Chapter 2
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I was kneeling beside Lily’s bed with the bus ticket shaking in my hand.
Melissa stood in the doorway.
Lily pressed herself against my side.
I looked at the ticket again.
Chicago.
Phoenix.
Tomorrow morning.
One way.
Then I looked at Melissa.
“Who is the new daddy?”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
“Melissa.”
“Daniel, you’re misunderstanding this.”
I stood.
“What part am I misunderstanding?”
She glanced at Lily.
“We should talk downstairs.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“You bought a ticket to send my daughter across the country. You packed her clothes. You hid her birth certificate under her bed. You told her another man was going to be her father.”
My voice cracked.
“Explain it here.”
Melissa’s eyes hardened.
“You’re scaring her.”
I almost laughed.
“You locked her in a shed.”
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“It has everything to do with this.”
Lily suddenly tugged my sleeve.
“Daddy?”
I looked down.
“What, sweetheart?”
“Melissa said I wasn’t supposed to tell you about Uncle Ryan.”
Melissa closed her eyes.
I stared at her.
“Ryan?”
She whispered, “Lily, stop talking.”
I stepped between them.
“Don’t tell her to stop.”
Melissa folded her arms.
“This is exactly why I wanted to explain privately.”
“Who is Ryan?”
“He’s my cousin.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
Melissa’s face snapped toward her.
“Lily.”
“He kisses you.”
The room became very quiet.
I felt something cold spread through my stomach.
Lily continued because she was five and had no idea that every word was ripping my marriage apart.
“He comes when Daddy works late.”
Melissa rushed forward.
“That’s enough.”
I blocked her.
“Back up.”
She stopped.
I looked at Lily.
“Does Ryan come here a lot?”
She nodded.
“Sometimes he sleeps in your room.”
My bedroom.
My bed.
I stared at Melissa.
She didn’t deny it.
That told me everything.
But I still couldn’t understand the ticket.
“Were you sending Lily to him?”
Melissa suddenly laughed.
It wasn’t a happy laugh.
It sounded desperate.
“God, Daniel. You really think I’m trafficking your daughter or something?”
“I don’t know what I think anymore.”
“Ryan lives here.”
“Then who lives in Phoenix?”
Her face changed again.
Just slightly.
I saw it.
“Who?”
“No one.”
I held up the birth certificate.
“Why did you need this?”
“For identification.”
“For what?”
“The bus.”
“So you admit you planned to send her.”
“I planned to take her.”
The words hit me.
“You were going too?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s your ticket?”
Silence.
I stepped closer.
“Where is your ticket, Melissa?”
She looked away.
There wasn’t one.
I understood before she said another word.
“You weren’t going with her.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“You were sending a five-year-old alone?”
“She wasn’t going to be alone.”
“Then who was taking her?”
Melissa didn’t answer.
I grabbed my phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling the police.”
Her confidence disappeared instantly.
“Daniel, wait.”
“No.”
“You put me in that shed.”
“For less than a minute after you locked a child inside it in ninety-degree weather.”
“You assaulted me.”
“Tell them.”
“I will.”
“Good.”
I dialed 911.
Melissa lunged for the phone.
I pulled it away.
“Don’t.”
“You’re going to ruin everything!”
I stared at her.
“What exactly am I ruining?”
She froze.
Those words hung between us.
Everything.
What everything?
The dispatcher answered.
“911. What is your emergency?”
I looked at Lily.
“My five-year-old daughter was locked in an outdoor shed by my wife, and I just found evidence that my wife planned to send her out of state tomorrow without my knowledge.”
Melissa whispered, “You son of a—”
I pointed toward the hallway.
“Stay away from her.”
The dispatcher asked for our address.
I gave it.
Then she asked whether anyone was injured.
I looked at Lily’s flushed face.
“She’s overheated and terrified. I don’t know how long she was outside.”
“We’re sending officers and paramedics.”
Melissa started pacing.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
I ended the call.
“No. I finally know exactly what I’m doing.”
She glared at me.
“You think they’ll believe you after what you just did?”
I looked toward Lily.
The neighbor had video.
The broken shed door existed.
The ticket existed.
The bag existed.
And Lily was standing there trembling.
“Let them decide.”
Melissa grabbed her purse from the dresser.
I stepped toward the doorway.
“Where are you going?”
“You can’t hold me here.”
“I’m not trying to. But that bag stays.”
“What bag?”
“The one under Lily’s bed.”
She scoffed.
“It’s my property.”
“It contains my daughter’s documents.”
The doorbell rang downstairs.
Then another knock.
“Police!”
Melissa’s face drained.
I picked Lily up.
“Stay with me.”
She wrapped both arms around my neck.
When we reached the living room, my neighbor, Mrs. Alvarez, was standing outside with two officers.
She held her phone in one hand.
Her face was furious.
One officer separated Melissa from me immediately.
The other crouched beside Lily.
“Hey, sweetheart. I’m Officer Barnes.”
Lily buried her face against me.
“That’s okay,” he said softly. “You don’t have to talk yet.”
Paramedics arrived seconds later.
They checked Lily’s temperature.
Her pulse.
Her breathing.
One of them asked how long she had been inside the shed.
“I don’t know.”
Mrs. Alvarez spoke from the porch.
“Forty-three minutes.”
I turned toward her.
“What?”
“I saw Melissa walk Lily back there at 1:18.”
My knees nearly weakened.
“You saw her?”
“I was watering my plants. I thought maybe they were getting something from the shed.”
She swallowed.
“Then Melissa came back alone and locked the door.”
I looked at Melissa.
The officer beside her stiffened.
Mrs. Alvarez continued.
“I didn’t realize Lily was still inside until I heard banging. I went to my back window and started recording. I called Daniel because I knew he worked fifteen minutes away.”
Officer Barnes asked, “Why didn’t you call 911?”
“I did. Right after I called him.”
Melissa’s head snapped toward her.
“You spying old—”
“Enough,” the other officer said.
The paramedic looked at me.
“We recommend taking Lily to the hospital. She’s showing signs of heat exhaustion.”
My stomach twisted.
“Absolutely.”
Melissa stepped forward.
“I’m her mother. I’ll ride with her.”
Lily screamed.
“No!”
Everyone froze.
She clung to my neck so hard her fingernails dug into my skin.
“No Melissa! No!”
Officer Barnes looked at his partner.
Then at me.
“Dad goes.”
Melissa’s voice rose.
“I’m her legal stepmother.”
“And right now,” Barnes said, “you’re staying here.”
I carried Lily toward the ambulance.
Melissa shouted after me.
“Daniel!”
I stopped.
She stood between the officers.
Angry.
Terrified.
Desperate.
“You need to listen to me before you do something you can’t undo.”
I looked at her.
“I think you already did.”
The ambulance doors closed.
At the hospital, Lily received fluids.
The doctor said she was dehydrated but lucky.
Lucky.
I hated that word.
A child shouldn’t need luck to survive an afternoon in her own home.
While Lily rested, Officer Barnes came into the room.
He had the black backpack in an evidence bag.
“Mr. Carter, there’s something else.”
My heart dropped.
“What?”
“We contacted the bus company.”
I waited.
“The ticket wasn’t purchased by Melissa.”
I frowned.
“Then who bought it?”
“A man named Ryan Mercer.”
Ryan.
I felt my jaw tighten.
“The man Lily mentioned?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
“Where is he?”
“We’re looking.”
I glanced at Lily.
She was sleeping.
“Who was supposed to take her to Phoenix?”
Barnes hesitated.
“That’s the concerning part.”
“What?”
“Ryan bought two tickets.”
I stared at him.
“You said Lily had one.”
“She did.”
“Who was the second passenger?”
Barnes looked down at his notes.
Then back at me.
“Your wife.”
I frowned.
“But you said—”
“The second ticket wasn’t under Melissa Carter.”
I stopped breathing.
“It was under the name Melissa Mercer.”
Mercer.
Ryan’s last name.
My mind raced.
“Why would she use his last name?”
Barnes didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Then his phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Mr. Carter, how long have you been married?”
“Two years.”
“And before that?”
“We dated for about a year.”
He slowly put the phone away.
“We just ran Ryan Mercer through the system.”
My hands went cold.
“And?”
“Ryan Mercer isn’t Melissa’s cousin.”
I already knew that.
May you like
But what Barnes said next was worse.
“He’s her husband.”
