Chapter 4: The Man Who Had Been Calling My Daughter
“Your daughter recognized Ethan's voice.””
Vanessa's words echoed through the phone.
I gripped the edge of the interview table.
“What do you mean he'd been talking to Lily?””
“Marcus, please. You need to let me explain.””
“Explain what? Why was my business partner calling my eight-year-old daughter?””
Vanessa sobbed.
“He said he was helping her.””
“Helping her with what?””
“I don't know everything.””
“Stop lying to me!””
Officer Brooks immediately reached for her notepad.
“Mr. Reed, put the call on speaker.””
I did.
Vanessa's breathing came through the phone in short, frightened bursts.
Officer Brooks leaned toward the device.
“Ms. Cole, this is Officer Brooks. I need you to answer a few questions.
When did you first become aware that Mr. Miller was communicating with Lily?””
There was a pause.
“About two months ago.””
Danielle, who had been standing near the door, slowly sat down.
“Two months?”” she whispered.
I closed my eyes.
Two months.
My daughter had been communicating with another man while I was busy building a secret life with his girlfriend.
“Why?”” I asked.
Vanessa sniffed.
“Ethan told me Lily was lonely. He said you were working too much, and Danielle was always busy with school and household things.””
“That doesn't explain why he was calling her.””
“He said he wanted to help.””
“Help how?””
“He started by sending her little gifts. Stickers. Coloring books. Things she liked.””
My stomach tightened.
“Where did he get her address?””
“He already knew it. You gave him your family information when we started the company.””
I remembered the emergency contact forms.
The employee benefits paperwork.
The documents I'd handed Ethan without a second thought.
Officer Brooks interrupted.
“Did Mr. Miller ever ask you to communicate with Lily on his behalf?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“Yes.””
“What did he ask you to say?””
“That you were going through a difficult time. That you were planning to move out.””
I stared at the phone.
“What?””
“He said you were thinking about leaving Danielle. He told Lily that you were afraid to tell her because she might be upset.””
I stood so abruptly my chair scraped backward.
“I never said that!””
“I know that now!””
“Did you tell my daughter I was leaving?””
Vanessa began crying harder.
“Yes.””
Danielle covered her mouth.
I felt something inside me turn cold.
“What exactly did you tell her?””
Vanessa's voice became barely audible.
“I told her you might have a new home someday. I said she shouldn't be angry with you because grown-ups sometimes need to make difficult choices.””
Danielle stood.
“You had no right!””
“I know.””
“You had no right to discuss my marriage with my child!””
“I know, Danielle!””
“No, you don't! You don't know anything about being a mother!””
Vanessa fell silent.
Officer Brooks raised a hand, asking Danielle to let her continue.
“Ms. Cole,” she said, “did Mr. Miller instruct you to send the message telling Lily not to contact her father?””
“No.””
“Did you send that message?””
Vanessa didn't answer.
I leaned toward the phone.
“Vanessa?””
Finally, she whispered, “I didn't type it.””
My heart hammered.
“But you know who did?””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Vanessa started crying again.
“Ethan.””
The room became silent.
Officer Brooks immediately wrote something down.
“Do you have evidence of this?””
“I have messages.””
“Where?””
“On my old phone.””
“Do you still have it?””
“Yes.””
“Then preserve it. Do not delete anything. We'll arrange to collect it.””
I stepped closer to the phone.
“Why did you let him do this?””
Vanessa's breathing became uneven.
“Because he said if Lily kept calling you, you'd cancel the Savannah trip.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“He said you were already having doubts. He told me you were considering going back to Danielle. He said Lily was the reason you couldn't commit to us.””
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“So you helped him silence my daughter?””
“I thought it was just a message! I thought you'd see it later and explain everything!””
“She was eight years old!””
“I know!””
“She thought her father hated her!””
Vanessa began sobbing uncontrollably.
Officer Brooks took the phone from the table and ended the call after confirming Vanessa's location.
She looked at me.
“Mr. Reed, we're going to need her cooperation.””
“Then bring her in.””
“We will.””
Danielle was still standing.
Her hands were clenched at her sides.
I turned toward her.
“Danielle, I swear I didn't know.””
She looked at me with an expression I couldn't bear.
“You didn't know because you weren't paying attention.””
I lowered my eyes.
She was right.
I'd been so consumed with Vanessa that I hadn't noticed how many people had access to my daughter's life.
I'd trusted Ethan with company passwords.
I'd introduced Vanessa into our family.
I'd dismissed Lily's questions.
And every time my daughter had needed me, I'd found something more important.
Officer Brooks returned to her laptop.
“There's something else I need to show you.””
She opened a document.
It was the hospital's preliminary incident report.
At the top was Lily's name.
Beneath it was a timeline.
Friday, 1:48 p.m. — School nurse contacted mother.
2:13 p.m. — Outgoing call to father's registered number.
2:17 p.m. — Text message sent from father's account.
3:06 p.m. — Ambulance transport initiated.
4:11 p.m. — Patient admitted.
4:32 p.m. — Electronic authorization entered.
I stared at the last entry.
“What does that authorization mean?””
“That's what we're investigating. The hospital's records indicate someone changed the communication instructions attached to Lily's emergency contact profile.””
“Changed them to what?””
Officer Brooks turned the laptop toward us.
The instruction was simple.
Do not contact father directly. Mother is the only authorized family contact.
My blood ran cold.
“Who entered it?””
“The login credentials belonged to Ethan Miller.””
Danielle grabbed the edge of the table.
“Why would he have access to my daughter's medical information?””
“That's an important question,” Officer Brooks replied.
I looked at the timestamp.
4:32.
The photograph on my phone had been taken at 4:31.
Vanessa was sitting beside me.
I remembered her picking up my phone.
I remembered a notification appearing.
I remembered her turning the screen facedown.
“Officer Brooks?””
“Yes?””
“Can you check whether my phone was used to access the hospital system?””
She looked up.
“Why?””
“Because Vanessa had it that afternoon. And if Ethan knew my password, he might have been able to access my accounts.””
Officer Brooks made another note.
“We'll include that in the digital examination.””
Danielle began crying quietly.
I reached toward her.
This time she didn't pull away.
She simply whispered, “I want to know what happened to my baby.””
“I know.””
“No more secrets, Marcus.””
“No more.””
Officer Brooks stood.
“I've arranged for investigators to visit Ms. Cole's apartment. We're also requesting a warrant for Mr. Miller's devices.””
Then her phone rang.
She answered, listened for several seconds, and looked at me.
“What is it?”” I asked.
She ended the call.
“Mr. Miller's vehicle has been located.””
“Where?””
“In a storage facility outside the city.””
“Is he there?””
“No.””
“Then what did they find?””
Officer Brooks hesitated.
“His laptop.””
I stood.
“Can you open it?””
“Not yet. But there was something left on the keyboard.””
“What?””
“A photograph.””
She turned her screen toward us.
It was a picture of Lily.
She was sitting at our kitchen table, smiling at whoever had taken it.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
She knows more than she should.
Danielle made a strangled sound.
I stared at the picture.
“Where was this taken?””
“Your house,” Officer Brooks said.
I recognized the curtains.
The yellow flowers on the table.
The little pink cup beside Lily's hand.
Then I noticed something in the reflection of the kitchen window.
A man's face.
I leaned closer.
It was Ethan.
May you like
And he wasn't looking at Lily.
He was looking directly at the camera.
