Chapter 2
"Mommy, if you hear this, please don't be mad at Daddy."
Those were the first words I heard.
My daughter's voice.
Small.
Shaking.
Alive in the recording, even though I had no idea where she was now.
I pressed both hands against my mouth.
Marcus leaned forward.
"Lily?"
Officer Bennett raised his hand, signaling for silence.
The recording continued.
"I know Daddy doesn't want me to call anymore. But I saw something, Mommy. Something bad."
There was a rustling sound.
Then Lily whispered, "The lady who came with Daddy was outside our house."
Vanessa stopped breathing.
At least, that was how it looked.
Her shoulders stiffened.
Her eyes flew toward the tablet.
Lily's voice continued.
"She was talking to a man in a gray car. He said they had to do it tonight."
A loud clicking sound interrupted the recording.
Then my daughter whispered something that made my blood run cold.
"He said Daddy would pay anything to get me back."
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
The entire living room seemed frozen.
Then Marcus slowly turned toward Vanessa.
"What lady?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"I don't know what she's talking about."
I stared at her.
Lily had been missing for six days.
And this woman had walked into my house carrying luggage.
As though she had every right to begin a new life inside the home where my daughter used to laugh.
Officer Bennett spoke calmly.
"Ms. Carter, were you near this residence on the evening of October nineteenth?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"I don't remember."
"That's a specific question."
"I said I don't remember."
Marcus stood up.
"Vanessa, were you here?"
She looked at him.
"Marcus, don't do this."
His voice rose.
"Answer me!"
She flinched.
"Yes! I drove past the house."
My knees almost gave way.
"You were here?"
Vanessa looked toward me.
"I wanted to see where he lived. That's all."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"You've been sleeping with my husband for three months, and you suddenly wanted to see his house?"
She looked away.
Officer Bennett opened his notebook.
"Who was the man in the gray car?"
Vanessa hesitated.
"I don't know."
"Ms. Carter."
"He was someone asking for directions."
Marcus let out a bitter laugh.
"At night? Outside my house?"
Vanessa folded her arms.
"I don't have to explain myself to you."
Officer Bennett closed his notebook.
"Actually, you will have an opportunity to explain this at the station."
Vanessa's face changed immediately.
"Am I under arrest?"
"Not at this moment."
She grabbed her suitcase.
"Then I'm leaving."
Marcus stepped away from her.
Not toward her.
Away.
It was the first time in three months I had seen him choose distance from Vanessa.
But it brought me no satisfaction.
My daughter was still missing.
Officer Bennett asked Marcus to sit down.
"We have more information."
My stomach tightened.
"Did you find Lily?"
He shook his head.
"Not yet."
Two words.
Not yet.
I held on to them.
Because they weren't the same as never.
The officer explained that a neighbor's security camera had recorded a gray sedan passing our house three times on the night Lily disappeared.
The license plate wasn't visible.
But the driver had stopped near the corner at 8:42 p.m.
That was eleven minutes before Lily's phone went offline.
I remembered that night with painful clarity.
Lily had been sitting on her bed wearing her yellow pajamas.
She had asked me whether Daddy would come to her school concert.
I had said I would ask him.
She hadn't believed me.
At eight-thirty, I went downstairs to put away laundry.
When I returned, her bedroom window was open.
Her shoes were missing.
And so was Lily.
At first, I thought she had gone outside to look for our cat.
Then I noticed the folded note on her pillow.
I WANT TO HELP DADDY COME HOME.
I had shown it to the police.
Until now, nobody understood what it meant.
Marcus buried his face in his hands.
"Why would she go outside?"
I looked at him.
"Because she was eight, Marcus. Because she loved you. Because someone may have made her believe she could bring you home."
He began shaking.
Officer Bennett continued.
"We believe Lily received a message from someone pretending to represent her father."
Marcus looked up.
"What message?"
"We're still recovering deleted communications."
"From who?"
"That's what we're working to establish."
Vanessa suddenly spoke from the doorway.
"This is ridiculous. You're treating me like some criminal because a child misunderstood a conversation."
I turned on her.
"A child?"
My voice became dangerously quiet.
"Her name is Lily."
Vanessa stared at me.
"My daughter has a name."
For the first time, she seemed unable to answer.
Officer Bennett stepped toward the door.
"Ms. Carter, another officer will accompany you to the station for a voluntary interview."
Vanessa's eyes filled with panic.
"Marcus, tell them I wouldn't hurt her."
Marcus looked at her.
I could see the conflict on his face.
Three months of lies.
Three months of choosing Vanessa.
Three months of trusting someone he barely knew over the family he had built.
Then he asked a question.
"Who's Daniel?"
Vanessa went completely still.
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to her.
I could tell.
Officer Bennett looked up sharply.
"Why did you ask that?"
Marcus reached for his phone.
"Because last week, Vanessa got a call from someone named Daniel. She started crying and told him to stop threatening her."
Vanessa's face turned white.
"You promised you wouldn't mention that."
Officer Bennett stepped closer.
"Daniel who?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"I can't."
"Ms. Carter, a little girl is missing."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You don't understand."
I stepped toward her.
"Then make me understand."
She looked directly at me.
For one moment, I saw something I hadn't expected.
Fear.
Not embarrassment.
Not guilt.
Terror.
Then she whispered, "If I tell you who Daniel is, he'll kill me."
Marcus stared at her.
Officer Bennett reached for his radio.
I felt the room spinning.
Who was Daniel?
Why was Vanessa afraid of him?
And what had he done with Lily?
Before anyone could answer, Marcus's phone rang.
An unknown number.
He looked at the screen.
Then at Officer Bennett.
The officer nodded.
"Answer it. Put it on speaker."
Marcus's hand shook as he accepted the call.
For three seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a man's voice spoke.
"Hello, Marcus."
Vanessa made a strangled sound.
The man chuckled.
"I see you've finally come home."
Marcus gripped the phone.
"Who is this?"
The answer came softly.
"Someone holding what you abandoned."
My heart stopped.
Then I heard a tiny voice in the background.
"Daddy?"
I knew that voice.
I would have recognized it anywhere.
"LILY!" I screamed.
May you like
But before I could say another word, the man whispered something terrible.
"Ten million dollars, Marcus. Or you'll never hear her voice again."
