Chapter 3 - The Wrong Kind of Silence
Vanessa's face went pale. "That's ridiculous."
Daniel knelt in front of Lily. "Tell me exactly what you saw. No guessing."
"The lady came through the gate. Vanessa got mad. They talked by the chairs. I was behind the hedge because I lost my bracelet. Then Vanessa grabbed her."
"And the button?"
"It fell when the lady tried to get away."
Rachel had always liked Lily better than Vanessa, and she had never tried to disguise it. The first time Vanessa visited for dinner, she'd moved Emily's framed wedding photograph off the mantel before dessert. When Rachel quietly returned it, Vanessa laughed and called her territorial. Daniel dismissed the moment as awkwardness. There had been other moments: Lily suddenly refusing sleepovers, a ripped drawing in the trash, and a birthday party invitation that vanished before it reached Daniel. Vanessa had an explanation for each one. Now Rachel stood in the kitchen doorway, listening without interrupting while Lily described the hedge. Daniel wondered how many times his daughter had tried to tell him something in smaller words, only for him to translate her fear into jealousy.
Vanessa wore a sleeveless red gown, not a shirt with silver buttons. Daniel noticed that immediately. So did Detective Ortiz.
"Who was wearing blue?" Maya asked.
"The lady had a blue jacket," Lily said. "But another person was there. I saw shoes under the hedge. Black shoes."
Vanessa exhaled as though a door had opened. "There. She didn't even see who did what."
"I saw you push," Lily answered, voice small but steady.
Daniel took his daughter into the kitchen and locked the garden door. He made her hot chocolate even though it was warm outside. She kept both hands wrapped around the mug without drinking.
"Did I ruin your proposal?" she asked.
He sat across from her. "You helped me save someone. That's what matters."
"She said you'd send me away."
"Who did?"
Lily looked down.
"Vanessa," Daniel said.
A tear fell into the mug.
For months he'd explained away the strained dinners, the missing photographs of Lily's mother, the sudden nightmares. Vanessa had told him that Lily struggled with change. He'd wanted that explanation to be true.
His phone buzzed. A message from Vanessa: We should speak privately before the detective twists this.
A second message appeared from an unknown number.
YOUR DAUGHTER ISN'T THE FIRST CHILD SHE'S THREATENED.
May you like
Attached was a photograph of Vanessa standing beside a boy in a hospital hallway.
Across the bottom someone had written: ASK ABOUT BEN.
