Chương 5
“I never wanted that.”
“I know.”
She turned around.
“But you acted like everything I did was a test.”
Graham opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
Because he remembered.
The college application.
The job she chose.
The man she married.
Every moment when he believed he was offering guidance.
Every moment she experienced as judgment.
The baby began crying from the other room.
The sound broke the tension.
Claire walked over first.
Graham followed.
They stood together beside Lily’s crib.
Neither of them touched her immediately.
It was strange how two people who had once known everything about each other could become uncertain in the same room.
“She’s probably hungry,” Claire said.
Graham nodded.
“I’ll get the bottle.”
“You know where it is?”
“Yes.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I live here.”
“That doesn’t mean you know where everything is.”
“I have lived here longer than anyone.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
For a second, they looked at each other.
Then Claire smiled slightly.
And Graham almost did.
The moment disappeared when his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered immediately.
“Hello?”
A woman’s voice came through.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
“Is this Graham Vale?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Rebecca Holt.”
Graham straightened.
“Are you the woman who called child services?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Claire looked at him.
Graham turned away slightly.
“What do you want?”
“I need to know if Lily is still with you.”
The way she said the name bothered him.
Not because she knew it.
Because she sounded like someone who had been holding back tears for too long.
“Why?”
Another pause.
Then Rebecca said, “Because if the wrong people find her, they’ll take her before anyone can stop them.”
Graham’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Who are you talking about?”
“I can’t explain this over the phone.”
“Then explain it somewhere else.”
“I tried.”
“What does that mean?”
The woman’s breathing changed.
Like she was deciding whether to trust him.
“I went to the police first.”
“And?”
“They told me I needed proof.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“It would be.”
Her voice became quieter.
“If I had proof that wasn’t already missing.”
Graham looked toward Lily.
Claire stepped closer.
“What is this about?” she whispered.
Rebecca continued.
“I need to see the baby.”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Graham surprised himself.
Rebecca went silent.
“You don’t know me,” she said.
“That’s exactly why.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
Her voice cracked slightly.
“My daughter said that too.”
Graham froze.
“What?”
“Before she disappeared.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Claire stared at him.
Graham looked at the phone.
“Your daughter?”
Rebecca took a breath.
“Lily’s mother.”
The baby cried softly from the other room.
And for the first time since she arrived, Graham felt the weight of another person’s grief enter his house.
Graham did not answer.
For several seconds, he stood there with the phone pressed against his ear while the baby’s cry filled the room behind him.
The sound made Rebecca’s silence feel heavier.
“Mr. Vale?”
He looked toward Claire.
She was watching him carefully, trying to understand what had changed.
“Who is your daughter?” Graham asked.
Rebecca breathed in slowly.
“Her name was Emily.”
The name meant nothing to him.
But the way Rebecca said it did.
It carried the weight of someone who had repeated it alone too many times.
“What happened to her?”
“I don’t know.”
Graham frowned.
“You don’t know?”
“She stopped answering my calls three weeks ago.”
Claire moved closer.
Graham lowered the phone slightly.
“Three weeks?”
Rebecca heard her.
“Is someone there with you?”
“My daughter.”
There was a pause.
“Claire?”
Graham looked at her.
“How do you know her name?”
“I don’t.”
Rebecca sounded confused.
“I heard you say it.”
Graham felt his stomach tighten.
He had not realized he said it aloud.
“What happened to Emily?” he asked again.
“I found out she had a baby.”
“When?”
“About two weeks ago.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
Her voice became strained.
“That’s why I called.”
Graham walked away from the kitchen table.
The old floorboards creaked beneath his feet.
“Start over.”
Rebecca was quiet.
Then she said, “My daughter was twenty-eight.”
Graham listened.
“She had problems.”
“What kind?”
“The kind people don’t like talking about.”
She stopped.
“I’m not saying she was perfect.”
“No one is.”
“She made mistakes.”
The words sounded practiced.
Like she had spent time defending Emily to people who had already judged her.
“But she loved that baby.”
Graham looked back at Lily.
The child was still crying.
Claire picked her up.
“She was scared,” Rebecca continued.
“Of what?”
“Of someone finding out.”
“Finding out what?”
“I don’t know everything.”
Graham’s patience thinned.
“Then why are you calling me?”
“Because she left a note.”
His grip tightened.
“What note?”
“She said if anything happened, I should find the person named in it.”
“Who?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Graham Vale.”
The room went still.
Claire’s face changed.
Graham stared at the wall.
“What?”
“That’s why I called you.”
“I don’t know your daughter.”
“I believe you.”
“Then why would she write my name?”
“I don’t know.”
For the first time, Rebecca sounded frightened rather than desperate.
“But I think someone else does.”
Graham looked at Claire.
Neither of them spoke.
The baby’s crying softened as Claire walked slowly around the living room.
“Where is this note?” Graham asked.
“I don’t have it.”
“What do you mean you don’t have it?”
“I found it after I went to Emily’s apartment.”
“And?”
“And someone had already been there.”
Graham’s face hardened.
“Someone broke in?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said someone had been there.”
“Her things were moved.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“I know.”
Rebecca’s voice dropped.
“But the note was gone.”
Graham looked toward the front door.
For the first time, the empty porch bothered him.
Not because someone had left Lily there.
Because someone had chosen his house.
“Why me?” he asked.
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
May you like
“I can’t.”
“Then maybe we need to find out why.”
