THE FIRST STEP
Danny was waiting outside the station.
She was sitting on the steps, her phone in her hand, her eyes red.
“Mom.”
“Baby.”
They hugged.
“I’m sorry,” Maya said. “You shouldn’t have seen that.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I broke into someone’s apartment.”
“You were trying to help.”
“The police don’t see it that way.”
“The police are assholes.”
Maya almost laughed. “Don’t let your grandmother hear you say that.”
Danny pulled back. “What’s really going on? Why is that therapist trying to destroy you?”
Maya looked at her daughter. At her angry eyes and her stubborn chin and the dark circles that said she hadn’t been sleeping either.
“I think he’s hurting people. His patients. The women who jumped. I think he’s doing something to them. Making them dream about the bridge. Making them want to jump.”
“That’s insane.”
“I know.”
“But you believe it.”
“I believe something is wrong. And I believe I’m the only one who sees it.”
Danny was silent for a moment.
Then she said, “What do you need?”
Maya blinked. “What?”
“To prove it. What do you need?”
“A way into his patient records. His referral list. His group therapy schedule.”
“Can you get that legally?”
“No.”
“Then we get it illegally.”
Maya stared at her daughter.
“Danny—”
“Mom. I’ve watched you disappear for two years. First into work. Then into the lawsuit. Then into Dad leaving. You’ve been a ghost. But this? This is the first time you’ve been alive in forever.”
Maya’s eyes filled with tears.
“I don’t want to put you in danger.”
“You’re not putting me anywhere. I’m choosing to help.”
They stood on the steps of the police station, the rain starting again, the sky dark.
“Okay,” Maya said. “But we do this my way. Smart. Slow. Safe.”
“Safe is boring.”
“Safe is alive.”
Danny smiled. It was the first real smile Maya had seen from her daughter in months.
“Let’s go catch a monster.”