Chapter 3: The Woman Who Tried to Warn Me
The scream came from the nurses' station.
I ran.
Detective Hale was already moving.
Behind him, two nurses were standing beside a woman whose face I recognized immediately.
Rebecca Sloan.
She looked thinner than I remembered.
Her dark hair was pulled into a messy knot, and there was a bruise-colored shadow beneath one eye.
The moment she saw me, she started crying.
“Nora.””
I stopped.
Rebecca covered her mouth.
“Oh my God.””
“You know me.””
“I know you.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Her face crumpled.
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of who?””
Rebecca looked over my shoulder.
Calvin stood at the end of the hallway.
His mother was beside him.
Rebecca saw them.
Her entire body stiffened.
Margaret whispered something to Calvin.
Rebecca backed away.
“Nora, please.””
I stepped between Rebecca and my husband.
“Tell me what happened.””
Calvin's voice cut through the hallway.
“She's lying.””
Rebecca flinched.
I turned.
“You don't get to speak for her.””
“She was fired.””
“I thought she quit.””
Calvin's mouth closed.
Margaret stepped forward.
“She was unreliable.””
Rebecca shook her head.
“You told me to leave.””
Margaret's eyes narrowed.
“You're confused.””
“No.””
Rebecca's voice broke.
“You told me if I didn't leave, you'd make sure no one in this city would ever hire me again.””
A nurse looked away.
Detective Hale moved closer.
“Mrs. Whitaker, I'd like you to wait in the consultation room.””
Margaret ignored him.
“This woman is unstable.””
Rebecca looked at me.
“I tried to call you.””
“When?””
“Four months ago.””
I stared at her.
“I never got a call.””
“I left messages.””
“Where?””
“Your phone.””
“I didn't receive them.””
Rebecca looked at Calvin.
Then back at me.
“He made sure you didn't.””
Calvin's face turned red.
“That is absurd.””
Rebecca took a shaky breath.
“Lily told me.””
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
“Told you what?””
“That Daddy hurt her.””
The hallway went silent.
Margaret's voice sharpened.
“Enough.””
Rebecca looked terrified.
But she kept talking.
“She was afraid of him.””
Calvin stepped toward her.
“Don't you dare.””
Detective Hale moved between them.
“Mr. Whitaker, stay where you are.””
Calvin stopped.
I looked at Rebecca.
“Tell me everything.””
She shook her head.
“Not here.””
“Then where?””
“I have proof.””
“What kind?””
Rebecca reached into her purse.
Her fingers trembled as she pulled out a small flash drive.
Calvin lunged.
Hale caught him.
“Don't move.””
Calvin shouted, “She stole that!””
Rebecca dropped the drive.
I picked it up.
It was black.
Tiny.
Almost weightless.
Yet the moment it landed in my palm, it felt heavier than my entire deployment bag.
“What is on it?””
Rebecca whispered, “Videos.””
My stomach twisted.
“Of what?””
“Your daughter.””
I looked at Calvin.
He had gone completely still.
Margaret grabbed his arm.
“Calvin.””
He didn't answer.
I turned back to Rebecca.
“Why didn't you take this to the police?””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“After I quit.””
“Why didn't they help?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because Margaret called someone before I could finish my statement.””
Detective Hale looked at her.
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
“What happened after?””
“They told me it was a family matter.””
Hale's face hardened.
“Who told you that?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't remember his name.””
“You don't remember?””
“I was scared.””
I looked at the drive.
“What happened to Lily?””
Rebecca swallowed.
“The first time I saw the bruises, she told me she'd fallen.””
“Just like yesterday.””
“Yes.””
“And you believed her?””
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because she looked at me before she answered.””
That sentence hit me harder than I expected.
I knew exactly what she meant.
Rebecca continued.
“She wasn't remembering a fall.””
“She was repeating one.””
Rebecca nodded.
“She was repeating what she'd been told to say.””
I closed my hand around the drive.
“Did Calvin hurt her?””
Rebecca's lips trembled.
“Yes.””
Margaret snapped, “Liar.””
Rebecca jumped.
I turned toward Margaret.
“Don't.””
Margaret stared at me.
“You're going to believe a disgruntled former employee over your husband?””
“I'll believe evidence.””
“You're making a terrible mistake.””
“Maybe.””
I stepped closer.
“But I'm making it while standing beside my daughter.””
Margaret's expression changed.
For a moment, she looked almost sorry.
Then she whispered, “You have no idea what your husband sacrificed for this family.””
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“What did he sacrifice?””
Margaret said nothing.
I turned to Calvin.
“What did you sacrifice?””
His eyes met mine.
“You wouldn't understand.””
“Try me.””
He looked at Lily's room.
“I was protecting her.””
My blood ran cold.
“From what?””
He didn't answer.
“From whom?””
Still nothing.
I walked toward him.
“Were you protecting her from me?””
His face tightened.
“No.””
“Then who?””
He whispered, “Your work.””
I stared at him.
“My work?””
“You don't know what followed you home.””
The words stopped me.
Detective Hale noticed.
“What does that mean?””
Calvin looked at him.
“Ask her.””
Hale frowned.
“Ask her what?””
Calvin shook his head.
“I'm done talking.””
He turned.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“You're not going anywhere.””
He looked down at my hand.
Then at me.
“You came home too late, Nora.””
My grip tightened.
“What does that mean?””
He leaned closer.
His voice dropped to a whisper only I could hear.
“You think Lily is the reason they wanted you back.””
I released him.
He walked away.
Detective Hale watched him go.
“What did he say?””
I didn't answer immediately.
Because something had changed.
Until that moment, I had believed I was investigating what happened to my daughter.
Now I was beginning to wonder whether my daughter had been hurt because of something that had happened to me.
I looked at Rebecca.
“Where did you get those videos?””
“At your house.””
My eyes narrowed.
“When?””
“Before I left.””
“Where?””
Rebecca hesitated.
“Your husband's office.””
Calvin's office was normally locked.
Even I didn't have a key.
I turned toward Hale.
“Can you get a warrant?””
“For what?””
“My house.””
He studied me.
“Why?””
“Because if there are videos of my daughter, I want to know who recorded them.””
Hale nodded.
“I'll make the request.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“I don't want to wait.””
“Nora—”
“My daughter is in that ICU.””
I looked through the glass.
“She has been afraid of the same people who are standing in this hallway.””
Hale lowered his voice.
“Then don't go home alone.””
“I won't.””
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Nora.””
I turned.
“There is something else.””
“What?””
“When I found the camera…”
She stopped.
“Rebecca?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I wasn't looking for it.””
“Then what were you looking for?””
She stared at me.
“Your daughter had hidden something in the closet.””
“What?””
“A drawing.””
I frowned.
“A drawing?””
Rebecca nodded.
“Lily drew our house.””
“What was unusual about it?””
Rebecca reached into her purse again.
This time she pulled out a folded piece of paper.
She handed it to me.
I unfolded it.
Crayon lines covered the page.
There was our house.
The front door.
The windows.
The staircase.
Three stick figures stood outside.
One was me.
One was Lily.
One was Calvin.
But behind the house was another figure.
A tall black shape with no face.
Above it, Lily had written in uneven letters:
*HE COMES WHEN DADDY CALLS HIM.*
My fingers went numb.
I looked at Rebecca.
“Who is he?””
“I don't know.””
“Lily never mentioned him?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“She only said one thing.””
“What?””
Rebecca looked toward the ICU.
“She said he wasn't a stranger.””
I stared at the drawing.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
*YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG HOUSE.*
I read it twice.
Then another message appeared.
*CHECK YOUR DAUGHTER'S LAVENDER QUILT.*
I looked through the glass.
The lavender quilt covered Lily's legs.
The same quilt I had mailed home months ago.
The same quilt I had believed was waiting safely for her.
I walked into the room.
Lily opened her eyes.
“Mommy?””
I sat beside her.
“Sweetheart, I need to ask you something.””
She nodded.
“Who put the lavender quilt on your bed?””
Her eyes immediately filled with fear.
She looked toward the door.
Then whispered:
“Grandma.””
I froze.
“Why?””
Lily's lips trembled.
“Because she said you put something inside it.””
I slowly looked down at the quilt.
“Something like what?””
Lily swallowed.
Then she whispered the words that made every instinct in me scream.
“She said it was the only thing that could prove Mommy was a bad person.””
Outside the room, someone suddenly tried the locked door.
Once.
Twice.
Then a man's voice came through the glass.
“Nora, don't let Lily tell you what she knows.””
I turned.
May you like
It was not Calvin.
And I had never seen the man before.
