Chapter 11 - The Friend Who Took Lily
Grace did not cry.
That frightened Nathan more than if she had screamed.
She called Rachel.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
The third call connected.
Rachel’s voice whispered.
“Grace.”
“Put Lily on.”
“Please listen.”
“Put my daughter on the phone.”
A pause.
Then Lily.
“Mommy?”
Grace closed her eyes.
“Baby.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Aunt Rachel says we’re going somewhere safe.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Trees.”
Rachel took the phone.
“Grace, I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“You do not get to start with sorry.”
“I know.”
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you yet.”
Grace’s voice became ice.
“You have my child.”
“I am not hurting her.”
“You took her.”
“To protect her.”
Grace laughed once.
The same phrase.
Protect.
Nathan saw it hit her.
“From who?”
Rachel whispered.
“Catherine.”
Grace turned toward Catherine.
Catherine looked confused.
Rachel continued.
“You cannot trust Victoria’s mother.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Why?”
Rachel heard him.
“Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“Catherine did hire me.”
“But not to protect Lily.”
Catherine shouted.
“That’s a lie.”
Rachel continued.
“She wanted access to Charles’s files.”
“She used Grace to get close to Nathan.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Another layer.
Nathan asked.
“Where are you taking Lily?”
“To Daniel.”
Grace almost dropped the phone.
“What?”
Rachel said.
“He has the only location Marcus’s remaining people do not know.”
Nathan stared.
“Daniel is under police guard.”
“Not anymore.”
Eli checked.
His face changed.
Daniel had been transferred under federal protection an hour earlier.
Rachel somehow knew.
Nathan asked.
“Who told you?”
“Rebecca Sloan.”
Nathan looked at Rebecca.
She stood ten feet away.
Everyone turned.
Rebecca did not run.
Did not reach for anything.
She simply exhaled.
Grace stared.
“You.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Yes.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Rebecca looked at the armed agents around her.
“Can we do this without anyone shooting me?”
Nathan’s voice remained cold.
“Talk.”
Rebecca had been Richard’s contingency lawyer.
Not Marcus’s.
Not Charles’s.
Richard hired her secretly before his death.
Her job was to preserve evidence.
Monitor Marcus.
Monitor Charles.
And protect any undisclosed heirs.
Adam.
Eventually Lily.
Rebecca learned about Lily six months earlier when Grace wrote Nathan’s office.
She intercepted the letter because she saw Whitmore surveillance attached to Grace’s name.
Nathan stared.
“You intercepted Grace’s letter?”
“Yes.”
“You kept me from knowing about my daughter.”
“I delayed you.”
“Six months.”
“I was trying to determine whether revealing Lily would activate the same network that removed Adam.”
Grace stepped forward.
“You don’t get to experiment with my child’s life.”
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
“No.”
Grace continued.
“You decided Nathan couldn’t be trusted with the truth.”
“Yes.”
“You decided I couldn’t be trusted with the truth.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca’s voice cracked slightly.
“I became exactly what Richard told me to watch.”
Silence.
Nathan understood.
Control.
Again.
Even someone trying to protect them had chosen control.
Grace said.
“Where is Rachel taking Lily?”
Rebecca gave the location immediately.
An old church property used by federal witnesses decades earlier.
Eli moved.
Nathan stopped Rebecca.
“You’re finished at Cole Meridian.”
“I know.”
“You may also face charges.”
“I know.”
Nathan stared.
Rebecca did not ask forgiveness.
That was the first intelligent thing anyone had done.
They reached the church forty minutes later.
Rachel stood outside.
Lily held her hand.
Grace ran.
Lily released Rachel and threw herself into her mother.
Grace dropped to her knees.
She held Lily.
Then looked over Lily’s head at Rachel.
No forgiveness.
Not today.
Rachel cried.
“I’m sorry.”
Grace stood.
“You were my friend.”
“I became your friend.”
“What were you before?”
“Paid.”
The word hurt more than a lie.
Grace nodded slowly.
“I hope someday I can remember the difference.”
Then she walked away.
Nathan crouched.
Lily hugged him without being asked.
Nathan’s eyes burned.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“Aunt Rachel was crying a lot.”
Nathan looked at Rachel.
“Adults have been doing that recently.”
Lily whispered.
“Can we go home?”
Nathan looked at Grace.
Grace answered.
“Yes.”
Home.
Not Nathan’s estate.
Grace’s apartment.
Nathan understood.
They returned there under security.
For the first time in days, Lily slept in her own bed.
Nathan sat on the floor outside her room.
Grace found him.
“You know there are chairs.”
“I know.”
“Beds.”
“Yes.”
“Sofas.”
“I’m aware.”
Grace sat beside him.
Neither spoke.
Then Nathan said.
“I almost became like them.”
Grace looked at him.
“When?”
“Every time I thought money or security gave me the right to decide for you.”
She nodded.
“You did.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
They sat.
Nathan said.
“I don’t know what we are.”
Grace looked toward Lily’s door.
“Parents.”
“I mean us.”
“I know.”
She leaned her head against the wall.
“I still love you.”
Nathan forgot how to breathe.
Grace continued.
“That makes me angry.”
“Why?”
“Because it would be easier if I didn’t.”
Nathan nodded.
“I still love you too.”
“That makes me suspicious.”
“Fair.”
“But love is not enough.”
“I know.”
Grace looked at him.
“You keep saying that.”
“This time I mean it.”
She smiled faintly.
A phone vibrated.
Nathan checked.
Adam Marsh.
Message.
May you like
I’M IN NEW YORK.
AND SOMEONE FOLLOWED ME FROM THE AIRPORT.
