Chapter 3 - SOMEONE HAD BEEN INSIDE MY HOME
I should have been worrying about the vacation I had just lost.
Instead, I was trying to remember whether my bedroom drawers had looked different that morning.
My emergency credit card had not been in my wallet.
It had been locked in the bottom drawer of my desk.
At home.
Twenty-six miles away.
Yet someone had used it to buy Lily a ticket to Hawaii.
I called my building manager.
“Brooke, aren't you supposed to be flying today?”
“Check my door access history.”
There was a pause.
“Right now?”
“Please.”
My apartment complex used electronic fobs for the lobby and elevator, but physical keys still opened individual units.
The manager typed for a few seconds.
“You entered Monday at 7:42 p.m.”
“I know.”
“Tuesday morning at 6:18.”
“That was me.”
Another pause.
“There's a guest entry Wednesday afternoon.”
My heart kicked.
“What guest?”
“Someone buzzed your unit from the lobby.”
“I was at work Wednesday.”
“The access was approved from inside your apartment.”
Everyone around me went silent.
“Are there cameras?”
“Yes.”
“Save everything.”
Mark was watching my face.
“Who could've been there?”
I didn't answer.
Because I already knew.
On Wednesday, my mother had texted me at 2:11 p.m.
Just checking whether you need me to water your plants while you're gone!
I had said no.
I had also reminded her that the trip didn't begin until Friday.
At the time, the message had seemed annoying.
Now it felt like surveillance.
The airport police officer took the information.
Then Lily tugged my sleeve.
“Aunt Brooke?”
“Yes?”
“Grandma has your key.”
Every adult turned toward her.
“What do you mean?”
“She had it at Mommy's house.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Lily's face tightened, as if she were afraid she'd said too much.
Mark crouched beside her.
“You're doing great, peanut. Nobody's mad.”
She whispered, “Grandma said they needed Aunt Brooke's card because Mommy's didn't work.”
I closed my eyes for one second.
There it was.
They hadn't just abandoned Lily.
They had burglarized my apartment first.
The airline supervisor printed a transaction summary for law enforcement.
The purchase included Lily's one-way ticket to Maui.
One-way.
I stared at the paper.
“My ticket is round-trip.”
“Yes.”
“But hers isn't.”
“No.”
“So how was she supposed to get home?”
Nobody answered.
Then Mark's attorney did.
“Maybe she wasn't.”
I looked at Mark.
His jaw tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, the officer who had been speaking with airline security returned.
“We pulled preliminary camera footage.”
He held a tablet.
The video showed the concourse from forty minutes earlier.
Jessica appeared first.
Our parents followed.
Lily walked between them.
Jessica hugged Lily briefly.
Then she bent down, said something into her ear, and kissed her forehead.
My mother placed the pink suitcase beside the bench.
My father looked around.
And then all three adults walked away.
Lily started following them.
Mom turned back.
She pointed firmly toward the bench.
Lily stopped.
Then Jessica disappeared into the crowd without looking back.
My hand flew to my mouth.
Mark stared at the screen like he wanted to burn the image into his memory.
But the video wasn't over.
Thirty seconds later, my mother came back alone.
She knelt beside Lily.
She handed her the sticky note.
Then she leaned close enough to whisper something.
The security camera had no audio.
We didn't need it.
Lily remembered.
I asked softly, “Sweetheart, what did Grandma say to you?”
Lily's eyes filled again.
“She said I have to be good for you because you're going to be my new mommy for a while.”
Mark went completely still.
“For how long?”
Lily looked down at her rabbit.
May you like
Then she whispered the secret none of us had been prepared to hear.
“Grandma said Mommy is starting her new life.”
