Chương 10
Ortiz folded her hands.
“There’s another reason I asked you here.”
Daniel waited.
“Vivienne claims the flare was not intended to hurt Lily.”
He laughed.
Ortiz ignored it.
“She says she wanted Lily frightened enough to go with her voluntarily.”
“That’s supposed to help?”
“No.”
“Why the flare?”
“She says you told her police would be waiting at the harbor and that you had already distributed proof of her identity.”
“I did.”
“She believed the plan was collapsing.”
“What plan?”
“To take Lily from the vessel by tender before it returned.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“She admits that?”
“She admits preparing for it. She claims she never decided whether she would actually do it.”
“That’s nonsense.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“People tell themselves strange things about decisions they’ve already prepared to make.”
Daniel looked down at the full photograph.
“What did she want with Lily?”
Ortiz was quiet.
“Money?”
“That appears to have been part of it.”
“Part?”
“She also claims Amelia made her promise that if anything happened, she would keep Lily away from you.”
Daniel looked up.
“No.”
“I’m telling you her claim.”
“Amelia told her to stay out.”
“In that note, yes.”
“So she’s lying.”
“Possibly.”
“No. Definitely.”
Ortiz slid a photocopy across the table.
It was older, creased, written on lined paper.
Daniel recognized Amelia’s handwriting.
If I screw this up and something happens, don’t let him turn her into a little version of himself.
That was all.
No date.
No context.
Daniel stared at it.
“Where did this come from?”
“Vivienne kept it.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“It could mean anything.”
“Yes.”
“She might be talking about divorce.”
“Yes.”
“Something happening could mean court.”
“Yes.”
“Not death.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s voice rose.
“Then why show it to me?”
“Because it helps explain what Vivienne may have told herself.”
He went quiet.
Ortiz continued.
“She had a financial motive. She also appears to have built a moral story around herself.”
“A moral story.”
“She believes Amelia chose her.”
“She impersonated her.”
“Yes.”
“She terrified my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“She stole her passport.”
“Yes.”
“She was going to take her onto the ocean in a tender.”
“Yes.”
Daniel leaned back.
“And she thinks she’s the good person.”
Ortiz looked tired.
“Most people who cause serious harm have an explanation they can live with.”
Daniel looked at the note again.
Don’t let him turn her into a little version of himself.
He almost asked what was wrong with being like him.
Then he thought about the money transfer.
The bluff.
The secrecy.
The hours he spent trying to control the information rather than protecting his daughter.
He put the paper down.
“What happens now?”
“That depends on prosecutors, counsel, the evidence, and eventually a court.”
“I mean with Lily.”
Ortiz’s expression softened slightly.
“That part is yours.”
“No. I mean, is someone going to question whether she’s safe with me?”
Ortiz did not answer quickly.
His stomach dropped.
“Because I let Vivienne into the house.”
“You did.”
“I believed she was Amelia.”
“You had reasons.”
“I ignored reasons not to.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked away.
Ortiz said, “No one I’ve spoken to believes you intended harm to your daughter.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
“Could I lose her?”
“I’m not going to speculate.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You and every lawyer in America.”
“I’m a detective.”
“Even worse.”
For the first time, Ortiz smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
“Mr. Hart, your worst mistake right now would be trying to manufacture certainty again.”
Daniel looked at the full photograph.
Four people.
One baby.
Two women with the same face.
One man who had not understood his own marriage.
He folded his hands.
“I’m going to tell Lily.”
Ortiz studied him.
“What?”
“About Amelia leaving.”
“Why?”
“Because she’ll find out eventually.”
“She’s six.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to give her every adult detail.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Daniel almost became defensive.
Then stopped.
“No,” he said. “Probably not.”
That evening he sat with Lily on the back steps.
She wore pajamas covered in tiny strawberries.
Her hair was wet from the bath.
Daniel had the full photograph in a plain envelope.
He did not give it to her immediately.
“Mom had a sister,” he said.
Lily looked at him.
“I know.”
“She knew her.”
“You said she didn’t.”
“I was wrong.”
Lily sighed.
“You say that a lot now.”
“Yes.”
“Is that going to keep happening?”
“Probably forever.”
“That’s bad.”
“It’s not ideal.”
She picked at the cuff of her pajama pants.
“What did Mom do?”
Daniel chose each word carefully.
“She was thinking about living in a different house.”
“With you?”
“No.”
Lily’s fingers stopped.
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your mom and I were having problems.”
“What kind?”
“Grown-up marriage problems.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
Daniel looked toward the yard.
A sprinkler clicked somewhere beyond the fence.
“She thought I worked too much. She thought I didn’t listen enough. She was angry with me about some things.”
“Were you angry?”
“Yes.”
“Did you yell?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hit?”
“No.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
Lily nodded.
“Okay.”
Daniel waited.
She asked, “Was she going to take me away forever?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she hate you?”
His throat tightened.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
He almost gave a comforting answer.
Instead he said, “I don’t know exactly what she felt at the end.”
Lily looked annoyed.
“You’re supposed to know your wife.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t know her sister.”
“No.”
“You didn’t know she was leaving.”
“No.”
“You didn’t know Vivienne wasn’t her.”
“No.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“Did you know Mom at all?”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
The honest answer terrified him.
“Not as completely as I thought.”
A tear slipped down Lily’s cheek.
Daniel did not wipe it.
She did.
“Then how do I know her?”
“You don’t have to know everything about someone to love them.”
“That sounds fake.”
“It might.”
She glared at him.
May you like
Daniel took a breath.
“I knew your mom sang badly on purpose when she was happy. She hated peas. She always bought too many peaches and let half of them go soft. She could never remember where she left her phone, even when it was in her hand. She got furious when people were rude to waiters. She hated folding fitted sheets and would roll them into a ball and shove them in the closet.”
