Chapter 3 - Taylor's First Lie
Taylor got out of her SUV carrying a grocery bag and stopped when she saw me holding Lily.
"Ben?"
Her eyes moved to the open freezer.
Evelyn spoke first.
"He's making a scene."
"A scene?" I said. "Lily was inside the freezer."
Taylor's grocery bag slipped an inch in her hand.
That was all.
No scream. No rush toward our daughter.
Just a tiny physical reaction she corrected immediately.
"What do you mean, inside?"
"Curled up between frozen food."
Taylor looked at her mother.
"Mom?"
Evelyn sighed. "She was acting out."
"You knew?" I asked Taylor.
"I just got here."
"That's not what I asked."
Lily whispered, "Mom knew Grandma was mad."
Taylor's face tightened.
"Sweetheart, you're freezing. Let's get you inside."
"No," Lily said.
It was a small word, but it landed like a brick.
Taylor blinked.
"Lily."
"I want Dad."
I had never seen our daughter afraid of her mother before.
I called 911.
Taylor started talking over me.
"Ben, wait. We can handle this."
"We are handling it."
"You don't need police at the house."
"Our child was trapped in a freezer."
"You're going to make this worse for her."
I stared at the woman I'd been married to for eleven years and realized she was more worried about a patrol car in the driveway than Lily's shaking hands.
The dispatcher told me officers and paramedics were on the way.
Taylor's eyes filled with anger.
"You always do this."
"Do what?"
"Turn everything into a war."
"Your mother put Lily in a freezer."
"She said it wasn't locked."
"Stop saying that like it matters."
Evelyn folded her arms.
"She could have pushed it open if she'd tried hard enough."
Lily began crying.
Not loudly.
That was worse.
I carried her to my truck and wrapped her in a blanket from the back seat.
Taylor followed.
"Ben, listen to me."
"No. You listen. I'm going to the hospital with her."
"You can't just take her. Tonight is my custody night."
I stared at her.
"Say that again."
She didn't.
Sirens approached from the end of the street.
Lily reached inside the pocket of her faded jeans and pulled out something small.
A brass key.
"Daddy," she whispered, pressing it into my palm. "Grandma was looking for this."
I looked at the key.
A strip of masking tape was wrapped around it.
May you like
Three words were written in Taylor's handwriting.
OLD PHONE - DESK.
