Chapter 5: What Lily Heard
Lily was frightened of everyone except me and Marcus.
When a nurse entered, she pulled the blanket over her face.
When Detective Ruiz approached, Lily began shaking.
So Ruiz sat in the corner and allowed me to ask the questions.
“Sweetheart, what did Grandma say about Grace?”
Lily clutched her stuffed bunny, which Marcus had retrieved from the house.
“She said Grace didn’t listen.”
“Who is Grace?”
Lily pointed at herself.
My blood went cold.
“She called you Grace?”
Lily nodded.
“Sometimes when she thought I was sleeping.”
Marcus sat on the other side of the bed.
“What else did Grandma say?”
Lily pressed her lips together.
Then she whispered, “She said I looked just like her.”
Ruiz stepped closer.
“Did Grandma show you a picture?”
Lily nodded again.
“In the shed.”
The silver bracelet had belonged to Grace.
The yellow ribbon had belonged to Grace.
And my mother had been secretly taking Lily into the shed.
“Did anyone give you medicine?” I asked.
“Aunt Vanessa put sleepy juice in my milk.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
I felt rage rise so sharply that my fingers went numb.
“What happened after you drank it?”
Lily’s breathing became shallow.
“Grandpa carried me. I heard the trash lid.”
She looked at me with tears sliding toward her ears.
“I tried to call you, Mommy. My mouth didn’t work.”
I kissed her forehead.
“You did nothing wrong.”
“I thought you didn’t want me at the party.”
That sentence broke something inside me.
Marcus turned away and covered his mouth.
Detective Ruiz quietly left the room.
Ten minutes later, she returned with news.
Vanessa had requested a lawyer.
My father refused to speak.
But my mother had made one statement during booking.
She claimed Lily was dangerous.
Dangerous in the same way Grace had been dangerous.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Ruiz placed another photograph on the bed tray.
It showed Grace beside a woman I recognized from old family albums.
My grandmother Evelyn.
On the back, someone had written:
Grace knows what happened at the lake.
Ruiz studied my face.
“Claire, your sister didn’t disappear from a block party.”
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“She disappeared from a lake house owned by your grandfather.”
“And we believe your parents lied about it for twenty-six years.”
