Chapter 139 Emma in Danger
CAITLYN'S POV
I was feeding Emma in the living room when I heard shouting outside. Loud angry voices. Chanting something I could not quite make out. I walked to the window and looked down at the street.
There were at least twenty people gathered outside our building. Holding signs. Yelling. Some of the signs said things like "Justice for Collin" "Prosecute Caitlyn Cross" and "Lock Her Up." My stomach turned.
"Jason," I called out. "Jason come here."
He came out of the bedroom and looked out the window. His face got hard.
"What the hell," he said. "How did they know where we live?"
"Someone must have posted our address online," I said. "This is bad Jason. Really bad."
"I am calling the police," Jason said. He pulled out his phone.
The protesters kept chanting. Getting louder. More aggressive. I could hear them clearly now. "Liar. Criminal. Murderer." Over and over. My hands were shaking as I held Emma.
"The police are on their way," Jason said. "They said to stay inside. Do not engage with the protesters."
"I was not planning on engaging," I said. "I just want them to leave."
More people were joining the crowd. It was growing. Getting bigger and angrier. Some of them were pointing up at our apartment. Taking photos. Recording videos.
"They know which apartment is ours," I said. "Jason they know exactly where we are."
"I know," Jason said. "Come away from the window. Do not let them see you."
I moved away but kept watching. The crowd was getting out of control. Someone threw something at our building. Then another person. Then several people at once.
"They are throwing things," I said. "Oh my god, they are throwing things at our building."
Jason came back to the window. "Where are the police? They should be here by now."
As if on cue we heard sirens. Two police cars pulled up. Officers got out and started trying to disperse the crowd. But the protesters were not leaving. They were arguing with the police. Refusing to move.
Then I heard a crash. The sound of glass breaking. I spun around and saw a rock on our living room floor. The window was shattered. Glass everywhere.
"Oh god," I said. "They threw a rock through our window."
"Get away from there," Jason yelled. He pulled me back. "Get Emma to the bedroom. Now."
I ran to the bedroom with Emma. My heart was pounding. That rock could have hit her. Could have hit me. Could have killed one of us.
Jason was on the phone with the police again. "Someone just threw a rock through our window," he was saying. "My wife and baby are here. This is dangerous. You need to get these people away from our building."
I sat on the bed holding Emma. She was crying. Sensing my fear. I tried to calm her but I was shaking too hard.
"It is okay baby," I whispered. "It is okay. Mommy has got you."
But it was not okay. Nothing about this was okay. There were people outside our home wanting to hurt us. Wanting to hurt my baby. Because they believed lies. Because Vanessa had convinced them I was a criminal.
Jason came into the bedroom. "The police are arresting the person who threw the rock," he said. "And they are clearing the rest of the crowd. But Caitlyn we cannot stay here. It is not safe."
"Where do we go?" I asked. "This is our home."
"I know," Jason said. "But our home is not safe anymore. We need to leave. At least for a while."
"For how long?" I asked. "How long until it is safe to come back?"
"I do not know," Jason said. "But we cannot stay here tonight. Not with a broken window. Not with protesters knowing our address."
"This is so unfair," I said. I was crying now. "We did nothing wrong. We told the truth. And now we are being punished for it."
"I know," Jason said. He sat next to me and put his arm around me. "I know it is unfair. But we have to deal with reality. And reality is we need to leave."
"Where will we go?" I asked.
"Tommy's," Jason said. "He already offered. We can stay with him until this blows over."
"What about all our stuff?" I asked. "Emma's things? Our clothes?"
"We will pack what we can," Jason said. "The essentials. The rest we will get later."
The police came up to take our statement. They looked at the broken window. At the rock on the floor. At us holding our crying baby.
"I am sorry this happened," one of the officers said. "We are going to increase patrols in this area. Make sure the protesters do not come back."
"But they know where we live," I said. "They can come back anytime they want."
"We will do our best to prevent that," the officer said. "But I agree with your husband. It might be safer to stay somewhere else for a few days. Until things calm down."
"Things are not going to calm down," I said. "Not until people stop believing lies about me."
"We arrested the person who threw the rock," the officer said. "They will be charged with vandalism and reckless endangerment. That might discourage others."
"Or it might make them angrier," I said. "Either way we are not safe here."
After the police left Jason started packing. He threw clothes into bags. Diapers. Formula. Everything we might need for Emma. I just sat there holding her. Unable to move. Unable to process what was happening.
"Caitlyn," Jason said gently. "I need you to help me pack. We need to get out of here before it gets dark."
"I do not want to leave," I said. "This is our home. We worked so hard to make it ours. And now we have to abandon it because of lies."
"We are not abandoning it," Jason said. "We are just leaving temporarily. Until it is safe to come back."
"What if it is never safe to come back?" I asked. "What if this is our life now? Running. Hiding. Always looking over our shoulders?"
"That is not going to be our life," Jason said. "This will pass. People will move on to the next story. Things will go back to normal."
"Will they?" I asked. "Because I do not think things will ever be normal again."
Jason did not answer. He just kept packing. I finally got up and helped him. We packed everything we could fit in our car. Clothes. Baby supplies. Important documents. Photos.
I looked around our apartment one last time. At the broken window. At the glass on the floor. At the rock that nearly killed my daughter. This had been our home. Our safe place. And now it was ruined.
"Ready?" Jason asked.
"No," I said. "But let us go anyway."
We loaded the car and drove away. I looked back at our building. At the protesters who were still lingering even though the police had dispersed them. At the home we were leaving behind.
"I hate Vanessa," I said. "I hate her for doing this to us."
"Me too," Jason said. "But hating her does not help. We need to focus on keeping Emma safe. On surviving this."