Chapter 8
The police moved us to a small house outside Charlotte.
No hotel.
No apartment complex.
No neighbors close enough to watch us come and go.
A patrol car stayed nearby.
Detective Ramirez installed additional cameras himself.
Lily watched him from the doorway.
“Will cameras stop Mark?”
“They help us see who comes near the house.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Ramirez looked at her.
“No. Cameras alone won’t stop him.”
I appreciated that he didn’t lie.
“What will?” Lily asked.
“The truth.”
She seemed unsure.
Ramirez crouched.
“And a lot of police officers.”
That got the smallest smile.
For the next two days, Mark disappeared.
Police searched his apartment.
Empty.
His car was found in a grocery store parking lot.
Also empty.
His phone had been turned off.
He had withdrawn cash.
“He’s running,” I said.
Ramirez didn’t disagree.
“Or hiding.”
Daniel remained in Charlotte.
His attorney had instructed him not to contact me.
For once, Daniel obeyed.
Ruth was released on bond.
She was ordered not to contact us.
I still checked every window.
Every lock.
Every sound.
Lily noticed.
One evening, she stood beside me while I checked the back door for the third time.
“You’re scared too.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
Adults had probably always pretended around her.
“Is that bad?”
“No.”
“Then how are you supposed to keep me safe?”
I knelt beside her.
“Being scared doesn’t mean I can’t protect you.”
She thought about it.
“What does it mean?”
“It means I understand there’s something worth protecting.”
She looked at me.
“Me?”
“You.”
Her lower lip trembled.
Then she hugged me.
The next morning, Detective Ramirez arrived with news.
“We found Mia.”
I nearly dropped my coffee.
“Where?”
“Richmond, Virginia.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s twenty now.”
Twenty.
I had pictured the nine-year-old from the notebook.
A child frozen in time.
“She aged out of foster care,” Ramirez continued. “She’s working at a nursing home.”
“Does she remember Lily?”
“We haven’t spoken to her yet.”
“Why?”
“She hung up when our detective identified himself.”
My heart sank.
“She’s scared.”
“Probably.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re connected to an active investigation.”
I understood.
I didn’t like it.
“Evan?”
“He’s agreed to speak to detectives.”
“Does he want to see her?”
Ramirez’s expression softened.
“Very much.”
That afternoon, Lily had therapy.
Dr. Harper used dolls to let her control a pretend house.
Lily put every doll in a different room.
Then she removed all the doors.
Dr. Harper didn’t comment.
Neither did I.
Afterward, while driving back, Lily asked, “Can we buy a house with no locks?”
“We can have locks on outside doors.”
“What about bedroom doors?”
“We don’t need locks.”
“Bathroom?”
I smiled gently.
“We probably want that one.”
She smiled back.
Progress came in strange shapes.
That evening, Ramirez called.
“Mia agreed to meet detectives.”
My heart jumped.
“What changed?”
“Evan spoke to her.”
I covered my mouth.
“They talked?”
“For the first time in eleven years.”
I began crying.
I didn’t even know them.
But I knew what Mark had stolen.
Years.
Birthdays.
Childhood.
The simple right of a brother and sister to know where the other was.
“How did it go?”
“Emotional.”
“Will she cooperate?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Thank God.”
Ramirez continued.
“She remembered Lily.”
My chest tightened.
“What did she say?”
“That Lily was the youngest child who tried to help her.”
I sat down.
“Help her how?”
“Lily would hide food for Mia when Mark restricted meals.”
I looked toward the living room.
Lily was arranging crackers into a neat row.
Of course she had.
A child afraid to open refrigerators had once stolen food to help another child survive punishment.
Ramirez lowered his voice.
“Mia also confirmed Daniel’s involvement.”
My relief disappeared.
“What did she say?”
“Daniel drove children to appointments. He supervised punishments. He repeatedly warned them not to make Mark angry.”
“Anything worse?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Tell me.”
“She says Daniel was present when Mark forced her to recant.”
“We knew that.”
“She says Daniel wrote the statement.”
My stomach turned.
“He wrote it?”
“According to Mia.”
Daniel had told me he only advised her to sign.
Another lie.
“Anything else?”
“Mia says Daniel promised Evan would stay with her if she signed.”
“But Evan was moved.”
“Yes.”
“So Daniel knew?”
“We don’t know when he learned.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He’ll say later.”
“Maybe.”
“Then he’ll say he was scared.”
Ramirez didn’t respond.
An hour later, Julia called.
“Daniel has offered to surrender his parental rights regarding Lily.”
I froze.
“What?”
“His lawyer contacted me.”
“Why?”
“He says he doesn’t want his legal status used to destabilize her placement.”
For the first time, Daniel had done something that could actually help Lily.
I didn’t know what to feel.
“Can he do that?”
“There’s a process.”
“Would it protect my adoption?”
“It could strengthen your petition to remain Lily’s sole legal parent.”
My eyes filled.
“Then do it.”
“I need to discuss the long-term implications with you.”
“I don’t care about Daniel’s implications.”
“I mean Lily’s.”
I took a breath.
“Okay.”
“If his rights are terminated or voluntarily relinquished, the court may still examine how the original adoption happened.”
“But he can’t demand custody.”
“Correct.”
My shoulders lowered.
“When?”
“We can begin immediately.”
That night, Lily was brushing her teeth when headlights appeared beyond the front curtains.
I froze.
A car had stopped at the end of the driveway.
The patrol car was temporarily around the corner changing shifts.
I grabbed my phone.
“Lily, bedroom.”
Her face changed.
She ran.
I called 911.
The vehicle remained motionless.
Then the driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
He began walking toward the house.
My heart pounded.
The porch light illuminated his face.
I had seen him in photographs.
Mark.
I backed away from the door.
The dispatcher told me officers were coming.
Mark stopped halfway up the driveway.
He stared directly at the house.
Then he raised both hands.
Empty.
“I just want to talk!”
I didn’t answer.
He moved closer.
“Daniel lied to you!”
I gripped the phone.
“Stay away!”
Mark smiled.
It was the first time I had heard his voice.
And somehow that smile frightened me more.
“You think Daniel was protecting me?”
He shouted.
“He wasn’t.”
Police sirens sounded in the distance.
Mark looked toward the road.
Then back at me.
Before he turned away, he yelled one sentence.
May you like
“Ask your husband why he chose Lily.”
Then he ran.
