Chapter 4
I don’t remember screaming.
I remember Daniel taking the note from my hand.
I remember Margaret calling 911 again even though Robert already had.
I remember Evelyn standing in the hallway, staring at the open back door.
And I remember one horrible thought repeating in my head.
My daughter is barefoot.
Lily’s shoes were still beside the couch.
She was somewhere outside in the cold without shoes.
Police arrived within minutes.
The birthday dinner became a crime scene.
Officers searched the property.
Dogs were brought in.
Neighbors turned on porch lights.
Daniel ran through the woods behind Evelyn’s house until an officer forced him back.
I couldn’t sit still.
“Find her.”
A detective named Sarah Monroe crouched in front of me.
“We are searching.”
“She is four.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t. She gets scared in the dark. She hates loud cars. She won’t sleep without—”
My voice broke.
Daniel put his hand on my shoulder.
I pushed it away.
Not because I blamed him.
Because I couldn’t stand being comforted while Lily was missing.
Detective Monroe held up the note in a plastic evidence sleeve.
“Who knew you were discussing your biological father tonight?”
“Everyone in this house.”
“Anyone outside the house?”
Margaret raised her hand.
“I called Jonathan.”
The detective looked at him.
“Mr. Hale?”
Jonathan nodded.
“She told me Evelyn had discovered a connection between me and Claire.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
My head snapped toward Margaret.
“Yesterday?”
She looked ashamed.
“Evelyn told me she planned to confront you tonight.”
“You knew?”
“I tried to stop her.”
“You should have warned me!”
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel stepped between us.
“Not now.”
The detective continued.
“Who else did you tell?”
Jonathan hesitated.
“One person.”
Every head turned.
“Who?”
“My attorney.”
“Name?”
“Peter Walsh.”
“Why would you call an attorney?”
Jonathan looked at me.
“Because I’ve been receiving threats.”
I stared at him.
“What threats?”
He pulled out his phone.
Three messages.
The first had arrived two weeks earlier.
STAY AWAY FROM THE WHITMORES.
The second:
ANNA KEPT HER MOUTH SHUT. YOU SHOULD TOO.
The third had arrived that afternoon.
IF YOU GO TO EVELYN’S HOUSE TONIGHT, SOMEONE INNOCENT PAYS.
My knees weakened.
“You came anyway?”
Jonathan looked sick.
“I thought it was someone trying to scare me.”
“My daughter is gone because you ignored that?”
Daniel grabbed Jonathan by the coat.
Officers rushed forward.
“Daniel!”
He shoved Jonathan against the wall.
“You knew someone threatened my child?”
“I didn’t know they meant Lily!”
“You came here anyway!”
“I was trying to stop Evelyn from destroying your marriage over a lie.”
Daniel raised his fist.
I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
He looked at me.
Not because I wanted to protect Jonathan.
Because Lily needed both of us thinking clearly.
Detective Monroe separated them.
“We need facts.”
She looked at Jonathan.
“Do you know who sent the threats?”
“No.”
“Any suspicion?”
Jonathan looked toward the old photograph.
“One.”
“Who?”
“Thomas Bennett.”
My skin went cold.
I laughed automatically.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“My father died when I was seven.”
Jonathan stared at me.
“No, Claire.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Anna told you he died.”
“He did.”
“I saw him twelve years ago.”
I stepped backward.
“You’re lying.”
“In Hartford.”
“No.”
“He was older. He had changed his name. But it was him.”
“You’re lying!”
Daniel caught me.
I turned on Jonathan.
“My mother took me to his funeral.”
“Whose body did you see?”
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
I remembered a church.
Flowers.
My mother holding my hand.
A closed casket.
She told me Daddy had been badly hurt in a car accident.
She said I couldn’t see him.
I had never questioned it.
Detective Monroe leaned toward Jonathan.
“What name was he using?”
“Thomas Bell.”
She wrote it down.
“When did you last see him?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“You spoke?”
“No.”
“Did he see you?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He smiled.”
Something about Jonathan’s answer frightened me.
“What kind of smile?”
“The kind that says he knows you’re still afraid.”
My phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Unknown number.
Detective Monroe raised one hand.
“Don’t answer yet.”
My heart pounded.
She signaled to another officer.
He brought equipment closer.
“Speaker.”
I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
“Where is my daughter?”
A distorted voice answered.
“You should have listened to your mother.”
My body went numb.
“Lily?”
No answer.
“Please let me hear her.”
A pause.
Then a tiny sob.
“Mommy?”
I collapsed into Daniel.
“Lily!”
“Mommy, I want to come home.”
“I know, baby. I’m coming.”
“I’m cold.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
Tears ran down his face.
“Lily,” he said. “Daddy’s here.”
“Daddy?”
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
The distorted voice returned.
“Enough.”
“No!”
I screamed into the phone.
“What do you want?”
“The letter.”
Everyone looked at the envelope from my mother.
“What letter?”
“Anna’s letter.”
Jonathan shook his head violently.
The detective wrote something on a pad.
KEEP TALKING.
I swallowed.
“What happens if I give it to you?”
“You get the girl.”
“How do I know?”
“You don’t.”
I closed my eyes.
“Where?”
“Bring the original to Saint Matthew’s Cemetery at midnight.”
Daniel whispered, “No.”
The voice continued.
“Claire comes alone.”
“I’m not letting my wife—”
The caller laughed.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stopped.
“You still don’t understand your family.”
“Who are you?”
“Ask your mother what Richard buried beneath the summer house.”
Evelyn gasped.
The call ended.
Every person in the room turned toward her.
Daniel stared at his mother.
“What summer house?”
Evelyn said nothing.
“Mom.”
Her hands began shaking.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“My daughter was just kidnapped!”
“It has nothing to do with Lily.”
“How do you know?”
She looked toward the floor.
That was when I knew.
She knew exactly what the caller meant.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did Richard bury?”
Evelyn whispered, “Papers.”
“What papers?”
“I never read them.”
“Where?”
“At our old property in Vermont.”
Jonathan’s face changed.
“Lake Ashford?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Richard took me there.”
Daniel stared between them.
“When?”
“The night he threatened me.”
The detective moved closer.
“What exactly happened at that property?”
Jonathan sat down slowly.
“Richard told me he had evidence connecting me to Rebecca’s disappearance.”
“What evidence?”
“Her necklace.”
My stomach tightened.
“He had Rebecca’s necklace?”
Jonathan nodded.
“He said police would find it in my apartment if I didn’t leave.”
The detective’s expression sharpened.
“And you never reported this?”
“I was twenty-six and terrified.”
Evelyn whispered, “Richard had her necklace?”
Jonathan looked at her.
“Yes.”
“He told me you gave it to him.”
Jonathan went still.
“What?”
“He said you confessed.”
“No.”
“He showed me the necklace and said you had admitted Rebecca died during an argument.”
Jonathan stood.
“He framed me to you too.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at his mother.
“You spent nearly forty years hating a man because Richard told you a story.”
“I trusted my husband.”
“And tonight you hit my daughter because of that story.”
Evelyn flinched.
For the first time, she looked ashamed enough to understand what she had done.
Detective Monroe’s phone rang.
She listened.
Her expression changed.
“We traced the call.”
I rushed toward her.
“Where?”
“Disposable phone. Signal came from a tower near Route 2.”
“That’s twenty miles away.”
“We have units moving.”
Another officer entered.
“Detective.”
He held up Lily’s yellow hair ribbon.
My heart stopped.
“Where did you find that?”
“Near the north edge of the property.”
Daniel grabbed the table.
The officer continued.
“There are tire impressions.”
“What kind?”
“Large vehicle. Possibly SUV or van.”
Detective Monroe looked at me.
“The caller wants the letter because it contains something more than what you read.”
I picked it up.
“There are only four pages.”
Jonathan stared at the envelope.
“Check the lining.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Anna used to hide things inside envelopes.”
I tore carefully along one edge.
A thin photograph slid out.
Then a tiny brass key.
The photograph showed three people.
My mother.
Thomas Bennett.
And Richard Whitmore.
They were standing outside a lakeside house.
On the back, my mother had written a date.
June 14, 1987.
And six words.
Richard knows what Thomas did to Rebecca.
Daniel looked at Jonathan.
Then Evelyn.
Then me.
Detective Monroe picked up the brass key.
“What does this open?”
Jonathan’s face had turned pale.
“I think I know.”
“Tell me.”
He looked at Evelyn.
“The summer house had a floor safe.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“You knew?”
“Richard told me it was for legal documents.”
Jonathan stared at the key.
“That is where he kept the evidence he used against me.”
My phone buzzed.
A text.
Unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
Lily sat in the back seat of a car, wrapped in a gray blanket.
Her cheeks were wet with tears.
Beside her was a newspaper.
Today’s date.
May you like
Underneath the photo were eight words.
MIDNIGHT. LETTER AND KEY. COME ALONE OR SHE DISAPPEARS.
