Chapter 6 - someone came for lily)
Ryan reached Lily before anyone else.
She was pressed against the bedroom wall, screaming.
Ethan stood in front of her holding a plastic baseball bat.
"Stay away from her!"
Ryan crossed the room.
"Buddy, it's me."
Ethan lowered the bat.
Ryan checked the window.
The screen had been sliced vertically.
Fresh dirt marked the white windowsill.
Someone had climbed the trellis outside.
Claire entered behind him.
"Oh my God."
Ryan looked through the opening.
The black SUV was gone.
"Call the police."
Claire hesitated.
Ryan turned.
"We're past hiding."
She nodded.
Within twelve minutes two patrol cars arrived.
Ryan gave them a shortened version of the truth.
Someone had attempted to enter the home.
A child was being threatened.
He did not initially mention Sarah's files.
Detective Elena Ruiz arrived forty minutes later.
She was in her early forties, composed, observant, and unimpressed by Ryan's attempts to control the conversation.
She examined the cut screen.
Then the hidden passage.
Then Lily.
"Why was she staying behind your kitchen wall?"
Ryan looked at Claire.
Claire answered.
"Because I believed someone was trying to find her."
Ruiz stared at her.
"Most people use doors."
"I panicked."
"How long?"
"Three days."
Ruiz wrote something in her notebook.
Ryan felt compelled to defend Claire despite everything.
"She had food and water."
Ruiz glanced at him.
"I'm not accusing anyone yet."
Yet.
The word hung there.
Lily sat beside Ethan on the sofa.
Ruiz approached carefully.
"Hi, Lily. I'm Elena."
Lily said nothing.
Ruiz did not push.
"Can you tell me who came to your window?"
Lily looked at Ethan.
He nodded encouragingly.
"A man."
"Did you see him?"
"Just his eyes."
"Anything else?"
"He had gloves."
"What color?"
"Black."
Ruiz continued gently.
"Did you know him?"
Lily shook her head.
Ryan asked, "Was it the man who scared your mother?"
Lily hesitated.
"No."
Ryan frowned.
"Different man?"
She nodded.
Ruiz looked at him sharply.
"How many people are involved here?"
Ryan pulled the memory card from his pocket.
"Possibly more than we thought."
He told her everything.
Sarah.
Northstar.
Gavin.
The hidden files.
Ruiz listened.
Then took the laptop.
"Nobody touches this again."
Ryan protested.
"My company is implicated."
"Exactly."
"If someone used my signature, I need to know."
"You need a lawyer."
"I need to protect my family."
Ruiz's expression softened slightly.
"Then stop investigating this yourself."
Ryan glanced toward Lily.
"That worked well for Sarah."
Ruiz did not respond.
Before leaving, she arranged a patrol unit outside the Carter home.
Claire stood beside the front window.
"Do you trust her?"
Ryan looked at the departing detective.
"I don't know who I trust anymore."
That evening, Lily finally took a bath.
Claire helped wash dust from her hair.
Ryan watched from the hallway.
Lily no longer recoiled whenever Claire approached.
But she remained cautious.
Afterward, Ryan sat beside Lily's bed.
"Can I ask about the necklace?"
Lily touched the silver heart.
"Mommy said never take it off."
"Did she tell you what was inside?"
"No."
"Did she tell you what it was for?"
Lily thought for a moment.
"She said it would tell the truth."
Ryan swallowed.
"About what?"
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"About why she died."
Ryan took her hand.
"We're going to find out."
She looked at him for a long time.
"Are you really my daddy?"
Ryan's chest hurt.
He could have lied.
Instead he said, "I think I might be."
"Mommy said you were."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there."
Lily looked confused.
"You didn't know."
"No."
"Then why are you sorry?"
Ryan had no answer.
From the doorway Ethan said, "Because dads say sorry even when things aren't their fault."
Ryan looked at his son.
Ethan shrugged.
"You say it when Mom burns dinner."
For the first time in days, Lily smiled.
It lasted three seconds.
Then Claire's phone rang downstairs.
Ryan heard her answer.
Silence.
Then a sharp intake of breath.
He ran to the kitchen.
Claire was staring at the phone.
"What?"
She turned the screen toward him.
A photograph had arrived from an unknown number.
It showed Ethan and Lily sleeping upstairs.
The photograph had been taken less than five minutes earlier.
May you like
Below it were six words.
GIVE US THE CARD OR BOTH.
