Chapter 2 - the man outside the birthday house
Mark reached the front door before Robert could stop him.
"Don't."
Mark ignored him.
He opened the door.
The cold night air rushed into the foyer.
The man beside the sedan didn't move.
Up close, Mark could see that he was perhaps forty years old, with dark hair touched by gray at the temples. His face was composed, but his posture suggested someone prepared to run.
Or fight.
Mark stepped onto the porch.
"You have ten seconds to tell me why you're standing outside my house looking at my daughter."
The stranger stared at him.
"Your daughter?"
Mark stiffened.
"Nine seconds."
Robert appeared behind him.
"Daniel."
The man's eyes shifted to Robert.
"You told me she'd be safe."
Mark turned.
"What?"
Daniel walked closer.
"I got a call."
"From who?" Robert asked.
Daniel did not answer.
Instead, he glanced toward the upper floor.
"Is Lily hurt?"
Mark moved down one step.
"How do you know my daughter's name?"
Daniel looked at him again.
For a moment, Mark thought he saw something almost like pity.
Then it vanished.
"I know enough."
"That's not an answer."
"It'll have to be tonight."
Daniel turned toward his vehicle.
Mark followed.
"No."
Daniel stopped.
"You don't show up at my child's birthday after my mother attacks her, ask whether she's hurt, then leave."
Daniel faced him.
"Your mother attacked Lily?"
Robert stepped between them.
"Mark."
"No, Dad. Move."
Robert didn't.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"What happened?"
Mark laughed bitterly.
"Apparently you're the only person here who knows what's happening."
Emily came to the doorway with the envelope still in her hand.
Daniel saw it.
Everything changed.
He stared at the faded handwriting.
His expression lost every trace of composure.
"Where did you get that?"
Emily held it tighter.
"Robert."
Daniel looked at Robert.
"You kept it?"
"I promised."
"You were supposed to destroy it."
Robert shook his head.
"No. You told me to protect it."
"That was before."
"Before what?" Mark demanded.
Nobody answered.
Mark stepped between Daniel and his father.
"I'm done."
He pointed toward the house.
"Inside. All of you."
Daniel remained still.
Mark lowered his voice.
"If anything you know puts Lily in danger, and you walk away now, I will make sure every police officer in this county has your name and license plate before midnight."
Daniel looked at him.
Then at Emily.
Then at the envelope.
Finally he entered.
They gathered in the dining room where half the birthday decorations still hung from the ceiling.
It felt grotesque.
A smiling banner.
Pink ribbons.
Empty plates.
And four adults sitting around a table like participants in a trial.
Daniel refused coffee.
Emily placed the envelope in front of herself.
"Start talking."
Daniel looked toward Robert.
"You first."
Robert sighed.
"Seven years ago, Diane received a photograph."
Emily frowned.
"What photograph?"
"I never saw the original."
"You expect us to believe that?"
Robert nodded.
"I saw only the way she reacted."
Mark leaned back.
"Which was?"
"She became obsessed with Lily."
Emily's voice sharpened.
"She'd barely visited us then."
"Exactly."
Mark remembered.
For Lily's first three years, Diane had been a distant grandmother.
Polite at holidays.
Cold at birthdays.
Then, suddenly, everything changed.
She began insisting on visits.
Asking unusual questions.
Where Lily was born.
Which hospital.
Which doctor.
Whether Emily had retained her medical records.
Emily had assumed Diane was simply intrusive.
"What was in the photograph?" Emily asked.
Robert looked at Daniel.
Daniel's hands closed into fists.
"I can't tell you."
Emily stood.
"You can leave."
Daniel looked up.
"You need me."
"For what?"
"Because Diane won't stop."
"Neither will I."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."
Mark rose.
"Enough riddles."
Daniel met his gaze.
"If I tell you everything tonight, you won't believe me."
"Try."
"No."
Mark stepped forward.
Robert caught his arm.
"Mark."
Mark pulled away.
Daniel leaned toward Emily.
"Has Diane ever asked for Lily's birth certificate?"
Emily's anger faltered.
"Yes."
"When?"
"Several times."
"Has she ever offered to keep Lily overnight and then changed her mind?"
Emily thought.
"Once."
"Summer three years ago," Robert said quietly.
Daniel nodded.
"Has Lily ever disappeared, even briefly, while Diane was watching her?"
Emily went cold.
A memory returned.
A crowded Christmas market.
Lily was six.
She vanished for eleven minutes.
Diane claimed Lily wandered away.
They found her beside a parking garage, crying.
Emily had never understood how she got there.
"Eleven minutes," Emily whispered.
Daniel looked away.
Mark stared at him.
"What happened during those eleven minutes?"
Daniel said nothing.
Emily reached for the envelope.
"I'll find out myself."
Daniel abruptly stood.
"Don't open that here."
"Why?"
"Because there's more than a letter inside."
Emily looked down.
She felt the thickness.
She had noticed it earlier but assumed it was folded paper.
Now she pressed the envelope between two fingers.
Something rigid was inside.
A photograph.
Maybe more than one.
Daniel continued.
"If Diane knows that envelope still exists, she'll come back for it."
Mark walked to the window.
"She doesn't have a key anymore."
Robert whispered, "She doesn't need one."
Mark turned.
"What does that mean?"
Robert looked ashamed.
"This house isn't entirely yours."
Mark stared.
"We bought it twelve years ago."
Robert shook his head.
"You bought most of it."
A heavy silence fell.
Emily asked, "Most?"
"Your mother arranged the original trust."
Mark looked sick.
"She told me it was a wedding gift."
"It was."
"But?"
Robert took a breath.
"But she kept a controlling interest through another entity."
Daniel muttered, "Of course she did."
Mark rounded on him.
"You knew?"
"I knew Diane liked leverage."
Suddenly a faint mechanical sound came from the foyer.
Click.
Everyone turned.
The front door lock.
Mark crossed the room.
Before he reached the hallway, the security alarm display went dark.
Then the lights flickered.
Emily whispered, "Mark."
May you like
The house went black.
Upstairs, Lily screamed.
