Chapter 3
I slept on the floor beside Lily’s bed.
Actually, I barely slept at all.
Every sound outside made me sit up.
Every pair of headlights crossing the curtains made me think Daniel had come back.
Lily finally fell asleep shortly before dawn with one hand wrapped around my sleeve.
I stayed there.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
At seven, Nora called again.
“I’ve contacted my supervisor.”
Her voice sounded tired.
“And?”
“We need to meet.”
“Today.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Lily.
She was still sleeping.
“Is someone going to take her away from me?”
The question came out before I could stop it.
Nora was silent for a moment.
“That is not our goal.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No. It isn’t.”
My chest tightened.
She continued gently.
“The adoption file contains information that should have been disclosed. We need to understand how Daniel passed the background review without anyone identifying the connection.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
“But will a judge?”
“We’re not at that stage yet.”
I hated those words.
Yet.
Nora arranged to meet us at a child advocacy center in Charlotte.
She told me not to question Lily further.
“Let trained interviewers handle it.”
“I already asked her things.”
“You were trying to protect her.”
“I should have noticed sooner.”
“Don’t do that to yourself.”
But I already was.
I thought about every morning I had left Lily alone with Daniel while I ran errands.
Every evening I had gone upstairs to shower.
Every time I had told her, “You’re safe now.”
She hadn’t believed me because I hadn’t understood what safe meant to her.
When Lily woke, her first question was, “Is he here?”
“No.”
“Is he coming back?”
“No.”
She searched my face.
“Ever?”
My throat closed.
“I won’t make you be around him.”
Her shoulders dropped slightly.
That tiny movement nearly broke me.
We left through the garage.
I checked the street before pulling out.
Daniel’s car wasn’t there.
At the advocacy center, Nora met us outside.
She was in her early forties, with tired eyes and a calm voice.
Lily knew her.
The moment she saw Nora, she tightened her grip on my hand.
Nora crouched several feet away.
“Hi, Lily.”
Lily didn’t answer.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to talk to me.”
Inside, we were separated.
I hated it.
Lily went with a forensic interviewer named Ms. Carter.
I sat in another room with Nora and a detective named Luis Ramirez.
He placed a folder on the table.
“Daniel’s brother, Mark, operated the foster home for approximately three years.”
“I thought Daniel hadn’t spoken to him.”
Ramirez looked at me.
“Phone records from the old investigation showed frequent contact.”
“How frequent?”
“Several times a week.”
I felt sick.
Nora opened another folder.
“Daniel signed your adoption application stating he had no prior relationship with Lily.”
I remembered signing the same form.
My signature sat beside his.
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anyone catch it?”
Nora’s face tightened.
“Mark’s foster home closed under a different licensing name. The connection should still have been found, but it wasn’t.”
“Was someone helping Daniel?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Ramirez slid the photograph toward himself.
“This picture helps.”
“Lily kept it.”
“Do you know where she got it?”
“No.”
He turned it over.
There was handwriting on the back.
I hadn’t noticed it the night before.
Four words.
DON’T FORGET MIA’S ROOM.
Ramirez looked at Nora.
She looked back at him.
“Who’s Mia?” I asked.
Neither answered immediately.
My stomach dropped.
“Who is Mia?”
Ramirez opened the folder.
“Mia Carter was nine years old when she lived at Mark’s home.”
“Was she the child who disappeared?”
“No.”
“Then what happened to her?”
“She made the first formal complaint.”
My skin prickled.
“What did she say?”
Ramirez chose his words carefully.
“She described excessive punishment, food restriction, confinement in a windowless storage room, intimidation, and threats.”
I thought about Lily asking permission to open our refrigerator.
My eyes filled.
“Was Mark charged?”
“The investigation collapsed.”
“How?”
“Mia recanted.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
Nora looked at me.
“She was moved three days later.”
“Where is she now?”
“We’re trying to find her.”
I stared at the writing on the photograph.
“Lily knew her.”
“Most likely.”
A knock interrupted us.
Ms. Carter entered alone.
I stood immediately.
“Where’s Lily?”
“She’s drawing in the next room.”
“Is she okay?”
“She wants you.”
I started toward the door.
Then Ms. Carter said, “There is something you need to hear first.”
I stopped.
Her expression changed.
“Lily identified both Mark and Daniel.”
I gripped the back of a chair.
“Doing what?”
“Mark administered most of the punishments.”
“And Daniel?”
Ms. Carter paused.
“He enforced them.”
My stomach twisted.
“She said Daniel locked doors.”
“Yes.”
“She said he turned off lights.”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“Lily described Daniel standing outside the room while children cried.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did he ever hit her?”
Ms. Carter didn’t answer directly.
“She associates his belt with threats.”
That was enough.
I covered my mouth.
Ramirez leaned forward.
“We need to be careful about how we proceed. Lily is young. Her statements need corroboration.”
“I believe her.”
“I’m not telling you not to.”
“I believe every word.”
Nora touched my arm.
“I know.”
My phone vibrated.
Daniel.
I ignored it.
It rang again.
Then a message appeared.
PLEASE DON’T LET THEM QUESTION HER ABOUT MIA.
My blood went cold.
I showed the phone to Ramirez.
His entire posture changed.
“Don’t respond.”
Another message appeared.
YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED.
Then another.
MARK WILL FIND OUT.
Ramirez took a screenshot.
“Where is Daniel now?”
“I don’t know.”
He stood.
“We’re going to find out.”
I finally went to Lily.
She was sitting at a small table drawing a house.
Not our house.
A red brick house.
Mark’s house.
She had drawn five stick figures standing outside.
One was separated from the others.
A girl.
Beside her, Lily had drawn a square.
“What’s that?” I asked softly.
She looked at me.
“Mia’s room.”
I sat beside her.
She added a tiny line beneath the square.
“A door?”
Lily shook her head.
“A hole.”
I stared at the drawing.
“What hole?”
She looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered, “Mia put things there.”
“What things?”
“Things Mark didn’t want people to see.”
My heart started pounding.
Before I could say anything else, Ramirez appeared in the doorway.
He had heard her.
He crouched.
“Lily, you don’t have to explain anything right now.”
She nodded.
Then she looked at me.
“Mom?”
It was the first time she had called me that without hesitation.
I almost cried.
“Yes?”
“Can we go home?”
I looked at Ramirez.
He shook his head slightly.
My chest tightened.
“What’s wrong?”
He stood.
“We found Daniel.”
“Where?”
May you like
Ramirez’s face was grim.
“Outside Mark’s current apartment.”
