Chapter 8
Lily’s bag had been missing from our old house since the day I found June.
Vanessa told the police she had packed it when she thought I might take Lily away. She claimed Preston must have picked it up later.
Ortiz said there was no sign Lily had ever been at the cabin. She was still safe at my mother’s house, sitting at the kitchen table with June.
I repeated that to myself as often as I needed to.
The bag told us Preston had planned to use my daughter to get what he wanted. Whether he still planned to, no one knew.
My mother kept the girls home from school for a few days. They played in the garden under her watch. I worked from the kitchen table so I could see them through the window.
Anna reviewed the copy of her records with investigators. She learned Preston had taken money from several company projects over three years. Some payments had passed through an account Vanessa could access.
It was evidence the police could follow. It also meant the investigation would take time.
I wanted quick answers. Anna reminded me that careful answers would hold up.
On Friday morning, Preston called me.
His number appeared on my screen while Lily was asking June whether she wanted the blue or green crayon. I stepped into the hall and answered.
“Ryan,” he said. “I need to speak to Anna.”
I signaled to my mother. She took the girls into the garden while I kept him talking.
“You can speak to the police.”
“Anna has something that belongs to me.”
“She’s already given the police the records.”
A pause.
“She didn’t give them everything.”
I thought of the original drive Anna said she had hidden.
“Where are you?”
“Close enough to know you’re staying with Ruth.”
My mouth went dry.
“She helped you once,” he said. “You ought to tell her to stay out of this.”
The call ended.
Ortiz arrived with two officers within minutes. They checked the street, the garden, and every door. Preston had called from a number they couldn’t immediately trace.
Anna came in from the porch while they were still there. I told her what he had said.
She went pale.
“He means the original,” she said.
“Where is it?”
“With someone he won’t think to ask.”
She looked at my mother.
Mom frowned.
“Anna?”
“Your neighbor, Mrs. Bell. I gave her a sealed tin the day I came to you. I told her it held photographs.”
My mother called Mrs. Bell while Ortiz listened. She was at home. An officer went next door and collected the tin.
Preston had been watching the wrong house.
Inside were a drive, copies of the returned letters, and a short note Anna had written in case anything happened to her. It named Preston and described his calls after June vanished.
Ortiz took the tin to the investigators.
By afternoon, she told us they had confirmed more transfers and matched several calls to Preston. They had enough to issue additional charges when they found him.
I asked what we could do.
“Stay together. Keep telling me if he contacts you.”
After she left, Anna and I stood in my mother’s kitchen. We could hear the girls laughing outside.
“I should have told you where the tin was,” she said.
“You told Ortiz when it mattered.”
“I’m tired of being scared.”
“So am I.”
We watched June chase Lily across the grass. When Lily stumbled, June stopped and helped her up. Then they ran again.
Anna wiped her eyes.
“Before all this, June asked about you all the time. I told her the good things I remembered.”
“I’m glad.”
“I also told her I didn’t know why we weren’t together.”
I turned toward her.
“She deserved the truth,” Anna said. “So did you.”
I didn’t know what to say. I took her hand, and she let me hold it until the girls came in asking for a snack.
That evening, Daniel called with one more discovery. Preston had scheduled a payment from the company for Monday. The recipient account was new.
Ortiz traced it to a rental property near Briar Glen. Officers went there after dark.
Preston wasn’t inside.
They found a coat, food wrappers, and a photograph of my mother’s front gate taken that morning.
Ortiz called to tell us officers were watching the road and that we should remain inside. We brought the girls into the living room, pulled the curtains, and stayed together.
Lily sat on my lap. June leaned against Anna.
Then the gate buzzer sounded.
Once.
May you like
Twice.
No one moved.
