Chapter 7 - WHAT LILY SAW
Lily was taken to a private hospital under police guard.
She had been drugged.
The doctor said the dose was strong enough to keep an adult unconscious for hours.
For a seven-year-old child, it could have stopped her breathing.
Grant stood beside her bed all night.
He held her hand without letting go.
I sat near the window.
My mother was still missing.
Every minute that passed pushed her closer to a medical crisis.
At three in the morning, Lily opened her eyes.
Grant leaned forward.
“Sweetheart?”
Lily looked around the room.
Then she saw me.
“Did you find your mommy?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
She looked at Grant.
“Daddy, Uncle Malcolm is bad.”
Grant’s eyes filled with pain.
“I know.”
“No.”
Lily shook her head.
“He was there when Mommy crashed.”
Grant became completely still.
“Tell me what you remember.”
Lily closed her eyes.
Her voice came slowly.
“Mommy was sleepy in the car.”
“She kept touching her face.”
“She said the brakes felt strange.”
Grant squeezed her hand.
“What happened next?”
“A black car followed us.”
“Who was driving it?”
“Renata.”
My skin prickled.
“Was she alone?”
Lily nodded.
“Uncle Malcolm was next to her.”
Grant looked toward the door.
Nadia was recording everything with the detective’s permission.
Lily continued.
“Mommy tried to stop.”
“The car went too fast.”
“We hit the silver fence.”
“The car turned over.”
Tears rolled down her face.
Grant kissed her hand.
“You don’t have to continue.”
“Yes, I do.”
Her voice became stronger.
“I stayed quiet too long.”
Grant lowered his head.
Lily stared at the ceiling.
“Mommy was hurt.”
“She told me to crawl out.”
“I got through the broken window.”
“Renata came down the hill.”
Grant’s breathing changed.
“Did she help Claire?”
Lily shook her head.
“She took Mommy’s phone.”
“She took the yellow rabbit.”
“What did Malcolm do?”
“He looked inside the car.”
“Mommy was still awake.”
“He said, ‘You should have signed the papers.’”
Grant closed his eyes.
Lily began crying.
“I asked them to help her.”
“What did they say?” I whispered.
“Renata told me Mommy was already gone.”
“She wasn’t.”
Lily’s voice broke.
“I heard Mommy calling me.”
Grant turned away.
His shoulders shook.
Lily kept speaking.
“Renata held my face.”
“She said if I told anyone, Daddy’s car would break too.”
“That’s why you stopped talking?” I asked.
Lily nodded.
“I thought words killed people.”
Grant returned to her bedside.
He wrapped both arms around her.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Your words are saving us.”
The hospital door opened.
Detective Mara Ellis entered.
She carried a sealed envelope.
“We located Adrian Cole.”
Grant stood.
“Where?”
“In a motel outside Albany.”
“Did you arrest him?”
“He was dead when officers arrived.”
The room went silent.
Mara placed the envelope on the table.
“We found this beside him.”
Grant opened it.
Inside was a photograph of my mother.
She sat in a metal chair inside an abandoned factory.
Behind her was a large Callahan Industrial logo.
A digital clock showed less than six hours.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
May you like
ONE WITNESS IS ALREADY SILENT.
THE OTHER DIES AT TEN.
