Three Weeks After the Divorce, He Found His Daughter Trapped in a Freezer—Then She Whispered Who Put Her There

The phone still worked.

Barely.

Officer Keller wouldn't let us touch it, but he asked Taylor for the passcode.

She gave it to him.

"There are recordings on there," she said.

"Cloud backup?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

Keller asked, "Did you throw the phone into the drain?"

"No."

"Did your mother know where it was?"

Taylor looked at me, then back at him.

"Yes."

The next morning, after Lily was medically cleared, a child-services investigator met us at the hospital. Her name was Dana Ruiz, and she had the calm expression of someone who had heard every possible lie.

She interviewed Lily without me or Taylor in the room.

That hour felt like a year.

When Dana came back, she asked Taylor a simple question.

"How often does your mother provide childcare?"

Taylor said, "A few times a week."

"How often is she alone with Lily?"

"I don't know."

"You do know."

Taylor's shoulders dropped.

"Most afternoons."

Dana wrote something down.

Then she looked at me.

"Mr. Reed, until we complete an emergency review, Lily will stay with you."

Taylor's head snapped up.

"What?"

"This is temporary."

"You can't just take my child away."

Dana's voice stayed flat.

"Your child was found inside a chest freezer while under the supervision of your mother. She has also described other incidents we need to investigate."

I felt sick.

"What other incidents?"

Dana didn't answer me in front of Lily.

That scared me more than if she had.

Later, in the parking garage, Taylor grabbed my sleeve.

"Ben, please."

"Don't."

"I didn't know it had gone this far."

"You set up a camera."

"I thought Mom was yelling too much. I thought she was being strict."

"What did you see?"

Taylor looked around, as if Evelyn might be standing behind a concrete pillar.