Chapter 2
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Daniel stared up at Lily.
I stared at him.
The photograph trembled between Lily’s fingers.
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked.
His voice was too careful.
Not confused.
Careful.
Lily immediately stepped backward.
I moved toward the stairs.
“Don’t come closer to her.”
Daniel looked at me.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
His expression changed.
He looked wounded.
Then defensive.
Then frightened.
“I haven’t done anything.”
Lily made a small sound.
I climbed the stairs and reached her.
She shoved the photograph into my hands.
It showed Daniel and his older brother, Mark, standing outside the same brick house listed in Lily’s records.
Mark had one arm around Daniel.
Behind them were several children.
Lily was one of them.
She looked much younger.
Maybe five.
My stomach turned.
The date printed in the corner was only two years earlier.
Daniel had told me he hadn’t spoken to Mark in almost eight years.
I looked down at him.
“You lied.”
Daniel stood.
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
He glanced toward Lily.
“Not in front of her.”
Lily grabbed my shirt.
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“Don’t go downstairs with him.”
Daniel’s face went pale.
That was all I needed.
I carried Lily into our bedroom and locked the door.
She panicked when she heard the lock click.
“No lock!”
I immediately unlocked it.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Her breathing came fast.
I sat on the floor beside her.
“You can keep the door open.”
She watched the hallway.
Daniel stayed downstairs.
I could hear him pacing.
“Did Daniel hurt you?” I asked.
Lily stared at the carpet.
I hated asking.
I hated that I had to.
She whispered, “He got mad when I cried.”
My heart seemed to stop.
“What did he do?”
“He said Mark would get angry if I made noise.”
“What happened when Mark got angry?”
Lily wrapped both arms around herself.
“I don’t want to tell.”
“Okay.”
I reached toward her, then stopped.
“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me.”
She looked at my hand.
Then slowly leaned against me.
I held her.
Minutes passed.
Finally, she whispered, “There was a little room.”
I closed my eyes.
“What kind of room?”
“No window.”
My throat tightened.
“Did Daniel put you there?”
She nodded.
“Sometimes.”
Every excuse I had ever made for Daniel disappeared.
Every time Lily had flinched around him.
Every time she had disappeared when I left the room.
Every time he had told me she just needed patience.
He knew.
He had always known.
A knock came from the open doorway.
I jumped.
Daniel stood in the hallway.
Lily screamed.
I immediately stood between them.
“Get away.”
Daniel raised both hands.
“I’m not coming closer.”
“Leave the house.”
His mouth opened.
“This is my house too.”
“Not tonight.”
“I need to explain what happened.”
“You had six months.”
He flinched.
“That isn’t fair.”
I almost laughed.
“Fair?”
Lily was shaking behind me.
“You watched me welcome a terrified child into this house knowing you had already been part of her nightmare.”
“That is not what happened.”
Lily whispered behind me.
“You locked me in.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
I saw it.
The truth.
Not all of it.
But enough.
“You remember,” I said.
Daniel rubbed his face.
“I remember the room.”
My knees nearly gave out.
He continued quickly.
“Mark was running an emergency placement home. Things got out of control. I was trying to help.”
“You locked a child in a room.”
“I was told it was a calming room.”
Lily cried harder.
“You turned the light off.”
Daniel stopped talking.
I stared at him.
“You turned the light off?”
“I didn’t know she was afraid of the dark.”
“She was five.”
He looked at me desperately.
“Listen to me. Mark had procedures. I thought they came from the agency.”
“Then why did you hide all of this?”
He had no answer.
That silence frightened me more than shouting would have.
I reached for my phone.
Daniel saw it.
“Who are you calling?”
“Lily’s caseworker.”
“No.”
The word came too fast.
I froze.
Daniel immediately softened his voice.
“I mean, don’t do this tonight. Lily is upset. We’re all upset.”
“Why shouldn’t I call?”
“Because the adoption could be investigated.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He looked toward Lily.
“If they discover there was an undisclosed family connection to one of her previous placements, they could question whether the adoption was handled properly.”
My blood went cold.
“You knew that before we adopted her.”
Daniel said nothing.
I understood.
“You knew.”
“I recognized her name.”
“When?”
“During matching.”
I backed away from him.
“You let me believe she was a stranger.”
“I wanted to help her.”
“You wanted access to her.”
“No.”
His answer came so loudly Lily flinched.
I pointed toward the stairs.
“Leave.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“I am not Mark.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You’re looking at me like I am.”
“I’m looking at you like a man who lied to his wife, lied during an adoption, and terrified a five-year-old.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I made mistakes.”
Behind me, Lily whispered, “He told me nobody would believe me.”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
I turned.
Lily’s eyes were fixed on him.
“You said foster kids lie.”
Daniel whispered, “Lily…”
“Don’t say her name.”
I stepped forward.
“Get out.”
This time, he moved.
He walked downstairs slowly.
I followed from a distance.
He picked up his keys.
At the front door, he turned.
“There are things you don’t know about Mark.”
“Then the police can hear them.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Don’t call the police until you understand everything.”
That sentence decided it.
I shut the door behind him.
Locked it.
Then I called Lily’s caseworker.
Nora Bennett answered on the third ring.
I told her Daniel’s name.
I told her Mark’s name.
I told her the address.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Nora said something that made my legs go weak.
“Do not let Daniel back into that house.”
I gripped the phone.
“Why?”
Her voice lowered.
“Because Mark’s foster home was investigated after a child disappeared for nearly twelve hours.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Was the child Lily?”
“No.”
Nora paused.
“But Lily was living there when it happened.”
I looked toward the stairs.
Lily was standing halfway up, watching me.
Nora continued.
“And according to the original complaint, Mark wasn’t the only adult in the house that night.”
I already knew the answer.
Still, I asked.
“Who was the other adult?”
May you like
Nora took a breath.
“Daniel.”
