Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR
Marisol met him on her porch.
She still wore her grocery store name tag.
Daniel had waved to her a hundred times. He knew she watered her flowers before sunrise and gave out full-size candy bars at Halloween.
He had never had a real conversation with her.
Now she looked like she wished she could disappear.
“About three weeks ago,” she said, “Lily came to my back door.”
Daniel stood very still.
“By herself?”
“She was crying. She said she couldn’t get back in.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I didn’t have your number. I was going to call someone, but Rachel came through the gate.”
“What did she say?”
“That Lily had slipped outside while she was taking out the trash.”
Marisol swallowed.
“Lily was saying she was sorry. Over and over.”
Daniel turned toward his own house.
From this angle, he could see the laundry room window.
“I asked whether I should wait until you got home,” Marisol continued. “Rachel said you were working overnight and that strange people frightened Lily.”
“You’re not a strange person.”
“I know.”
Her eyes filled.
“I let that woman make me feel like I was interfering.”
Daniel wanted somewhere to put his anger.
Marisol stood close enough.
But she wasn’t Rachel, and punishing her would not rewind three weeks.
“Will you tell the officer?”
“Yes. Everything.”
She gave him her number.
Before he left, she said, “There was something else. Owen came over the next afternoon.”
“What did he want?”
“To ask if my back door was always unlocked.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
His son had been looking for an escape route.
When he got back to the hotel, Owen was at a table with Marcus, carefully cutting a waffle into small squares for Lily.
Daniel pulled out the chair beside him.
“I can do that, buddy.”
“I’ve got it.”
“I know you do.”
He gently took the plastic knife.
“You don’t have to do it every time.”
Owen let go slowly.
After breakfast, Ms. Carter called to confirm the children’s appointments.
Daniel told her about the notebook, the neighbor, and the folder.
Then he called a family attorney recommended through his employee assistance program.
By late afternoon, his voicemail contained eleven messages from Evelyn.
He played the last one.
“Rachel says you found some papers. Before you do anything foolish, remember that she has records too.”
Daniel looked across the room.
Owen was making Lily laugh with a paper cup balanced on his head.
May you like
For the first time, Daniel understood that Rachel hadn’t only been hiding what she did.
She had been preparing someone else to take the blame.
