Contents
Chapter 50
Overview
Police respond to Dominic’s disappearance but treat Veronica with skepticism due to the home birth and lack of documentation. Officer Grenell focuses on Clay’s drug use, discovers drugs, and arrests him. With no meaningful search initiated, Veronica is dismissed and resolves to recover her missing infant herself.
Summary
Veronica calls the police to report Dominic missing, expecting an urgent response. Officer Grenell arrives but questions the legitimacy of the baby because there is no hospital record or birth certificate from Veronica’s home birth. He implies possible baby theft and fixates on inconsistencies rather than launching a search.
Grenell’s suspicion intensifies when he notices Clay’s track marks and disheveled state. Pressed on the timeline, Clay admits he stopped at a rest area and “took a nap,” implying he used heroin and passed out while Dominic was in the car, leaving the exact moment of the abduction unknown.
Grenell pats Clay down, finds a balloon of drugs, and arrests Clay for possession. Veronica, exhausted and unkempt postpartum, pleads for help, but Grenell dismisses her and tells her to clean up, effectively sidelining the investigation.
Isolated and judged as a junkie by association, Veronica renounces Clay and resolves to recover Dominic on her own, declaring she will stop at nothing to get her baby back.
Who Appears
- VeronicaNew mother reporting Dominic missing; dismissed by police over lack of documentation; resolves to find her son.
- Clay BarkleyVeronica’s fiancé; used heroin and passed out at a rest stop; arrested when drugs are found.
- Officer GrenellSkeptical responding officer; questions the baby’s existence; arrests Clay and dismisses Veronica.
- DominicVeronica’s newborn son; missing after Clay’s stop at a rest area.