Chapter 5: The Recording Hidden in Her Rabbit
The photograph followed me home.
I couldn't stop looking at it.
Ethan had been inside my house.
He had photographed my daughter.
And apparently, he'd been doing more than sending her messages.
Danielle sat in the passenger seat, holding Lily's pink notebook against her chest.
Neither of us spoke until we reached the driveway.
Before getting out, she turned toward me.
“Marcus?””
“Yes?””
“Did you ever notice Lily acting differently around Ethan?””
I thought about it.
Ethan had visited our house several times for company dinners and holiday gatherings.
He'd always brought Lily something.
A puzzle.
A stuffed animal.
A little box of chocolates.
I'd considered him generous.
“No,” I said.
Danielle stared through the windshield.
“She stopped mentioning him a few weeks ago.””
“Why?””
“I don't know. When I asked, she said she didn't want to talk about Uncle Ethan anymore.””
My stomach tightened.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“I did.””
I turned.
“When?””
“Last month. I told you she seemed uncomfortable when he came around.””
I remembered something.
I'd been sitting at my desk, responding to an email.
I'd barely looked up.
I'd told Danielle that Lily was probably just tired.
My wife closed her eyes.
“You told me I was overthinking it.””
I looked down.
“I remember.””
“No, Marcus. You remember now because it's convenient. I was trying to tell you something was wrong, and you didn't listen.””
She opened the car door.
“I'm going inside.””
I followed her.
Lily's stuffed rabbit was missing from her bedroom.
That was the first thing Danielle noticed.
She checked the bed, the closet, the toy basket, and the shelves.
Nothing.
“Where did you put it?”” I asked.
“I didn't.””
“Maybe it's at the hospital?””
“No. I brought her things home.””
She searched the storage boxes again.
Then she stopped.
“Wait.””
“What?””
“The rabbit was in the hospital photograph.””
I nodded.
“Vanessa was holding it.””
Danielle looked at me.
“Why would she take it?””
I didn't know.
We searched the house for another twenty minutes.
Then I remembered the small cardboard box Danielle had brought from the hospital.
It was still in the living room.
I opened it.
Inside were Lily's hairbrush, a pair of pink socks, a coloring book, and a small hospital blanket.
At the bottom lay the stuffed rabbit.
Danielle gasped.
I lifted it carefully.
One of its ears had a small tear near the stitching.
Lily had made that tear when she tried to dress it in one of her doll's sweaters.
“She loved this thing,” Danielle whispered.
I turned the rabbit over.
Something hard pressed against its back.
“What is that?””
Danielle touched the fabric.
“I don't know.””
I examined the seam.
There was a tiny opening beneath the rabbit's collar.
Inside, I felt something rectangular.
A small plastic object.
I carefully pulled it out.
It was a miniature voice recorder.
Danielle stepped backward.
“Why would someone put that inside her toy?””
My hands began trembling.
The recorder had a single button.
I pressed it.
A soft click sounded.
Then Lily's voice filled the living room.
“Hi, Daddy.””
I stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“It's me. Lily. Mommy says I can leave you a message because you might be busy.””
There was a little giggle.
“I made a picture for you. It's a house with three bedrooms. One for Mommy, one for me, and one for you.””
Danielle covered her mouth.
Lily continued.
“Uncle Ethan says you're going to have another house soon. But I told him I don't want you to move away.””
A pause.
Then a small, frightened voice.
“He said I shouldn't tell Mommy because it would make her sad.””
The recording crackled.
“Daddy, I don't want a different family.””
Danielle began sobbing.
I pressed the recorder against my chest.
There was another recording.
I pressed the button again.
This time, Ethan's voice came through.
“Lily, remember what we talked about?””
“Yes.””
“You can't tell your mother about the apartment.””
“Why?””
“Because it's a surprise.””
“Is Daddy going to live there?””
A short silence.
“Yes. Eventually.””
“Will I get to see him?””
“Of course.””
“Then why doesn't he call me?””
Ethan sighed.
“Your father has a lot of things to handle.””
“But he said not to call him.””
“That was because you were bothering him.””
A small sniffle.
“Am I bad?””
“No, sweetheart. You're just asking too many questions.””
The recording ended.
I felt sick.
Danielle took the recorder from my hand.
“There's more.””
She pressed the button again.
The next recording began with a door closing.
Then Vanessa's voice.
“Ethan, I don't think we should keep doing this.””
“Doing what?””
“Talking to her. She's getting confused.””
“She's fine.””
“She asked me yesterday whether Marcus was going to leave Danielle.””
Ethan laughed.
“Children believe whatever adults tell them.””
“That's not funny.””
“Vanessa, do you want Marcus or not?””
Silence.
Then Vanessa whispered, “Yes.””
“Then stop worrying about the child.””
The recording ended.
Danielle looked at me.
I couldn't meet her eyes.
The final recording began automatically when I pressed the button again.
This time, Ethan was speaking to someone else.
His voice was closer.
Angrier.
“I'm telling you, she won't stop calling.””
A second voice answered.
I didn't recognize it.
“What do you want me to do?””
“Keep her away from the phone.””
“What if she tells her mother?””
“Then we'll deal with it.””
There was a brief rustling sound.
Then Ethan said something that made my blood turn to ice.
“If Marcus finds out about the account, we're finished.””
The other man responded.
“What about the girl?””
Ethan lowered his voice.
“She has no idea what she's heard.””
The recording stopped.
For several seconds, neither Danielle nor I moved.
Then she whispered, “What account?””
I shook my head.
“I don't know.””
But I remembered something.
Three months earlier, Ethan had asked me to approve a financial arrangement for the company.
He'd said it was a temporary business account for a new client.
I'd signed the paperwork electronically without reading every page.
At the time, we'd been discussing the Savannah trip.
Vanessa had been texting me.
I had wanted to get out of the office.
Now I wondered whether that account had anything to do with Lily.
My phone rang.
Officer Brooks.
“Mr. Reed, where are you?””
“At home.””
“Are you alone?””
I looked at Danielle.
“No.””
“I need you both to come to the station. We have an update.””
“Did you find Ethan?””
“Not yet. But we've recovered part of his digital records.””
“What did you find?””
A pause.
“Financial transactions involving a company account registered under your name.””
My stomach tightened.
“What kind of transactions?””
“Payments to a private medical transportation service.””
Danielle looked at me.
“Medical transportation?””
Officer Brooks continued.
“Several payments were made over the last six months. We believe Mr. Miller may have been using company funds to arrange private transportation for someone connected to your family.””
“Who?””
“We're still establishing that.””
I looked down at the recorder.
“Officer Brooks, we found something inside Lily's stuffed rabbit.””
“What?””
“A voice recorder.””
Her tone changed immediately.
“Don't play it again. Preserve it exactly as it is. Bring it to us.””
“There's a recording of Ethan talking about an account.””
“Do not send it to anyone. We'll collect it.””
Danielle reached for my arm.
“Ask her about the hospital.””
I repeated the question.
Officer Brooks went quiet.
Then she said, “The hospital has identified an unauthorized instruction entered into Lily's record. It appears someone used a second set of credentials to override the original emergency contact information.””
“Whose credentials?””
“That's what we're investigating.””
I swallowed.
“Could the person have changed her treatment?””
“I can't confirm that.””
“Could they have stopped doctors from calling us?””
“We're examining that possibility.””
Danielle began crying again.
I closed my eyes.
“Officer Brooks, was Lily denied medical attention?””
“I don't want to give you an inaccurate answer. Her treating physician will be interviewed, and the complete medical timeline is being reviewed.””
The call ended.
I looked at Danielle.
She was staring at the rabbit.
Then she noticed something.
“Marcus?””
“What?””
“Look at its other ear.””
I turned it over.
There was a small piece of paper tucked beneath the loose stitching.
I pulled it out.
It was folded twice.
Inside was a handwritten note.
If Daddy finds this, tell him to look inside the blue house.
Danielle frowned.
“What blue house?””
I stared at the handwriting.
I recognized it immediately.
It was Lily's.
And beneath the message was a tiny drawing of a house with a blue door.
I remembered that drawing.
She had made it weeks earlier and insisted on hiding it somewhere special.
“Marcus?”” Danielle whispered.
I looked at her.
“Ethan said something about an apartment.””
Her face went pale.
“Do you think it's the same place?””
I didn't know.
But I knew where to start.
Ethan had once mentioned buying a small property outside town as an investment.
He'd shown me photographs of it during a business lunch.
A little blue house.
May you like
A blue front door.
And according to Lily, there was something inside.
