Chapter 7
The sound came from somewhere behind Susan.
Everyone froze.
Susan looked over her shoulder.
That mistake was enough.
An officer rushed forward.
Another grabbed Lily.
Susan screamed.
I ran to my daughter.
“Mommy!”
I dropped to my knees and wrapped both arms around her.
She was shaking.
But she was alive.
I kissed her forehead again and again.
“I’m here.”
“I knew you’d come.”
Ryan joined us.
Lily hesitated.
Then she let him hug her.
Ryan began crying against her hair.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Police took Susan into custody.
Inside the shed, investigators found a cheap prepaid phone.
The ringing had stopped.
But the screen showed dozens of calls.
All from the same number.
A detective traced it.
Then he looked confused.
“The calls originated from the county detention center.”
Ryan stared at him.
“My mother?”
“Possibly.”
“How does she have a phone?”
“That’s what we’re finding out.”
Susan refused to talk at first.
Then officers found something else inside the shed.
A folder.
Inside were copies of Lily’s school schedule.
Our work schedules.
Pictures of our house.
Bank statements.
And instructions.
Written in Diane’s handwriting.
If Emily refuses cooperation, take Lily.
If Ryan calls police, use Claire.
If Susan is caught, deny everything.
Ryan looked at the final page.
His hands shook.
At the bottom was one more instruction.
If necessary, contact Mark.
“Who’s Mark?” I asked.
Ryan looked lost.
“I don’t know.”
Susan, sitting nearby in handcuffs, suddenly laughed.
We all turned.
“What’s funny?” Ryan asked.
She looked at him.
“You still don’t know your family.”
Ryan walked toward her.
“Who is Mark?”
Susan smiled.
“Ask your father.”
Thomas.
The police brought us back to town.
Lily was examined at the hospital.
No serious injuries.
Dehydrated.
Terrified.
But safe.
I stayed beside her.
Ryan left the room to call Thomas.
Ten minutes later, he returned.
His face was white.
“What happened?”
“Dad knows Mark.”
“Who is he?”
Ryan closed the door.
“My uncle.”
“Diane has a brother?”
“Not her brother.”
He looked sick.
“My father’s brother.”
I didn’t understand.
“Why would Thomas’s brother help Diane?”
Ryan sat down.
“Because Mark and Mom were having an affair before Claire died.”
My mouth opened.
“No.”
“Dad believes Mark helped cover it up.”
“How many people knew?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
Lily stirred in the hospital bed.
We stopped talking.
She opened her eyes.
“Daddy?”
Ryan moved beside her.
“Yes?”
“Grandma said Grandpa was bad.”
Ryan’s face tightened.
“What else did she say?”
“She said Grandpa tried to take you away from her.”
Ryan looked at me.
Maybe Diane had spent decades rewriting every story.
Lily whispered, “Grandma said Uncle Mark would fix everything.”
Ryan leaned closer.
“You met Mark?”
She nodded.
“When?”
“At our house.”
My stomach dropped.
Ryan asked, “When was this?”
“When you and Mommy went to dinner.”
Our anniversary.
Two months earlier.
Diane had watched Lily.
“Did he hurt you?”
Lily shook her head.
“He asked me questions.”
“What questions?”
“About Mommy.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
“What did he ask?”
“If Mommy gets angry.”
“If Mommy drinks.”
“If Mommy leaves me alone.”
Exactly the accusations Diane had been building.
Ryan stood.
“They were preparing witnesses.”
A detective arrived soon after.
He had news.
Diane’s secret phone had been found.
A detention employee had accepted money to bring it to her.
She had called Susan repeatedly.
But something else was wrong.
Diane had also called Mark.
Twenty-three times.
The last call was fifteen minutes ago.
“Where is Mark now?” I asked.
The detective’s expression was grim.
“We don’t know.”
Ryan’s phone buzzed.
A message from Thomas.
MARK FOUND ME.
Then another.
DON’T COME HERE.
Then nothing.
Ryan called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
The detective ordered officers to Thomas’s address.
Ryan stood.
“I’m going.”
I grabbed his arm.
“You have a daughter who needs you.”
“My father could be in danger.”
“And Lily just got back.”
He looked between us.
For once, he stayed.
Thirty minutes later, the detective received a call.
He listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened?” Ryan asked.
“Thomas is missing.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“And Mark?”
“Also gone.”
The detective paused.
“But they found blood in the house.”
Ryan went pale.
Then the detective added one final detail.
“On the wall, someone wrote a message.”
May you like
“What message?”
“He should have stayed silent.”
