Chapter 4
We spent that night in a small guesthouse owned by one of Daniel’s coworkers.
Lily slept between us.
Not because Daniel and I planned it.
Because every time one of us moved toward the door, she woke up screaming.
“Don’t leave me!”
So we stayed.
Daniel lay on one side of the bed.
I lay on the other.
Lily held one of my hands and one of his.
Around three in the morning, she finally fell into a deep sleep.
Daniel stared at the ceiling.
“I sent her there.”
His voice was barely audible.
I turned toward him.
“You did not know.”
“I said yes to the sleepover.”
“So did I.”
“I talked to Brenda.”
“So did every parent.”
He looked at Lily.
“I should have seen something.”
“Daniel.”
“I’m her father.”
“And Brenda fooled everyone.”
His jaw tightened.
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“It isn’t supposed to.”
He looked at me.
“What is?”
“Being here when she wakes up.”
That finally silenced him.
The next morning, Detective Brooks called.
They had identified the man.
Victor Hale.
Forty-six.
Multiple aliases.
No stable address.
He had been questioned in two previous cases involving suspicious approaches to children but never charged.
Brenda claimed she barely knew him.
The phone evidence told another story.
They had been communicating for almost two months.
Brooks asked us to come in.
Lily met with a child-interview specialist while Daniel and I waited behind glass.
We could hear the conversation.
I hated every second of it.
Not because the specialist did anything wrong.
She was gentle.
Patient.
Careful.
I hated hearing how much Lily had carried alone.
The specialist asked, “What happened after the girls changed names?”
Lily twisted a stuffed rabbit in her hands.
“Mrs. Cole made us practice.”
“Practice what?”
“Saying the other names.”
“How?”
“She pointed at us.”
Lily demonstrated.
“She pointed and said, ‘Who are you?’”
“And what did you answer?”
“Chloe.”
“What happened if you said Lily?”
“She got mad.”
The specialist paused.
“Did Victor ask you questions?”
Lily nodded.
“He asked who picked us up from school.”
“What did you say?”
“I said Aunt Maya usually does.”
I felt Daniel look at me.
“He asked where I lived.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Brenda do?”
“She said, ‘Not real answers.’”
The specialist asked, “Did Victor seem angry?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I kept asking why.”
Despite everything, pride punched through my fear.
That was Lily.
She questioned everything.
Always had.
“What did you ask?”
“Why we needed different names.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said grown-up games have grown-up rules.”
I hated him instantly in a new way.
Not only for frightening them.
For using their trust against them.
The specialist continued.
“What happened when Sophie was chosen?”
Lily’s eyes dropped.
“He told her to stand by the door.”
My breath stopped.
“Then what?”
“Sophie cried.”
“What did Brenda do?”
“She told her to stop.”
“And you?”
Lily’s voice became smaller.
“I said her name.”
The specialist leaned forward.
“Her real name?”
Lily nodded.
“I said, ‘Sophie, come sit with me.’”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Then all the girls started saying real names.”
The specialist smiled gently.
“What happened?”
“Mr. Hale got mad.”
“How mad?”
“He yelled at Mrs. Cole.”
“What did he say?”
Lily thought carefully.
“He said, ‘They can’t follow directions. Forget it.’”
My hand flew to my mouth.
That was it.
Lily had stopped him.
Not with strength.
Not with some impossible heroic act.
She had simply refused to play along.
A frightened eight-year-old had broken the plan by reminding everyone who they were.
After the interview, Brooks met us in the hallway.
“This confirms a lot.”
Daniel asked, “Enough to arrest Hale?”
“If we find him.”
“What about Brenda?”
“She’s being charged.”
Relief should have come.
Instead, I felt rage.
“With what?”
Brooks listed several charges related to child endangerment, unlawful restraint, evidence tampering, and conspiracy under investigation.
Daniel said, “Keep going.”
“There may be more.”
I looked through the glass at Lily.
“What about the photograph in Hale’s car?”
Brooks hesitated.
“It came from Brenda’s tablet.”
I stared at her.
“So she sent it.”
“Yes.”
Daniel punched the wall.
I jumped.
He immediately pulled his hand back.
“Damn it.”
Brooks did not scold him.
“She sent photographs of all seven girls.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why?”
“We believe Hale was evaluating vulnerability.”
The word made me sick.
Vulnerability.
As if children were products.
As if family structures were weaknesses to catalog.
Brooks continued.
“Lily drew attention because her mother is deceased and her father travels.”
Daniel went pale.
“He thought she was easier to isolate.”
“That is one possibility.”
I stepped closer.
“He was wrong.”
Brooks nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked through the window.
“He was very wrong.”
That afternoon, Lily chose new shoes.
Bright blue sneakers with white laces.
At the store, she sat on the bench for a long time before putting them on.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded.
Then whispered, “Can I write my name inside?”
My heart squeezed.
“Absolutely.”
The clerk gave her a permanent marker.
Slowly, Lily printed four letters inside each shoe.
L-I-L-Y.
Then she looked at me.
“So nobody can change it.”
I hugged her.
“No one gets to change it.”
For the first time since the sleepover, she hugged me back.
That evening, Detective Brooks called again.
Victor Hale had used Brenda’s credit card at a gas station.
Two states away.
Police were closing in.
Daniel exhaled in relief.
Then Brooks said, “There’s something else.”
I hated those words now.
“What?”
“We searched Brenda’s garage.”
My stomach tightened.
“We found several boxes of children’s belongings.”
“What kind?”
“Shoes. Jackets. Hair accessories. Name tags.”
Daniel stared at me.
Brooks continued.
“Some are years old.”
My blood ran cold.
“You mean Lily’s sleepover wasn’t the first.”
“No.”
“How many?”
Brooks paused.
“We don’t know yet.”
May you like
Then she added quietly:
“But Brenda’s daughter Ava says her mother has hosted special sleepovers before.”
