Chapter 6 - The Flowers Were an Apology
The photographer had been testing his camera while Rose waited in the hall.
He'd caught twelve seconds before asking her to smile.
Grant pressed play.
Rose straightened the ribbon around the stems.
Her white shoes pointed inward.
“These are for you,” she whispered to the closed door.
“I'm sorry I keep needing things.”
She stopped, shook her head, and tried again.
“I can be easy. I promise.”
Grant turned off the tablet.
For a moment, the only sound in the hallway was a cart rattling past.
Leah had tears on her face.
“She was practicing an apology.”
“For being four.”
He sent the original file to Ruiz through the contact method she'd provided.
Then he went into a bathroom, locked a stall, and cried with both hands pressed against his mouth.
When he returned, Rose was awake.
“Where'd you go?”
“Bathroom.”
“Did you get tired of me?”
He sat down immediately.
“No. And if I leave the room again, I'll tell you where I'm going.”
She looked at his red eyes.
“Did someone be mean?”
“I'm sad because you got hurt.”
“Sorry.”
“You don't have to be sorry for that.”
She didn't answer.
He could see she didn't quite believe him.
The next morning, Celia Brooks gave police her account.
Ruiz later shared the part Grant needed to know.
While delivering extra ribbon, Celia had heard a child crying inside the suite.
She'd knocked.
Vanessa had opened the main door only a few inches.
“Family business,” she'd said.
Celia had walked to the service desk and asked someone to check.
By the time an employee reached the suite, Grant was already there.
“She didn't witness the fall,” Ruiz cautioned.
“But she heard something before she knocked.”
Grant waited.
“A woman saying, 'Stop calling me that. I'm not your mother.'”
He looked through the window at Rose sleeping with Nora beside her.
The detective continued.
“We're still locating everyone who was nearby. Please don't contact them yourself.”
“I won't.”
That afternoon, an unfamiliar number sent him a photograph.
It showed a sheet of paper divided into boxes with colored stars.
At the top, in Vanessa's handwriting, were two words.
GOOD DAUGHTER.
May you like
Below it came a message from the housekeeper.
I found this behind Rose's bedroom door. I think you need to see the rules.
