Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO TOOK MIA FROM THE FIREDenise was arrested two states away.
Her story was complicated.
She had been Rebecca’s part-time nanny.
Twenty-two hours a week.
Paid poorly.
Loved Amelia.
The night of the fire, Rebecca called Denise.
Panicked.
She believed someone had broken into the cottage.
Denise arrived through the rear entrance.
Smoke already spreading.
Rebecca pushed Amelia into her arms.
“Take her.”
Denise carried the child outside.
Then tried to go back.
A section of roof collapsed.
Rebecca never emerged.
Denise called emergency services.
Then Cecelia arrived before Elias.
Why?
Cecelia had been staying nearby.
She saw Amelia alive.
And made a decision.
Not instantly, according to Denise.
First, she told Denise:
“The child needs to be somewhere safe.”
Then:
“Elias will blame you for Rebecca.”
Denise was nineteen.
Terrified.
Uneducated about legal systems.
Cecelia told her the Whitmores would accuse her of negligence.
Then offered money.
Not enormous.
Twenty thousand dollars.
A car.
And help leaving Massachusetts.
Denise refused initially.
Then Cecelia said:
“If Amelia goes back, she becomes a target.”
That frightened her.
So Denise left with the child for one night.
One night became a week.
Then Cecelia created false papers.
Eventually Denise was trapped too.
Return Mia and admit kidnapping?
Keep running?
She chose running.
For nine years.
Denise had cared for Mia.
Often lovingly.
But she also lied about her identity and later exploited her labor when money became tight.
Victim and wrongdoer could exist in the same person.
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The court would sort the legal consequences.
Mia would be allowed to feel whatever she felt.
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