Chapter 6 - THE RESTRAINING ORDER The preliminary laboratory results arrived two days later.
They strengthened the case.
Helen's testimony gave investigators a possible motive.
Security footage documented repeated unwanted contact.
The messages demonstrated escalating obsession.
Detective Miller moved quickly.
A judge granted an emergency protection order.
David's mother was forbidden from approaching David, Leah, their home, or the hospital where Leah would deliver.
For the first time in weeks, Leah slept peacefully.
She returned to the nursery.
She folded clothes.
She finished arranging the crib.
One evening, David found her sitting beside the window.
She placed a hand over her belly.
"She kicked."
David smiled.
Their daughter kicked again.
He laughed softly.
"She's already stubborn."
"She gets that from you."
David leaned down and kissed Leah's forehead.
For a moment, everything felt normal.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message from Detective Miller.
COURT ORDER SERVED.
David exhaled.
Maybe it was finally over.
Maybe the nightmare had ended.
But he had learned something about his mother.
She had never respected boundaries.
And people like her didn't always see court orders as walls.
Sometimes they saw them as challenges.
That night, David checked the locks one more time.
Then another.
Then another.
Leah watched him.
"You can't keep doing that."
David stopped.
She walked over.
"Come to bed."
He looked at the front door.
Then at her.
Finally, he nodded.
May you like
They went upstairs together.
Neither noticed the faint shadow moving beyond the backyard fence.
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