Chapter 3 - Lily’s Secret
Daniel did not tell Lily about Ethan.
Not that night.
After the police left, he took her upstairs and helped her change into pajamas.
She had stopped crying, but she kept looking toward the hallway.
Daniel noticed.
“Are you scared Nora is coming back?”
Lily shook her head.
“Then what is it?”
She pulled her blanket to her chin.
“There was a man.”
Daniel sat down beside her.
“What man?”
Lily looked toward the bedroom door.
“The man in the kitchen.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“You saw someone else?”
She nodded.
“When?”
“This afternoon.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He told me not to.”
Daniel forced himself to stay calm.
“What did he look like?”
“Tall.”
“Hair?”
“Dark.”
“Did you know him?”
Lily hesitated.
That hesitation frightened him more than anything.
“Lily.”
“He looked like Uncle Ethan.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Looked like him?”
“He had Uncle Ethan’s jacket.”
“What jacket?”
“The gray one with the black buttons.”
Daniel knew exactly which jacket she meant.
He had given it to Ethan for Christmas.
“Did he speak to you?”
Lily nodded.
“What did he say?”
“He said he was getting a surprise ready for you.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Nora see him?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“They were whispering.”
Daniel’s mouth went dry.
“Did you hear anything?”
Lily looked uncertain.
“Just a little.”
“Tell me anything you remember.”
“Nora said something about papers.”
“What papers?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anything else?”
Lily thought carefully.
“Uncle Ethan said, ‘After tonight, it won’t matter.’”
Daniel closed his eyes.
For ten years, Ethan had been his closest family member.
Their father had died when they were teenagers.
Their mother had passed five years later.
Daniel had protected Ethan through college, debt, failed businesses, and one reckless mistake after another.
Two years ago, Daniel had even given him a senior position at Whitmore Medical Technologies, the company Daniel had inherited and expanded.
Now his daughter was saying Ethan had secretly been inside the house with Nora.
Daniel picked up his phone.
He called Ethan.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Then a text arrived.
Not from Ethan.
From Marcus Hale.
DO NOT CALL YOUR BROTHER AGAIN.
Daniel stared at the message.
Another appeared.
I’M COMING TO YOU.
DO NOT TRUST ANYONE WHO SAYS THEY ARE POLICE UNLESS I VERIFY THEM.
Daniel stood immediately.
Lily grabbed his hand.
“Daddy?”
“It’s okay.”
But it was not okay.
Marcus had served in military intelligence before becoming Daniel’s security chief.
He never exaggerated.
Daniel locked the bedroom door.
Fifteen minutes later, Marcus arrived through the garage.
He entered Lily’s room carrying a laptop and a sealed evidence bag.
“What is that?”
Marcus placed the bag on the table.
Inside was the missing brown bottle.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Where did you find it?”
“In Ethan’s car.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Ethan’s here?”
“His car is.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus opened the laptop.
“There’s something else.”
He showed Daniel a still image recovered from a backup camera Nora apparently did not know existed.
It showed Ethan entering the kitchen at 5:58 p.m.
Nora followed him six minutes later.
Daniel’s chest tightened.
Then Marcus enlarged the final frame.
A third person stood near the garage entrance.
Daniel leaned closer.
He recognized the woman immediately.
His dead wife’s sister.
May you like
Rebecca.
The same woman who had disappeared from their lives two weeks after Rachel died.
