Chapter 12 - A Story They Could Sell
By sunset, a local news website carried a headline asking whether prominent builder Daniel Mercer had hidden a child inside his home.
The story included his name, his address and a photograph of the gray van.
"They've got it backward," Rachel said, furious.
"Somebody wants them to."
Daniel called his employees and told them to refer all questions to his lawyer. He called Lily's school and asked that no one other than Rachel or himself be permitted to collect her.
Messages poured into Daniel's phone from people he hadn't spoken to in years. A few asked whether Lily was safe. Others asked whether the photograph circulating online was really his house. One man offered to manage the scandal for a fee. Daniel switched the phone to silent and sat beside Rachel, who was sorting school forms. She had written Lily's name in large letters at the top of each page. The normality of it made him ache. Tomorrow Lily still needed breakfast and clean clothes. She still needed someone to read her the chapter book about a fox searching for its family. The news could flatten their lives into a headline, but they still had to live every hour inside it.
At St. Anne's, Nora watched the news coverage with a bitter expression.
"This is how Vanessa works," she said. "She creates enough confusion that everyone stops asking the first question."
"Why was Ben in my home?"
"Because it ties you to the crime. If anything went wrong, she could claim you were involved."
Daniel sat down heavily. "I almost proposed to her."
"That doesn't mean you chose what she did. It means she fooled you."
Maya arrived with news. The vehicle's driver had used an employee badge belonging to Harbor House. Security footage showed him purchasing fuel two hours earlier, but the camera angle missed his face.
"We're checking financial connections," she said. "And we need to talk about the trust papers."
"Grace has them."
"Good. Because somebody just filed a complaint claiming you're mentally unfit to control your business."
May you like
Daniel stared at her.
The complainant, Maya explained, was Vanessa Hale.
