Chapter 11 - WHAT LILY KNEW
Lily stood in the kitchen doorway on the recording.
Small.
Barefoot.
Holding her stuffed rabbit.
Evelyn turned.
For one second, neither moved.
Then Evelyn smiled.
“What are you doing awake?”
Lily whispered, “Who were you talking to?”
“No one.”
“You said freezer.”
Evelyn walked toward her.
The recording had no perfect view of her face.
But her voice changed.
Sweet.
Dangerously sweet.
“Sometimes adults say things children don’t understand.”
“I’m telling Mommy.”
Evelyn crouched.
“No, sweetheart.”
Lily backed away.
Evelyn reached for her.
The clip ended.
Taylor covered her face.
“That was the night Lily started having nightmares.”
I remembered.
She had climbed into our bed at two in the morning.
I had carried her back to her room.
Told her everything was okay.
Everything had not been okay.
We returned to the hospital.
Lily was coloring when I entered.
I sat beside her.
“Sweetheart?”
She looked up.
“Do you remember hearing Grandma talking in the kitchen?”
Her crayon stopped.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Lily looked toward Taylor.
“You won’t be mad?”
Taylor knelt beside her.
“Never.”
Lily swallowed.
“She said she needed Daddy gone.”
My chest tightened.
“What else?”
“She said Uncle Jason was stupid.”
Despite everything, Taylor almost laughed.
“What else?”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“She said after Daddy was gone, Mommy would lose me too.”
Taylor’s face collapsed.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Grandma said nobody believes kids.”
That sentence hurt more than anything else.
I held her.
“I believe you.”
She buried her face against me.
“Always.”
Then she whispered into my shirt.
“I hid something.”
I pulled back.
“What?”
“Grandma had papers.”
“What papers?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did you hide them?”
Lily looked nervous.
“In my dollhouse.”
Taylor and I stared at each other.
Police searched Lily’s room.
Inside the tiny wooden dollhouse, beneath the miniature bed, they found three folded pages.
A contract.
Richard’s name.
Evelyn’s signature.
Northstar Development.
And one handwritten note.
MAKE SURE MARK IS HOME WHEN IT HAPPENS.
My stomach dropped.
The freezer incident had been timed.
They wanted me to discover Lily.
Not too early.
Not too late.
Just late enough for her to be dangerously cold.
Then they planned to blame me.
But something had gone wrong.
Evelyn had left the latch too close to locking.
Lily had nearly died.
Park examined the note.
“This changes the case.”
“How?”
“This wasn’t reckless punishment anymore.”
She looked at me.
“This was planned.”
Taylor whispered, “Attempted murder?”
Park didn’t answer immediately.
Then her phone rang.
She listened.
Her face tightened.
“What happened?” I asked.
She lowered the phone.
“Evelyn is awake.”
“And?”
“She wants to make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
Park looked directly at me.
“She says she’ll testify against Richard.”
I felt no relief.
Because Park wasn’t finished.
“But she wants something in return.”
May you like
“What?”
“To see Lily.”
