Chương 8
Daniel laughed.
Rachel did not.
“She also wants you to publicly state that she did not impersonate Amelia for financial gain.”
“I’m not publicly stating anything.”
“Good.”
“What else?”
“She wants access to Lily.”
Daniel’s laughter stopped.
“No.”
“I already said no.”
“No supervised visit, no phone call, no letter, no photograph. Nothing.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Your emotional position is clear.”
“It’s not emotional.”
“It should be.”
He looked toward the breakfast room, where Lily was still drawing.
Rachel followed his gaze.
“Police found something on the yacht.”
“What?”
“Lily’s passport.”
Daniel turned.
“Where?”
“In the emergency bag for the tender.”
For a moment the room lost sound.
Rachel continued.
“It was inside a waterproof sleeve with eight thousand dollars in cash and a prepaid phone.”
Daniel gripped the table.
“She was taking her.”
“It strongly supports preparation.”
“Why isn’t Vivienne in jail?”
“She was booked. A judge will make detention decisions based on the charges and facts presented. Stop asking me to guarantee procedure.”
Daniel paced toward the window.
Rachel waited.
Finally he said, “Why the flare?”
“We don’t know.”
“She had the passport. Money. Phone. Tender questions. Why threaten Lily instead of just taking her?”
Rachel’s expression changed.
“That’s the right question.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
“If she planned an abduction, the flare was reckless. Public. Noisy. It brought witnesses.”
“She lost control.”
“Maybe.”
“Or?”
“Maybe something happened immediately before that changed her plan.”
Daniel thought back.
The confrontation downstairs.
The payment.
His threat to expose her.
He had told Vivienne he had found the birth record.
He had told her Marcus was sending photographs to police if Daniel missed a scheduled call.
That part had been a lie.
Marcus had no such arrangement.
But Vivienne had believed him.
Daniel sat down.
“I cornered her.”
Rachel frowned.
“What?”
“Before I sent the money, I told her I had enough proof to expose everything.”
“And?”
“She asked if I’d already sent it to anyone.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes.”
“You had?”
“No.”
Rachel stared at him.
“You bluffed.”
“Yes.”
“And she believed you.”
“I think so.”
Rachel leaned back.
“So whatever plan she had depended on continuing to pass as Amelia.”
Daniel thought of the emergency bag.
“If she couldn’t, she needed Lily.”
“Possibly.”
“For money?”
“Possibly.”
“For the trust?”
“Possibly.”
Daniel hit the table with his palm.
Lily appeared in the doorway.
He froze.
She looked at his hand.
“Did the table do something?”
Rachel covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at his daughter.
“No.”
“Then why’d you hit it?”
“Because I’m apparently six too.”
“I don’t hit tables.”
“Good point.”
Lily looked at Rachel.
“Are you the lawyer?”
“I am.”
“Is Vivienne going to jail?”
Rachel glanced at Daniel.
He shook his head slightly.
Rachel said, “Some grown-ups are deciding what happens next.”
“That’s what Dad said.”
“He was correct.”
Lily looked disappointed.
“You’re both bad at answers.”
Then she went back to her drawing.
Rachel waited until she was gone.
“She’s going to be expensive in therapy.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“I deserve that.”
“No, therapy isn’t punishment.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked at her.
Rachel closed the folder.
“There’s something else.”
Daniel waited.
“The photograph.”
“What about it?”
“Police released a digital copy of the back to me because your wife appears in it and we may be able to identify context.”
Rachel turned her tablet around.
The back of the torn photo contained faded blue handwriting.
Daniel recognized Amelia’s immediately.
Vivi—
If you’re reading this later, I’m sorry I couldn’t do it the way I promised.
The sentence ended at the torn edge.
Daniel read it twice.
“Vivi.”
Rachel nodded.
“She knew her.”
“Yes.”
“She called her that.”
“Apparently.”
“What promise?”
“We don’t know.”
Daniel looked at the torn edge.
“There’s another half.”
“Probably.”
“Vivienne has it.”
“Maybe.”
“No. She tore it.”
“You don’t know that.”
Daniel stood.
Rachel watched him.
“She brought only this half because the other half says something.”
“Possibly.”
“Something about Amelia leaving.”
“Possibly.”
He grabbed his phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Marcus.”
Rachel reached across the table.
“No.”
He looked at her hand over his phone.
“Why?”
“Because for the past forty-eight hours, every time you feel powerless, you turn someone else into an instrument.”
“That’s dramatic.”
“It’s accurate.”
“I hired him.”
“Yes.”
“To investigate.”
“Yes.”
“So I’m calling him.”
“To make the feeling stop.”
Daniel stared at her.
Rachel removed her hand.
“Call him in ten minutes.”
He hated her for almost the entire ten minutes.
Then he made toast for Lily.
She wanted it cut into squares.
Daniel cut triangles.
She sent it back.
At the ten-minute mark, he no longer needed to shout.
Marcus answered.
Daniel said, “Find the other half of the photograph.”
“I was already trying.”
“Of course you were.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I’m working on my personality.”
“That may exceed my license.”
Daniel smiled.
A real one this time.
It lasted three seconds.
Then Marcus said, “I found the storage unit contents.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“How?”
“The manager put me in contact with the auction contractor who cleared it after the account closed. Most contents were donated or trashed, but the inventory sheet survived.”
“What was there?”
“Clothing. Children’s items. Kitchen stuff. Two boxes marked documents. One plastic tote marked Lily.”
Daniel sat down.
“What?”
“Lily.”
“She was ten months old.”
“Yes.”
“What was in it?”
“Inventory says baby clothes, toys, feeding supplies, diapers.”
Daniel stared at the wall.
“Amelia was leaving.”
“Yes.”
“With Lily.”
“Looks that way.”
“And Vivienne helped her.”
“Probably.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
There it was.
A life his wife had been building without him.
Not a dramatic betrayal.
Plastic totes.
Diapers.
A lease application.
Kitchen things.
He had spent five years grieving a marriage as though death had frozen it at its happiest point.
It had not.
Amelia had been leaving.
The knowledge did not make him love her less.
That was almost worse.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
May you like
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel laughed without humor.
