Chapter 3 - THE MISSING ALBUM
Daniel searched Lily’s shelves, her closet, and the drawer beneath her bed.
“Are you looking for my pictures?” Lily asked from the doorway.
“Have you seen them?”
“Mom took the album last night. She said she wanted a photo for the party.”
“Where did she put it?”
Lily shook her head.
Daniel found Caroline in the dining room, checking flower samples with an event planner on speakerphone.
“Where’s Lily’s album?”
Caroline muted the call. “Good morning to you, too.”
“Lily said you took it.”
“I did. There’s a picture of her and your dad I want on the birthday table.”
“Can I have it back?”
Caroline studied his face. “After I’m done.”
Daniel held out his hand. She smiled, reached into her tote, and gave him the album.
He went upstairs and opened it. The resolution was still tucked inside the back cover.
Caroline had handed it over without a flicker of worry. Maybe she hadn’t found it. Maybe she wanted him to think she hadn’t.
He drove the original to Naomi’s office that afternoon.
Naomi had news. Victor Ames had scheduled an emergency board meeting for Monday morning, two days after Lily’s party. The agenda listed “leadership continuity.”
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked.
“It means we need to know who called the meeting and why.”
“And my signature?”
“The company secretary says Victor delivered the resolution himself.”
Daniel called Victor from Naomi’s parking lot. Victor let it ring out.
At home, Lily met him by the front door.
“Mom said you’re mad at her,” she said.
“What did she tell you?”
“That grown-ups have secrets. She said I should ask you about the blue folder.”
Daniel knelt. “Did she ask you to look for it?”
Lily nodded. “I said I didn’t know where it was.”
“You did the right thing.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“Never.”
That night, Daniel carried her photo album back to her room. Lily was brushing her teeth, so he set it on the bed. A small folded note slipped out from between the pages.
It was covered in Lily’s careful handwriting.
MOM SAID IF DAD FINDS OUT ABOUT MONDAY, WE LOSE THE HOUSE.
May you like
At the bottom, she had added one more line.
I HEARD HER SAY SHE ONLY NEEDS HIM TO LOOK CRAZY.
