," I said softly, watching her eyes scan the dates. "She locked you in the cold. And now she’s doing it to our daughter. You have to break the cycle. You have to testify against her."
Taylor stared at the papers, her hands trembling violently. A tear slipped down her cheek. For a moment, I thought the spell was broken. But then she shoved the papers back at me, stood up, and practically ran out of the cafe without saying a word. The fear her mother had instilled in her was stronger than her love for her own child.
