Chapter 3 - SOMEONE WANTED THE CHILD
“No.”
Daniel lunged forward.
Three deputies grabbed him.
Lily began sobbing.
“No! Daddy! Daddy!”
The sound tore through Margaret.
The CPS worker backed away.
“Sir, you need to calm down.”
“My daughter is not going anywhere with you!”
“Daniel,” Margaret said.
He whipped toward her.
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down.”
Margaret held his stare.
“I wasn’t going to.”
That stopped him.
Margaret turned to the CPS worker.
“Who filed the complaint?”
“That information is confidential.”
“Was it filed today?”
The woman hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Before or after Mr. Reed’s arrest?”
“I’m not authorized to discuss—”
Margaret slammed her palm against the bench.
“Was my granddaughter reported as endangered before her father was arrested?”
The room went silent.
The woman looked uncomfortable.
“No.”
Margaret looked at Grant.
He lifted both hands.
“Don’t look at me.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Who else knew where she was?”
Grant’s mouth tightened.
Margaret spoke slowly.
“Until a proper emergency placement hearing is held, where are you taking Lily?”
“To the county children’s center.”
“No relatives?”
“None listed.”
Margaret felt the insult in those words.
None listed.
Because Daniel had erased her.
And she had given him every reason to.
“I’m her grandmother.”
Daniel snapped, “No.”
Margaret looked at him.
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Lily stared between them.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“A county facility tonight or my house tonight. Those are the choices in front of us.”
Daniel’s jaw flexed.
He looked down at Lily.
She was trembling.
Finally he whispered, “Your house.”
Grant stepped forward.
“That may not be appropriate.”
Margaret turned on him.
“You seem very interested in where this child sleeps tonight.”
“I’m concerned.”
“You barely know her.”
Grant said nothing.
That silence said too much.
Two hours later, Margaret sat in the back of a black town car with Lily beside her.
Lily had cried until she had nothing left.
She held the blue mitten against her chest.
Margaret looked at it.
“Your father kept that all these years?”
Lily nodded.
“He said it was the last good thing from when he was little.”
Margaret looked out the window.
That hurt more than she expected.
Her driver pulled into the parking lot of the Lakeside Motor Inn.
Police tape fluttered outside Room 18.
Margaret’s stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
A patrol officer approached.
“Judge Hale?”
“Yes.”
“Someone broke into this room about forty minutes ago.”
Lily grabbed Margaret’s sleeve.
“That’s ours.”
The door had been smashed inward.
Drawers were dumped across the floor.
Mattress cut open.
Clothes scattered.
Lily’s stuffed rabbit lay near the bathroom with its head ripped open.
Margaret’s face hardened.
This wasn’t robbery.
This was searching.
“What was stolen?” the officer asked.
Lily suddenly gasped.
She ran toward the bed.
Margaret followed.
A small red backpack had been emptied across the blanket.
Coloring books.
Socks.
A toothbrush.
One empty plastic bag.
Lily looked up.
Her face went white.
“My mitten.”
Margaret’s heart stopped.
“The other blue mitten?”
Lily nodded.
Then a voice came from the open doorway.
“Actually…”
Everyone turned.
The motel manager stood there holding an envelope.
“A man left this for the little girl about ten minutes before the break-in.”
Margaret opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Emily Reed standing beside a silver car.
May you like
On the back, someone had written five words in black ink.
SHE KNEW WHAT MARGARET DID.
