Chapter 11
Detective Ruiz took the financial records immediately.
By the next morning, Diane faced new questions from investigators.
She refused to answer them.
Marlene Price did the same.
But money leaves a trail.
That was what Ruiz told me.
And apparently, Diane had left a highway.
Payments had moved through shell companies.
Property accounts.
“Consulting fees.”
One payment every year.
Always between ninety and one hundred fifty thousand dollars.
Jason stared at the spreadsheet.
“She paid Marlene for seven years?”
“Looks like it.”
“Why?”
Ruiz shrugged.
“Silence is expensive.”
I felt sick.
Jason rubbed his forehead.
“My mother spent almost a million dollars hiding the fact that Lily was mine.”
“Potentially trust money,” Ruiz added.
I looked at her.
“You mean Lily’s own money.”
“Yes.”
That was the ugliest part.
Diane may have used money belonging to Lily to fund the lie that Lily didn’t belong.
Jason stood and walked to the window.
“I don’t understand her.”
Ruiz said gently, “You may never.”
After she left, Jason stayed by the window.
I was gathering papers when he said, “I need to tell you something.”
My stomach tightened.
I had learned to hate that sentence.
“What?”
“Three years ago, I almost did another DNA test.”
I froze.
“Why?”
“Because Lily started looking like me.”
I stared at him.
“She always looked like you.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t get to say that.”
He turned.
“You looked at our daughter and spent years searching her face for another man.”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
I felt suddenly furious.
“You compared her nose?”
“Yes.”
“Her eyes?”
“Yes.”
“Her smile?”
“Yes.”
“Every time someone said she looked like you, what did you think?”
“That they were wrong.”
I wanted to throw something.
Instead, I gripped the chair.
“Why didn’t you do the second test?”
“Mom found out.”
Of course.
“What did she say?”
“That if I tested again, I would destroy our family.”
I laughed bitterly.
“She really liked that phrase.”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“That you might take Lily away if you knew I doubted you.”
I stared at him.
“And you believed that too.”
“Yes.”
“Jason, at what point were you ever going to trust me?”
He looked shattered.
“I don’t know.”
That answer hurt because it was true.
I gathered my bag.
“Sarah.”
“I need to leave.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
My eyes burned.
“I thought we had a difficult first few years because we were young parents.”
I shook my head.
“But you were investigating our child’s face while I was trying to keep our marriage alive.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying sorry.”
He went silent.
“I need something bigger than sorry.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
I left.
At Maya’s apartment, Lily was doing homework.
She looked up.
“Where’s Daddy?”
“At his apartment.”
“Are you mad at him?”
Children notice everything.
“A little.”
“Because of Grandma?”
“Because of some choices Daddy made.”
Lily put down her pencil.
“Is Daddy bad?”
My chest tightened.
“No.”
“Grandma is bad?”
I sat beside her.
“I don’t like calling people bad.”
“But she hurt me.”
“Yes.”
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
“She stole money.”
I sighed.
“Adults have been talking too much around you.”
She ignored that.
“So if she does bad things, isn’t she bad?”
I thought carefully.
“Sometimes people make many harmful choices. We can decide they are not safe for us without deciding everything about who they are.”
Lily considered that.
“Grandma isn’t safe.”
“No.”
“Daddy is?”
That question mattered.
I answered honestly.
“With you, yes.”
She smiled a little.
“Good.”
Then she returned to her math.
That night, Jason sent one text.
No excuses. You were right. I spent seven years trusting fear more than I trusted you. I’m going to keep working on why.
I didn’t answer.
But I didn’t delete it either.
Three days later, something happened that terrified me.
Maya picked Lily up from school.
The front office called ten minutes afterward.
“Mrs. Coleman?”
“Yes?”
“This is Desert Valley Elementary.”
My heart jumped.
“Is Lily okay?”
“She’s fine.”
I stood.
“What happened?”
“A woman came to the office asking to sign Lily out.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“Diane?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“She identified herself as a family friend.”
My knees weakened.
“What was her name?”
There was a pause.
“Marlene Price.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“She said Lily’s grandmother had authorized her.”
I grabbed my keys.
“Where is she now?”
“She left when we told her Lily was already gone.”
“Do you have cameras?”
“Yes.”
“Call the police.”
“We already have.”
I hung up and called Detective Ruiz.
She answered immediately.
“What happened?”
“Marlene went to Lily’s school.”
Silence.
Then Ruiz’s voice changed.
“Where is Lily now?”
“With Maya.”
“Go there.”
“I’m already moving.”
“Do not go home.”
“I won’t.”
“Sarah.”
“Yes?”
“If you see Marlene, do not approach her.”
I ran to my car.
My hands shook so badly I dropped my keys.
May you like
Because this wasn’t about an old DNA test anymore.
Diane’s co-conspirator had just gone looking for my seven-year-old daughter.
