Chapter 7: The Girl Who Looked Like My Daughter
“Daddy, that's Mommy!””
Ava tore herself from my arms and ran toward the front door.
I caught her around the waist before she reached the handle.
“Wait, sweetheart.””
“But she's here! You said we would find her!””
Her little hands struck my chest. I had no answer that wouldn't sound like a lie.
On the security monitor, Danielle stood beneath the porch light in a dark coat, her hair shorter than I remembered. She looked thinner. Older. There were shadows beneath her eyes that no amount of sleep could erase.
Beside her stood a little girl.
The child wore a yellow cardigan and white sneakers. She had Ava's dark curls, Ava's narrow chin, and the same tiny dimple beside her left cheek.
But what made my blood run cold was the way she stood.
Her left hand gripped Danielle's coat.
Ava did exactly that whenever she was frightened.
The doorbell rang again.
“Marcus,” Danielle said through the speaker.
“Please. I know you're in there.””
I stared at the screen.
For four years, I'd imagined what I would say if I ever saw her again. I'd rehearsed apologies, accusations, desperate questions. I'd imagined running into her arms and holding her until neither of us could stand.
Instead, I found myself wondering whether the woman on my porch was real.
Rachel gripped the sofa arm.
“Don't open the door yet.””
I turned toward her.
“That's my wife.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you telling me not to let her in?””
“Because Daniel could be using her to get inside.””
Vanessa stepped away from the window.
“She's real, Marcus. That's Danielle.””
I looked at her sharply.
“How do you know?””
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“Because I spoke to her yesterday.””
The room went silent.
I lowered Ava to the floor and faced my fiancée.
“You spoke to my wife yesterday?””
“She contacted me through an encrypted phone. She said she was coming back.””
“And you didn't tell me?””
“I was going to.””
“When? After the wedding?””
Vanessa flinched.
I stepped toward her.
“You have one chance to tell me everything.””
She glanced at Rachel, then at the monitor.
“Danielle told me she had to retrieve something from the house. She said it was the only way to protect the girls.””
“The girls?””
Vanessa nodded toward the screen.
“Both of them.””
Ava tugged my hand.
“Daddy, please let Mommy in.””
I looked at my daughter and felt the last of my resistance crumble.
I opened the door but kept my body between Danielle and the children.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
She stared at me with trembling lips. I stared at the woman whose absence had hollowed out my life.
Then she whispered my name.
“Marcus.””
I couldn't speak.
She took one step forward.
I took one step back.
Her face crumpled.
“I know you hate me.””
“I don't know what I feel.””
She nodded, accepting the words as if she'd expected worse.
“That's fair.””
Ava squeezed past me.
“Mommy!””
Danielle dropped to her knees and opened her arms.
My daughter collided with her, wrapping both arms around her neck. Danielle buried her face in Ava's hair and began sobbing.
“Oh, my baby. My beautiful baby.””
Ava held her tightly.
“Why did you leave me?””
Danielle closed her eyes.
“I never wanted to leave you.””
“You didn't come back.””
“I know.””
“You promised.””
Danielle pressed her forehead against Ava's.
“I know, sweetheart. I'm so sorry.””
The other little girl stood motionless on the porch.
She watched the reunion with an expression too solemn for a child her age.
I crouched beside her.
“What's your name?””
She glanced at Danielle.
“Lily.””
“Lily what?””
“Bell.””
My heart stumbled.
I looked at Danielle.
She had stopped crying.
“Marcus,” she said quietly, “there's something I need to explain.””
I stood.
“Start with why your daughter has my last name.””
Danielle looked down at Lily.
Then she looked at Ava.
“Because Lily is your daughter, too.””
The words seemed to strip the sound from the world.
I stared at her.
“No.””
Danielle swallowed.
“She was born three months before I disappeared.””
I shook my head.
“You were never pregnant.””
“I was. I hid it from you because I was afraid.””
“Afraid of me?””
“No!”” She reached for my hand, but I pulled away.
“Afraid of Daniel. He knew about the pregnancy. He knew that if he took Lily, he could control me.””
I looked at the little girl.
She had my eyes.
The same gray-blue color that Ava had inherited.
My knees weakened, and I gripped the doorframe.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because Daniel had already threatened Ava. He told me he would make her disappear if I didn't cooperate.””
“So you left both of us?””
“I thought I was protecting you.””
“You let me believe you were dead!””
“I know.””
“You let our daughter grow up thinking she had no mother!””
Danielle began crying again.
“I know, Marcus.””
I wanted to shout. I wanted to demand that she explain every missing birthday, every sleepless night, every time Ava had cried for someone who wasn't coming home.
But then Lily stepped forward.
“Are you my daddy?””
I looked at her.
She wasn't crying. She was simply waiting for an answer.
I knelt in front of her.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“I think I am.””
She studied my face.
“Mommy said you would have blue eyes.””
A broken laugh escaped me.
“She was right.””
Lily reached out and touched my cheek, as if confirming that I was real.
Then she leaned forward and hugged me.
I wrapped my arms around her, and something inside me broke in a way I hadn't known was possible.
I had spent four years grieving the family I'd lost.
All along, another part of that family had been waiting somewhere beyond my reach.
But the moment was shattered by a sharp voice from the living room.
“Everyone away from the windows!””
Detective Haines stood near the hallway, looking at his phone.
“What is it?”” I asked.
He turned the screen toward me.
A live news broadcast showed police cars outside a warehouse near the Savannah River. Officers were carrying boxes of documents into waiting vans.
A banner at the bottom read: *FEDERAL INVESTIGATION EXPANDS AFTER ANONYMOUS TIP.*
Haines looked at Danielle.
“Did you send them the records?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
Rachel rose unsteadily from the sofa.
“Then Daniel has them.””
Vanessa went pale.
“That's impossible. The original files are on the memory card.””
Rachel looked at me.
“Not all of them.””
Before anyone could speak, my phone buzzed.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
*YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO HAND OVER THE CARD. OTHERWISE, THE CHILDREN WILL PAY FOR THEIR MOTHER'S MISTAKE.*
A photograph followed.
It showed two figures standing outside our front gate.
One was Daniel.
The other was a woman wearing a police uniform.
She looked directly into the camera and smiled.
Danielle grabbed my arm.
“Marcus, we have to leave. Now.””
I looked toward the front door.
Then I heard the sound of engines outside.
Not one car.
Several.
May you like
And when the first window shattered, I realized Daniel hadn't come back for the memory card.
He had come back for all of us.
