Chapter 7 - the joke they planned
Daniel almost turned the car around.
Claire stopped him.
“If they already entered the house, going back will not protect us.”
“What do you suggest?”
“We call the police.”
“And tell them someone photographed a toy inside our safe? By the time they investigate, Margaret will know we discovered the key.”
“She already knows.”
“No. She suspects.”
Lily sat in the back seat beside the replacement rabbit, quietly singing to herself.
Daniel did not want her to hear fear in their voices.
He called Nathan through the car’s hands-free system.
Nathan instructed a private security investigator to meet the police at Daniel’s house. The safe had not sent an alarm, meaning whoever opened it knew the code or bypassed the system.
Only Daniel and Claire knew the code.
At least, that was what they had believed.
Claire looked out the window.
“My phone.”
“What about it?”
“Tessa borrowed it at lunch last month. I entered the code while she was beside me.”
“The safe code is not on your phone.”
“No, but I used the same numbers.”
Daniel glanced at her.
Claire whispered, “Lily’s birthday.”
They reached the Mercer estate at two minutes past two.
Pastel balloons covered the back fence. A white canopy shaded long tables decorated with flowers. A three-tiered cake stood near the patio doors.
More than forty relatives and family friends had been invited.
Far too many for a four-year-old’s birthday.
Phones appeared as soon as Daniel, Claire and Lily entered the yard.
Margaret approached in a lavender suit.
“My beautiful granddaughter.”
Lily moved behind Daniel’s leg.
Margaret’s smile tightened.
“Come to Grandma.”
“She can greet you when she is ready,” Daniel said.
Several guests exchanged looks.
Tessa emerged from the crowd holding a wine glass.
“You are already starting.”
Daniel smiled politely.
“Happy Saturday, Tessa.”
Her eyes narrowed.
She had expected anger.
Claire stepped forward in the cream dress and kissed Margaret’s cheek.
“Everything looks lovely.”
Margaret relaxed.
“The dress suits you.”
“I thought you would approve.”
Margaret linked her arm through Claire’s.
“Come. There are people you should meet.”
Daniel watched them walk toward the patio.
Tessa remained beside him.
“You should let Claire breathe.”
“She breathes without permission.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I rarely do.”
Tessa leaned closer.
“Mother is trying to save your marriage.”
“From what?”
“From you.”
Daniel smiled again.
Tessa’s expression changed.
She had prepared for shouting, not calm answers.
Lily pulled at Daniel’s sleeve.
“Daddy, can I see the fish?”
“Of course.”
They walked to the fountain together.
For the next thirty minutes, Daniel did not leave Lily’s side. He helped her open gifts, cut fruit and speak to two children from preschool.
Meanwhile, he watched the adults.
Three relatives kept their phones positioned toward him.
A cousin named Henry wore a small camera clipped to his shirt.
Tessa repeatedly checked the time.
Margaret whispered with Arthur Vale beside the patio doors.
Vale wore the same gray suit Lily had described.
When he saw Daniel looking, he stepped inside.
At 2:38, Claire approached with two glasses of lemonade.
“Margaret believes the key is inside the rabbit,” she whispered.
Daniel kept smiling.
“What else?”
“She says the trust activates on Lily’s fourth birthday.”
“Today.”
“Yes.”
“Under what condition?”
“She did not say.”
Claire handed him the lemonade.
“She also thinks you brought the real rabbit.”
Daniel looked at the replacement toy resting in Lily’s arms.
“Good.”
A magician arrived at 2:45.
The children gathered beneath the canopy.
During the second trick, a waiter stumbled behind Daniel and spilled red punch across his jacket.
“I am so sorry, sir.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
Claire was beside her.
“I’ll clean it,” Claire said.
“No. We leave together.”
Tessa appeared with a towel.
“For once, do not make everything difficult. The bathroom is ten steps away.”
Daniel understood the design.
They needed him separated from Lily.
He removed the jacket and placed it over a chair.
“Problem solved.”
Tessa’s smile disappeared.
At 2:57, the magician released paper butterflies into the air.
The children screamed with delight.
Daniel looked upward for less than three seconds.
When he looked back, Claire was still beside him.
May you like
Lily was gone.
So was Tessa.
