Chapter 5: The Other Girl
“Her name is Lily.””
Vanessa said it so quietly that for a second, I thought I'd misheard her.
“Who?””
She looked at the photograph.
“Lily.””
I stepped closer.
“The little girl in the picture?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Who is she?””
Her lips trembled.
“She’s Nia’s twin.””
The room seemed to tilt.
Nia stared at her.
“My what?””
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Adrian swore under his breath.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Malik looked at me.
“Dad…”
I couldn't move.
I looked down at the photograph again.
Two little girls stood beside my father.
One was clearly Nia.
The other was almost identical.
Same dark hair.
Same round cheeks.
Same small birthmark near the left eyebrow.
Even the same blue-and-white hair clip.
I held the photograph closer.
“How old were they?””
“Three,” Vanessa whispered.
“Three?””
“You said that picture was from 2019.””
“Yes.””
“Nia was born in 2015.””
“I know.””
“So where is Lily?””
Vanessa didn't answer.
I looked at her.
“Where is she?””
She lowered her eyes.
“I don't know.””
Adrian took one step toward her.
“Don't lie.””
“I’m not.””
“You knew where she was.””
“I knew where she was supposed to be.””
Nia's voice broke through the room.
“Where is my sister?””
Everyone turned toward her.
She was standing now.
Tears streaked her face, but she wasn't crying anymore.
She looked angry.
Not like a child.
Like someone who had just discovered that an entire part of her life had been stolen.
Vanessa stared at her.
“I’m sorry.””
“That's not an answer.””
“Nia…”
“Where is Lily?””
Vanessa started crying.
“I was trying to protect both of you.””
“From who?””
Vanessa didn't respond.
Nia looked at Adrian.
“Do you know?””
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“No.””
Marcus spoke.
“I do.””
I turned toward him.
“What?””
He placed his phone on the table.
“Lily was placed in another home.””
“By whom?””
“Your father.””
I stared at him.
“My father?””
“He believed separating the girls was the only way to keep them safe.””
“From what?””
Marcus looked directly at Vanessa.
“From the person who was trying to collect the trust.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You don't understand.””
“Then explain it.””
She looked at me.
“Rachel's trust didn't just contain money.””
“What else?””
“A clause.””
“What clause?””
“If anything happened to Rachel, the money would go to her children.””
I felt cold.
“Both children.””
Vanessa nodded.
“Lily and Nia.””
I looked at the photograph again.
“So someone wanted access to two children's trust funds.””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
She hesitated.
Then whispered,
“Your father's business partner.””
I stared at her.
“Graham Pike?””
Vanessa's eyes lifted.
She didn't need to answer.
That was enough.
Graham Pike had been in my father's life for twenty-two years.
He'd attended my wedding.
He'd stood beside us at my father's funeral.
He had once put his hand on my shoulder and told me, Your father would be proud of you.
I felt sick.
“Graham knew about the trust?””
“Yes.””
“How?””
“Rachel told him.””
“Why would she tell him?””
“Because he helped set it up.””
Adrian suddenly spoke.
“And because he was the one who found me.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
Adrian's face hardened.
“Graham was the reason I was arrested.””
Marcus nodded.
“He paid someone to make the anonymous call.””
I turned toward Vanessa.
“And you knew?””
“Yes.””
“You knew who framed him?””
“I suspected.””
“You suspected?””
“I was afraid.””
“You let a man lose eleven years of his life because you were afraid?””
Vanessa flinched.
“I didn't know what would happen!””
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“I spent eight months locked in a hospital.””
“Adrian—”
“Then six years moving between shelters and temporary jobs because my records were ruined.””
His voice broke.
“Do you know what it feels like to search for your child while everyone thinks you're a criminal?””
Vanessa looked down.
Nia walked toward him.
Adrian immediately stopped talking.
She stood a few feet away.
“You looked for me?””
“Every day.””
“Why didn't you find me?””
“Because they changed your name.””
My chest tightened.
“They changed her name?””
Adrian nodded.
“Your father's plan kept both girls hidden.””
“Then why was Nia living here?””
Vanessa answered.
“Because your father believed keeping her close would protect her.””
I looked at my father in the photograph.
The man I had trusted all my life.
The man who had apparently been hiding an entire second family from me.
“Why didn't he tell me?””
Vanessa whispered,
“Because he didn't trust you.””
That hurt more than I expected.
I looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because he thought you would confront Graham.””
“I would have.””
“Exactly.””
Marcus walked toward the table.
“He was afraid Graham would hurt the children.””
“So he gave one child to Vanessa and the other to somebody else?””
Marcus nodded.
“Different cities.””
“Where?””
“Lily was raised in Kentucky.””
Nia blinked.
“Is she still there?””
Marcus shook his head.
“No.””
My heart sank.
“What happened?””
“She vanished three years ago.””
Vanessa suddenly looked up.
“What?””
Marcus turned toward her.
“You didn't know?””
“No.””
“Then you need to sit down.””
Vanessa slowly lowered herself into a chair.
I felt Nia's hand slip into mine.
“Where did she go?”” she asked.
Marcus opened the photo gallery on his phone.
A recent picture appeared.
A young woman.
Seventeen.
Long dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same birthmark.
My breath caught.
“That’s her.””
Nia stared.
“She looks like me.””
“She is you,” Malik whispered.
Nia looked at him.
Marcus corrected him.
“She is her.””
He zoomed in on the photograph.
Lily stood outside a small grocery store, smiling beside an older woman.
The timestamp was eight months ago.
I stared at the screen.
“If she vanished three years ago, how was this taken eight months ago?””
Marcus looked at me.
“Because she wasn't the one who disappeared.””
“What?””
“The girl who disappeared from Kentucky wasn't Lily.””
Vanessa stood abruptly.
“Then who was?””
Marcus didn't answer.
He opened another photograph.
An older woman.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
She looked vaguely familiar.
I couldn't place her.
Marcus said,
“This was the woman raising Lily.””
“She had her?””
“Yes.””
“Then where is Lily?””
Marcus turned the phone around.
A police bulletin filled the screen.
*MISSING PERSON: LILY CARTER.*
My stomach dropped.
“She's missing now?””
“Six months.””
Nia squeezed my hand.
“Does she know about me?””
Marcus's answer came after a long pause.
“She does now.””
I looked up.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus showed me another message.
It had been sent that morning.
The sender's name was blocked.
The message contained one line.
Tell Daniel Carter his daughter is in danger.
My heart slammed.
“My daughter?””
Marcus nodded.
“There’s more.””
He scrolled.
A second message appeared.
And tell Vanessa Reed she knows what happened in October 2015.
Vanessa stopped breathing.
I turned toward her.
“What happened in October 2015?””
She didn't answer.
“Vanessa.””
Her face had gone white.
Adrian looked at her.
“Tell him.””
“I can't.””
“You have to.””
“I can't.””
I stepped toward her.
“Was Lily born in the same hospital?””
“Yes.””
“Same night?””
She nodded.
“So why didn't anyone know?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Because Lily wasn't supposed to survive.””
Nia's face crumpled.
“What?””
Vanessa immediately looked at her.
“I didn't mean—”
“Say it.””
“She was born weak.””
Adrian interrupted.
“No.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“You weren't there.””
“I was.””
“You left before it happened.””
“I was dragged out of that hospital!””
Vanessa began sobbing.
“Lily stopped breathing.””
Nia's lips parted.
“You told everyone I was alone.””
“I thought she died.””
“You thought?””
“Yes!””
“Then what happened?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“I heard crying.””
Nobody moved.
“I went back.””
“To the hospital?””
“Yes.””
“And?””
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“Lily was alive.””
I stared at her.
“What did you do?””
“I took her.””
Adrian lunged forward.
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Not here.””
Adrian struggled against him.
“You took both of my daughters!””
Vanessa screamed back.
“I saved them!””
“From what?””
“From Graham!””
Silence.
I looked at Marcus.
His face had gone rigid.
“Graham was there?””
Vanessa nodded.
“He came to the hospital.””
“Why?””
“He knew the girls were twins.””
My blood ran cold.
“And he wanted both.””
Vanessa wiped her face.
“He said one child could disappear and nobody would question it.””
I looked at Nia.
She was trembling.
“And the other?””
Vanessa whispered,
“The other would become the key to the trust.””
I didn't understand.
Until Marcus spoke.
“The trust required both children's signatures when they turned eighteen.””
I stared at him.
Nia was ten.
Lily was ten in the photograph.
But if Lily was alive now, she was eleven.
Something didn't add up.
Then Marcus looked at me.
“There's one more thing.””
He turned his phone toward me.
The latest message wasn't from Lily.
It was from Graham Pike.
Daniel, stop digging.
Below it was a second sentence.
You don't know what your father did to those girls.
And attached to the message was a photograph of my father's grave.
Taken less than an hour earlier.
I looked at the front window.
Outside, across the street, a black SUV sat beneath the rain.
Its headlights were off.
May you like
Someone was sitting inside.
Watching our house.