“I met you because of Emily.”
That sentence hurt more than everything else.
“But I married you because I loved you.”
“You built our life around a lie.”
“I know.”
“You had a child living ten feet from our daughter.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“You let Lily discover her!”
“I didn’t know she had.”
Lily raised her hand timidly.
“I heard Maya crying.”
Everyone looked at her.
“She was lonely.”
Maya squeezed Lily’s fingers.
“We played through the vent.”
Something cracked inside my chest.
My four-year-old had discovered a trapped child and responded more honestly than every adult in the house.
She had fed her.
Kept her secret.
Kept her company.
I crouched in front of both girls.
“No more walls.”
Maya stared at me.
“What?”
“No one hides in walls anymore.”
Caroline whispered, “Ryan—”
“I mean it.”
Then a sound echoed through the house.
The front door opening.
Everyone froze.
I looked at Caroline.
“Were you expecting someone?”
Her face drained.
“No.”
Footsteps.
Downstairs.
Slow.
Heavy.
Lily whispered, “That’s the man Mommy meets.”
Caroline stared at her.
“What man?”
“The night man.”
“I don’t meet anyone here at night.”
Lily pointed toward the corridor.
“He comes when you’re sleeping.”
Caroline looked confused.
For the first time that night, genuinely confused.
Then a male voice floated up the staircase.
“Ryan?”
I knew that voice.
My uncle.
Thomas Mercer.
Nathan’s younger brother.
He had practically raised me after my parents died.
He had given the toast at my wedding.
Held Lily in the hospital.
Loaned me the money to start my company.
I stepped from the passage into Lily’s room.
“Thomas?”
He appeared in the doorway.
He smiled.
Then saw the open vent.
The smile vanished.
Behind me, Dr. Vale whispered, “That’s him.”
Thomas’s eyes shifted toward the sound.
I saw the calculation occur instantly.
He reached into his jacket.
I slammed him into the wall before his hand came out.
A pistol dropped onto Lily’s rug.
Caroline screamed.
Thomas drove his elbow into my jaw.
We crashed into the dresser.
I hit him once.
Hard.
He smiled through blood.
“You always had Daniel’s temper.”
Everything stopped.
“You knew him.”
Thomas laughed.
“Better than you ever did.”
Dr. Vale emerged holding the gun.
Thomas looked almost amused.
“Edward.”
“Get on your knees.”
Thomas raised his hands.
“You really think this ends with me?”
“Who else?”
Thomas looked directly at Caroline.
And smiled.
“Ask your wife.”
I turned.
Caroline looked genuinely horrified.
Thomas laughed again.
“She still doesn’t know?”
“Know what?”
He pointed toward Maya.
“Ask who signed the order releasing Emily from Briarwood.”
Dr. Vale’s grip tightened.
Thomas continued.
“Someone inside Mercer Medical authorized it.”
Caroline whispered, “You did.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Ryan did.”
The room went silent.
