Chapter 4
Daniel called me from the police station.
I didn’t answer.
He called again.
I still didn’t answer.
Then Nora told me he had not been arrested.
“Why not?”
“Because going to his brother’s apartment isn’t a crime.”
“He warned me Mark would find out, then immediately went to him.”
“I know.”
“Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“It means Detective Ramirez is paying attention.”
That wasn’t enough for me.
Nothing felt like enough anymore.
I took Lily to a hotel instead of returning home.
Only Nora and Detective Ramirez knew where we were.
I turned my phone off.
Lily sat on the bed with her stuffed rabbit pressed against her chest.
“Are we hiding?”
“For tonight.”
“From Daniel?”
I hesitated.
“From anyone who might scare you.”
She nodded as if hiding from family was normal.
That hurt more than I expected.
I ordered grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Lily stared at the food.
“You can eat whenever you want.”
“Even if I don’t finish?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I spill?”
“Yes.”
She looked at me.
“You won’t get mad?”
“I might get annoyed if you dump soup on my pillow on purpose.”
For the first time all day, the corner of her mouth lifted.
“I won’t.”
“Then we’re good.”
She ate half the sandwich.
Then she put the rest carefully on the plate.
“Can I save it?”
“You don’t have to.”
Her face changed.
I immediately corrected myself.
“But you can if you want.”
She wrapped it in a napkin.
I wanted to cry again.
Every small thing revealed another wound.
At nine, someone knocked.
I froze.
Lily did too.
“Who is it?”
“Nora.”
I checked through the peephole before opening the door.
Nora entered carrying a bag.
“Clothes,” she said. “Detective Ramirez had an officer collect some things from your house.”
“Was Daniel there?”
“No.”
Lily relaxed slightly.
Nora waited until Lily was watching television with headphones before speaking quietly.
“We’ve learned more.”
I sat across from her.
“Tell me.”
“Mark’s foster license was suspended after Mia’s complaint.”
“But the investigation disappeared.”
“It didn’t disappear exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“The county concluded there wasn’t enough evidence after Mia recanted.”
“Why did she recant?”
“We still don’t know.”
Nora opened her tablet.
“After the home closed, Mark moved to Atlanta. Daniel stayed in Charlotte.”
“And two years later Daniel and I adopted Lily.”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t an accident.”
“I don’t think it was.”
My stomach twisted.
“What are you saying?”
Nora looked uncomfortable.
“Daniel emailed the agency asking specifically whether children from Mark’s former placement home were still in care.”
I stared at her.
“He asked for them?”
“He asked generally.”
“When?”
“Two months before you submitted your adoption application.”
I stopped breathing.
“He planned this.”
“We don’t know why.”
“I do.”
My eyes moved to Lily.
“He wanted to control what she remembered.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“We need evidence.”
I lowered my voice.
“What innocent explanation is there?”
Nora didn’t answer.
My phone, which I had turned back on only for emergency calls, began vibrating.
Daniel.
Again.
This time Nora said, “Answer on speaker.”
I did.
“What?”
Daniel exhaled.
“Thank God.”
“Why were you at Mark’s apartment?”
Silence.
“I needed to warn him.”
“About what?”
“That the police might contact him.”
I nearly laughed.
“You warned the man Lily says abused foster children?”
“Because Mark panics.”
“Good.”
“You don’t understand what he’s capable of.”
That sentence chilled me.
“Then why did you bring Lily into our home?”
Daniel went quiet.
I gripped the phone.
“Answer me.”
“I thought I could make it right.”
“How?”
“By giving her a real family.”
“She already knew you.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You lied to the agency.”
“I know.”
“You let her spend six months terrified.”
His voice cracked.
“I thought she would forget.”
Lily removed one headphone.
I lowered the volume.
“You thought a child would forget being locked in a dark room?”
“I hated myself for what happened.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
Daniel suddenly sounded desperate.
“Mark controlled everything back then. He controlled me too.”
“You were an adult.”
“I know.”
“How old were you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
Any sympathy vanished.
“You were twenty-eight years old.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I didn’t hurt those kids the way Mark did.”
“You helped him.”
“I followed instructions.”
“That is helping him.”
Daniel breathed shakily.
“I was weak.”
I stared at Nora.
She was writing notes.
“Tell me about Mia.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Daniel.”
“Don’t.”
“What happened to Mia?”
“Please don’t ask me that.”
My whole body went cold.
“What happened?”
“She found records.”
“What records?”
“Mark kept files.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear.”
Lily stood.
She had heard enough.
She walked toward me.
Daniel continued.
“Mia found photographs and payment logs. Mark was taking extra money from families.”
“Families?”
“People who wanted certain reports changed. Foster parents. Relatives. I don’t know everyone.”
Nora’s eyes widened.
“Did Daniel just say reports were changed?” she whispered.
I nodded.
“Why did Mia recant?”
Daniel was crying now.
“Because Mark threatened her.”
“With what?”
“Separating her from her little brother.”
Lily gasped.
I looked at her.
Her face had gone white.
“Lily?”
She whispered, “Evan.”
Daniel heard her.
“Oh God.”
“Who is Evan?” I asked.
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mia’s brother.”
She looked at the photograph on the bedside table.
“Mark said he sent him away because Mia talked.”
Nora stood.
“Lily, sweetheart, you don’t have to—”
“He didn’t send him.”
Lily’s voice trembled.
“He hid him.”
The room went silent.
I crouched beside her.
“Where?”
She pointed to the drawing she had made earlier.
The square.
Mia’s room.
The little line beneath it.
“The hole.”
My skin went cold.
Daniel whispered through the phone.
“No.”
I lifted the phone.
“You know what she means.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
His breathing grew ragged.
“I never saw what was under that floor.”
“Then why are you scared?”
“Because Mark made me replace the boards.”
I stopped moving.
Nora grabbed her phone.
Daniel started talking faster.
“I thought it was plumbing damage. I swear.”
“When?”
“The night Evan disappeared.”
I looked at Lily.
She was crying silently.
I ended the call.
Nora was already speaking to Detective Ramirez.
Within minutes, the old brick house was being treated as a possible crime scene.
I sat beside Lily while officers prepared a search warrant.
Hours passed.
Near midnight, Detective Ramirez called.
His voice was tight.
“We got access to the property.”
“And?”
“We found the room.”
My hand shook.
“Was there a hole?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“What was inside?”
Ramirez paused.
“Not Evan.”
I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.
“But we found a metal box.”
I looked at Nora.
“What’s in it?”
“Photographs. Financial records. Copies of placement reports.”
He paused again.
“And a notebook.”
“Whose?”
“We think Mia wrote it.”
My heart pounded.
May you like
Ramirez’s next words changed everything.
“Daniel’s name appears on almost every page.”
