Chapter 12 - The Story She Practiced
We didn’t question Lily ourselves.
I wanted to.
Every part of me wanted to ask who, when, how many times.
Ruiz arranged for someone trained to talk with children.
Hannah and I waited outside the interview room while Owen brought coffees nobody drank.
Through the closed door, I occasionally heard Lily’s voice.
Too cheerful.
The voice she used when she wanted adults to think she was fine.
Afterward, she came out holding a small stuffed rabbit.
“They said I could keep him.”
Hannah knelt and opened her arms.
Lily walked into them.
Ruiz waited until Owen had taken her down the hall.
“Vanessa rehearsed a story with her.”
My hands curled.
“What story?”
“That Hannah had hurt her before she left. That Lily was afraid of her. That you told Vanessa to keep Hannah away.”
Hannah gripped the chair behind her.
Lily had been five when her mother disappeared.
Young enough to be told that memories were dreams.
Young enough to be praised for repeating the right words.
“She says she never believed it,” Ruiz continued. “But Vanessa told her you’d be in trouble if she didn’t help.”
I stared at the interview-room door.
“She made my daughter protect her.”
“Yes.”
Hannah sat down slowly.
“Did Lily think I didn’t come back because she said something?”
Ruiz’s expression softened.
“That’s something her therapist can help her work through.”
It was enough of an answer.
At the rental that night, Lily asked whether she could sleep with the light on.
“Yes,” Hannah said.
“And the door open?”
“Yes.”
“And if I wake up?”
“I’ll be right down the hall.”
Lily caught her hand.
“You won’t leave?”
Hannah sat on the bed.
“I’m planning to be here in the morning.”
It wasn’t the huge promise I expected.
It was something she could give honestly.
Lily nodded.
After she fell asleep, Hannah found me in the kitchen.
“I need you to hear this.”
I put down my glass.
“I don’t know if we’re still married in the way you mean.”
“I understand.”
“No. Listen.”
I did.
“I want Lily. I want my name back. I want to choose where I go and when I sleep.”
Her voice shook, but she didn’t stop.
“I can’t become your wife again just because somebody opened a door.”
I nodded.
“You don’t owe me that.”
For the first time since the hospital, she looked a little less guarded.
Then my phone rang.
Ruiz.
“The phone Hannah took has been processed.”
May you like
I put it on speaker.
“There’s a recording you both need to hear.”
