Chapter 3
My mother screamed.
Not the kind of scream people make because they are startled.
This was rage.
Pure rage.
She lunged toward the bakery owner so quickly that Daniel stepped between them.
“Move!”
“Sarah.”
“Move!”
“Not in front of Lily.”
“She has been watching my child!”
“I know.”
“You don’t know anything!”
Mom tried to push around him.
Daniel held his hands up without touching her.
“I know you want answers. So do I.”
The owner, Ms. Collins, backed against the counter.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“No. You should say everything.”
“I want a lawyer.”
“Then call one.”
Mom pulled out her phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
Ms. Collins immediately panicked.
“Wait.”
Daniel noticed.
“Why?”
“I didn’t do anything illegal.”
“You discriminated against a disabled child.”
“That was a misunderstanding.”
“You were expecting her.”
Silence.
Daniel continued.
“You had her photograph.”
“I never said that.”
“Your employee did.”
Megan spoke from the kitchen.
“It’s on the office computer.”
Ms. Collins spun around.
“You’re fired.”
“No, she isn’t,” Daniel said.
“You don’t own my bakery.”
“No. But as of next month, my company owns this building.”
That shocked everyone.
Even Mom.
“What?”
Daniel sounded distracted.
“Mercer Development bought the block six weeks ago.”
Ms. Collins laughed bitterly.
“Of course. There it is.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“Now you’re pretending you don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“She promised she would stop the acquisition.”
“Who?”
But everyone knew.
His mother.
Ms. Collins folded her arms.
“Victoria Mercer.”
Daniel cursed quietly.
Mom ended the police call and slipped the phone into her pocket.
“They’re coming.”
Ms. Collins suddenly looked scared.
“Listen, I didn’t hurt the girl.”
“You humiliated her,” Mom said.
“I was doing what I was told.”
“That’s your excuse?”
“She said if I kept you here long enough, she would help me save my lease.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Kept them here for what?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She wanted time.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know!”
Daniel slammed his hand down.
“Stop lying!”
I flinched.
He immediately lowered his voice.
“Sorry, Lily.”
It surprised me that he remembered.
Adults usually forgot children were in the room when they were angry.
Daniel didn’t.
Mom whispered, “Time for someone to get here.”
Daniel understood.
“So Mother knew Sarah would be here today.”
“I come to this neighborhood for Lily’s appointments,” Mom said.
“Does she always go to this bakery?”
“No. This was the first time.”
“Then how did my mother know?”
Nobody answered.
Daniel asked Mom, “Who knew about the appointment?”
“The hospital.”
“Anyone else?”
“My sister.”
“Your work?”
“I took the afternoon off.”
“Do you post things online?”
“Never about Lily’s appointments.”
Daniel’s voice went hard.
“She has someone following you.”
Mom pulled me closer.
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“No. Don’t say that like it’s already true.”
“The bakery had Lily’s photo before you arrived.”
“I know.”
“And my mother knew where you would be.”
“I know!”
Mom started crying again.
“I know.”
I tugged her coat.
“Can we go?”
Her whole body softened.
“Yes.”
Daniel asked, “Can I come?”
“No,” Mom said immediately.
He didn’t argue.
“Can I at least give you my number?”
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“Not today.”
“I waited eight years without knowing I was waiting.”
“And I spent eight years believing you had chosen not to know.”
“That wasn’t my choice.”
“You think I don’t understand that now?”
“Then why are you shutting me out?”
“Because my daughter just found out her entire life was built around a lie!”
The words hit me hard.
Mom heard herself.
She knelt.
“Lily, I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did.”
“No.”
“You lied.”
“I did.”
“About my dad.”
“Yes.”
“About him being dead.”
“Yes.”
I pulled my hand from hers.
“Why?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From him?”
Mom looked at Daniel.
“No.”
“From his mom?”
“Yes.”
Daniel made a pained sound.
I turned toward him.
“Is your mom bad?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
That frightened me.
Finally he said, “I thought she was complicated.”
“What does complicated mean?”
“In this case?”
“Yes.”
“It means I don’t know who she is anymore.”
Sirens became audible outside.
Ms. Collins muttered a curse.
The door opened moments later.
Two officers entered.
Everyone started speaking at once.
Daniel raised his voice.
“The child first.”
That silenced the room.
One officer came toward me.
“Hi, Lily. I’m Officer Ramirez.”
“Hi.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did anyone touch you?”
“No.”
“Did anyone threaten you?”
I thought about it.
“The bakery lady told me to leave.”
“Okay.”
“She wouldn’t sell me a cupcake.”
Officer Ramirez paused.
Then asked gently, “Was anyone else being refused service?”
“No.”
Mom added, “She was deliberately ignoring her because she is blind.”
Ms. Collins shouted, “That is not true!”
The second officer told her to remain quiet.
Megan offered to show them the security system.
Daniel asked if he could accompany them.
The officer said no.
So we waited.
I sat at a table.
Mom sat beside me.
Daniel stayed across the room.
He did not approach.
He did not speak.
But I could feel his attention.
After several minutes, I asked Mom, “What does he look like?”
She froze.
Daniel did too.
“What?”
“My dad.”
It was the first time I called him that.
The entire room seemed to hear it.
Daniel turned away for a second.
Mom’s voice shook.
“He’s tall.”
“How tall?”
“About six-two.”
“Hair?”
“Dark brown.”
“Eyes?”
“Blue.”
“Old?”
Daniel gave an offended laugh from across the room.
“I’m thirty-five.”
I smiled despite myself.
Mom whispered, “He has a strong jaw.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your mother once thought I was handsome.”
Mom made a tiny sound.
“Don’t.”
Daniel became quiet again.
I touched my face.
“Do I look like him?”
Mom’s answer took too long.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your chin.”
Daniel whispered, “And her smile.”
Mom looked toward him.
“You noticed?”
“I noticed everything.”
That sentence made her silent.
Officer Ramirez returned.
His tone was serious.
“We need to speak privately with the owner and employee.”
Daniel asked, “Did you find the photo?”
“Yes.”
Mom stood.
“What kind of photo?”
The officer hesitated.
“It appears to have been taken from a distance.”
“Where?”
“Outside a school.”
My mother stopped breathing.
I felt sick.
“My school?”
No one answered me.
I turned to Officer Ramirez.
“My school?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The digital file says three weeks ago.”
Mom made a broken sound.
Daniel crossed the room.
This time she didn’t tell him to stay away.
He asked, “What else is on the computer?”
“We are requesting consent to inspect additional files. If consent isn’t given, we may need a warrant depending on what investigators determine.”
Ms. Collins shouted from the office.
“I want my attorney!”
Mom held my shoulders.
“I want to go home.”
Daniel said, “I’ll have a car follow you.”
“No,” Mom snapped.
“For protection.”
“I don’t want anyone following me!”
“I meant security.”
“That is still someone following me!”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“You’re right.”
He lowered his hands.
“I’m sorry.”
Officer Ramirez gave Mom a card.
“We’ll contact you tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think my daughter is in danger?”
“We don’t know.”
That was the worst answer possible.
Daniel asked, “Can you put a patrol near their home?”
The officer looked at him.
“We’ll discuss options with Ms. Bennett.”
Not him.
Mom.
Daniel understood the boundary.
He nodded.
We finally walked outside.
Cold Boston wind hit my face.
I heard traffic.
People talking.
A bus braking.
Normal sounds.
They felt strange now.
Daniel followed us to the sidewalk but stayed several feet away.
Mom unlocked the car.
I opened the back door.
Then I stopped.
“Daniel?”
His response came immediately.
“Yes?”
“Did you ever have other kids?”
“No.”
“Did you ever get married?”
A pause.
“No.”
“Why?”
Mom whispered, “Lily, that’s personal.”
Daniel answered anyway.
“Because I never stopped loving your mother.”
Mom slammed the driver’s door open.
“Don’t.”
“You asked me not to lie to her.”
“That doesn’t mean you dump eight years of emotions on an eight-year-old.”
“You’re right.”
Again, he didn’t fight back.
That seemed to make Mom angrier.
I climbed into the car.
Before Mom shut my door, I asked one last question.
“Do you want to see me again?”
Daniel’s answer broke.
“More than anything.”
I nodded.
Then Mom shut the door.
As we pulled away, I pressed my hand against the cold window.
I couldn’t see him standing there.
But somehow I knew he hadn’t moved.
Ten minutes later, Mom’s phone rang through the car speakers.
She almost ignored it.
Then the automated voice announced the caller.
“Massachusetts General Hospital.”
Mom answered.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke urgently.
“Ms. Bennett, this is Dr. Patel’s office.”
“Yes?”
“We need you to return immediately.”
Mom’s voice changed.
“Why?”
“There’s an issue with Lily’s medical file.”
“What issue?”
The doctor hesitated.
Then she said, “Someone accessed Lily’s records this morning using credentials that do not belong to any current member of our staff.”
Mom gripped the steering wheel.
“What did they look at?”
“All of it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Her scans. Surgical history. Genetic testing. Everything.”
I listened from the back seat.
May you like
Then the doctor said something that made Mom pull the car to the side of the road.
“Ms. Bennett, whoever accessed Lily’s file was specifically searching for information about whether her blindness might be reversible.”
