Chapter 7 - LILY'S DECISION
I called Renee before I reached Daniel's car.
She answered on the second ring.
"Clara?"
"Where is Lily?"
Silence.
That silence told me everything.
"Renee."
"I thought she was upstairs."
"She isn't."
"Oh my God."
"Where's Toby?"
"Right here."
"Keep him with you."
"Clara, I swear—"
"I know."
I forced my voice steady.
"Check Lily's room."
Daniel drove while I stayed on the phone.
Renee ran upstairs.
I heard doors opening.
Drawers.
Then her voice.
"There's a note."
"Read it."
Paper rustled.
"Mom, don't be mad."
My eyes closed.
"Keep going."
"Grandma keeps saying this is your fault and I want her to stop."
My chest tightened.
"I want to ask her why she hates us."
Renee's voice cracked.
"I'm sorry."
"Keep reading."
"I know where her house is and I'll be back before dinner."
I looked at the clock.
It was 3:42.
"When did you last see her?"
"Maybe forty minutes ago."
"Did she take her coat?"
"Yes."
"Phone?"
"Yes."
I called Lily.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
"Drive faster," I told Daniel.
He was already ten miles over the limit.
Leonard sat in the back seat.
"Call police."
Daniel did.
I called Mom again.
She answered immediately.
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"Put Lily on."
"I told you to come home."
"If you use my child to negotiate with me—"
"Do not threaten me."
My vision narrowed.
"I am not threatening you."
I spoke each word slowly.
"I am telling you that my daughter is eleven years old and you will put her on this phone now."
A pause.
Then Lily's voice.
"Mom?"
I nearly collapsed with relief.
"Baby, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Are you alone with Grandma?"
"Uncle Garrick is here too."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"Did they touch you?"
"No."
"Did they stop you from leaving?"
Lily hesitated.
That hesitation turned my fear into fury.
"Lily."
"Grandma said I should wait until you get here."
"Go to the front door."
Mom's voice came faintly in the background.
"Don't you dare."
I heard movement.
Then Mom took the phone.
"You are frightening her."
"Open the door."
"We're having a conversation."
"Open the door."
"Clara—"
"Police are on the way."
The line went silent.
"You called police on your own mother?"
"You are preventing my child from leaving a house she entered voluntarily."
"I'm not preventing anything."
"Then open the door."
She hung up.
We were six minutes away.
Those six minutes felt very different from the six minutes on Grandfather's video.
I understood suddenly how time could become physical.
Every red light felt like a hand around my throat.
Every slow car became an enemy.
When we turned onto my mother's street, two patrol cars were already outside.
I opened Daniel's door before he fully stopped.
"Clara!"
I ran.
An officer intercepted me near the driveway.
"Ma'am, slow down."
"My daughter is inside."
"We have officers at the front and rear."
"She's eleven."
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
The front door opened.
Lily stepped out.
I ran past the officer.
She ran toward me.
I dropped to my knees and wrapped both arms around her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't."
"I shouldn't have come."
"We'll talk later."
"I just wanted her to tell me why."
I pulled back.
"Did she?"
Lily's face changed.
She looked older than she had that morning.
"She said Toby and I aren't really Bellamys."
My stomach turned.
"What?"
"She said we're Mercers."
"You're both."
"That's what I said."
Lily wiped her face angrily.
"Then she said Grandpa Arthur's money should stay with the Bellamy bloodline."
I looked toward the house.
Mom stood in the doorway behind an officer.
Garrick stood farther inside.
"She said that to you?"
"Yes."
"Anything else?"
Lily nodded.
"She said you were ruining everything because you were jealous of Uncle Garrick."
I closed my eyes.
"I told her that was stupid."
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
"Lily."
"It is."
"I know."
She lowered her voice.
"Then Uncle Garrick got mad."
"At you?"
"Not exactly."
"What happened?"
"Grandma told him I knew about the money."
"And?"
"He asked who told me."
"What did you say?"
"I said adults whisper louder than they think."
I hugged her again.
"Did he say anything else?"
She pulled back.
"He told Grandma she should have kept her mouth shut twenty-one years ago."
My heart slowed.
"Exact words?"
"Yes."
"What did Grandma say?"
"She said, 'I did what your father couldn't.'"
I stared at her.
"Your father?"
"That's what she said."
My father.
Peter Mercer.
Lily continued.
"Then Uncle Garrick said, 'Peter wasn't supposed to find the account.'"
I went completely still.
Daniel had reached us.
He heard the last sentence.
"Which account?" he asked.
Lily looked at him.
"I don't know."
"It's okay," I said.
"You don't have to answer anything else right now."
But Lily reached into her coat pocket.
"I have this."
She handed me her phone.
The recording app was open.
A red waveform filled the screen.
Forty-seven minutes.
I stared at her.
"You recorded them?"
"I watch crime shows."
Daniel almost smiled.
"Good kid."
"Do not encourage her."
"Fair."
I saved the recording to my phone and emailed a copy to Evelyn.
Then I walked toward the house.
The officer raised a hand.
"Ma'am."
"I own the property."
"That does not mean you can interfere while we're resolving a complaint."
"Then resolve it."
Mom stepped outside.
"She came here on her own."
"And you told her not to leave."
"I wanted her to wait for you."
"Why?"
"Because children should not be wandering the streets."
"Then you call me."
"I did."
"After you locked the door."
Mom's face changed.
The officer turned toward her.
"The door was locked?"
"It's winter."
Lily spoke behind me.
"She put the chain on."
Mom looked at her.
The hatred that flashed across my mother's face lasted less than a second.
But I saw it.
So did Lily.
That was the moment something in me changed permanently.
I stepped between them.
"You will never look at my daughter like that again."
Mom scoffed.
"Look at her like what?"
"Like she's an enemy because she told the truth."
"You're poisoning her against me."
"You did that yourself."
Garrick appeared behind her.
"This performance is over."
I turned.
"Peter wasn't supposed to find what account?"
His face blanked.
Mom looked at him.
Lily had not told them about the recording.
Neither had I.
"What are you talking about?" Garrick asked.
"You said Peter wasn't supposed to find the account."
"I never said that."
"Interesting."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't say when you supposedly said it."
His face tightened.
Daniel looked down to hide a smile.
I stepped closer.
"What account, Garrick?"
"Go to hell."
"Was it the account in my name?"
His eyes shifted.
There.
Again.
Fear.
"I don't know anything about an account in your name."
"Dad did."
Mom grabbed Garrick's sleeve.
"Stop talking."
I looked at her.
"You framed me."
"No."
"You routed stolen company money through an account with my name on it."
"That's ridiculous."
"Dad found out."
Her face paled.
"Who told you that?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
She looked toward Leonard standing beside Daniel's car.
Her entire expression changed.
"You."
Leonard did not move.
"Hello, Margaret."
Mom whispered something I couldn't hear.
Garrick followed her gaze.
Then he went white.
"You said he was dead."
Everyone heard it.
Mom turned slowly toward him.
"Garrick."
He realized what he had said.
Too late.
Leonard walked closer.
"Disappointed?"
Garrick backed toward the doorway.
"I don't know you."
"You knew enough to think I was dead."
The police officer's expression sharpened.
"Sir, I think we need to ask you a few questions."
Garrick looked at Mom.
Mom looked at me.
May you like
And for the first time in my life, neither of them knew what to say.
