Chapter 4 - THE SECOND CAR
Gabriel entered the room.
Lily immediately stopped talking.
Claire turned.
“Out.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“No.”
“You’re scaring her.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“And right now she associates you with what happened that night.”
Pain flashed across his face.
He hid it quickly.
Claire lowered her voice.
“Please.”
Gabriel looked at Lily.
Then walked backward into the hall.
The door remained open.
Claire turned toward the child.
“The man with the gold ring?”
Lily rubbed her wrist.
“He had a lion.”
“A lion?”
“Here.”
She pointed at her finger.
A ring.
Claire nodded.
“Okay.”
“He was mad.”
“At you?”
Lily shook her head.
“At the lady.”
“What lady?”
“She smelled like flowers.”
“Do you know her name?”
Lily’s face shut down.
Claire immediately changed course.
“That’s okay.”
Lily looked at the water glass on the nightstand.
Claire saw it.
She didn’t move.
Didn’t offer it.
Didn’t ask.
A minute passed.
Then Lily whispered, “Mommy said don’t drink.”
Claire felt the room tighten around her.
“Did someone give you something to drink?”
The girl nodded.
“Pink juice.”
“And your mom told you not to?”
Lily nodded again.
“When?”
“Before.”
Before the shooting.
Claire’s stomach turned.
Elena knew something.
“Did she tell you why?”
Lily looked toward the hall.
“Bad medicine.”
Gabriel heard it.
Claire knew because she saw his reflection in the window.
He looked like someone had struck him.
Lily continued.
“The flower lady gave me pink juice in the other car.”
“You didn’t drink it?”
“No.”
“She got mad?”
Lily nodded.
“She called somebody.”
“What did she say?”
The child squeezed her eyes shut.
Claire waited.
Finally Lily whispered, “She said, ‘Kane wants the girl breathing.’”
A glass shattered in the hallway.
Gabriel had dropped it.
Claire looked toward him.
“Who is Kane?”
Vincent answered from behind Gabriel.
“Marcus Kane.”
The name meant nothing to Claire.
Gabriel’s expression said it meant everything.
“My father’s former partner.”
“Former?”
“He tried to kill me six years ago.”
Claire stared at him.
“And someone delivered your daughter to him?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Dr. Price entered quietly.
“We should stop. Her heart rate is climbing.”
Claire nodded.
She turned to Lily.
“No more questions.”
The girl surprised everyone.
She reached for the water glass.
Her fingers shook.
Claire held her breath.
Lily lifted it.
One sip.
Tiny.
Barely anything.
Gabriel covered his mouth.
The most feared man in the room looked close to crying.
Then Lily lowered the glass and pointed at Claire.
“She sang the song too.”
Claire frowned.
“The flower lady?”
Lily nodded.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Who knew that lullaby?”
Claire started to answer.
May you like
Then Lily said something that changed the investigation completely.
“Daddy’s Aunt Sofia taught her.”
