Chapter 2 - WHAT LILY SAW THAT NIGHT
Daniel didn't enter the room.
He stood outside the glass.
His face was pale.
I had never seen him look so frightened.
Detective Collins stepped into the hallway.
“Mr. Reed, I'd like to speak with you.”
Daniel nodded.
“Of course.”
But before he walked away, he looked at Lily.
“Sweetheart, Daddy loves you.”
Lily turned her face toward the wall.
Daniel stopped.
Something broke inside his expression.
Then he followed Detective Collins.
I stayed beside Lily.
“Baby, what happened?”
Lily squeezed my hand.
“Grandma wasn't alone.”
“Who was with her?”
“I don't know.”
“What did you see?”
Lily closed her eyes.
“Uncle Michael came to Grandma's house.”
My heart stopped.
“Michael?”
She nodded.
“They were arguing.”
“About what?”
“The money.”
“What money?”
“My birthday money.”
I almost smiled despite the fear.
Lily had always called her inheritance her “birthday money.”
“What did they say?”
“Grandma said you were going to take everything.”
“And Michael?”
“He said the trust didn't belong to Grandma.”
I stared at her.
“Then what?”
“He said Daddy had to sign something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Lily touched her smartwatch.
“But I recorded it.”
I looked at the device.
“Can we hear it?”
She nodded.
I pressed the recording.
At first there was only static.
Then Evelyn's voice.
“She's eight. Nobody is going to believe her.”
Michael answered.
“She doesn't have to talk.”
Evelyn said:
“Then how do we get control of the trust?”
A man's voice suddenly entered the recording.
A man I didn't recognize.
“Make the mother look negligent.”
I stopped breathing.
Lily looked at me.
“That's the man.”
“Who?”
“The man from Grandma's house.”
The recording continued.
“If the child survives, the custody case begins immediately.”
Michael said:
“And if she doesn't?”
Silence.
Then Evelyn answered.
“Then Daniel inherits.”
My hands began shaking.
The recording stopped.
Detective Collins entered the room.
“What did you find?”
I handed him the watch.
He listened.
His expression hardened.
“Where's Michael?”
“He's with Daniel.”
Detective Collins immediately left.
I looked at Lily.
“Why did you say Daddy knows about the second injector?”
Lily stared at me.
“Because he told Grandma where it was.”
My stomach dropped.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before dinner.”
“What did he say?”
Lily whispered:
“He said, ‘The second one has to disappear too.’”
I couldn't speak.
Daniel had been standing outside the room.
He had heard her.
But now he was gone.
Detective Collins returned alone.
“Where's my husband?”
“He left.”
“What?”
“He slipped out through the service corridor.”
I felt panic rise.
“Can you stop him?”
“We're trying.”
Then Detective Collins looked at Lily's smartwatch.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
He turned the screen toward me.
A recording had been created twenty minutes earlier.
After Lily had been admitted.
I pressed play.
Daniel's voice came through.
“If she wakes up, she'll remember everything.”
Then another voice answered.
“Then make sure she doesn't get the chance.”
I looked at Detective Collins.
“Who is that?”
He didn't answer.
May you like
Because he recognized the voice.
“It's Michael.”
