Chapter 3 - A Doctor Who Wouldn't Look Away
Dr. Mina Patel examined Lily gently, with me beside her the entire time. Lily had bruising on her knee and wrist but no sign of serious injury. The doctor explained what symptoms to watch for and documented what had happened.
"Who pushed you?" she asked Lily, without putting words in her mouth.
"The shiny lady," Lily murmured. "She was mad at the song."
I felt sick. I'd spent two years teaching my daughter that the world could be kind, and one afternoon had taught her to be afraid of music.
Dr. Patel told me she was making a report about the incident, as required. I thanked her. For once, an adult wasn't asking me to make things easier for the person who'd caused the pain.
Outside, Grace was waiting beside the car. "Mr. Caldwell says you may take paid leave," she said.
"He doesn't get to buy our silence."
"He said that isn't what this is. He also asked me to give you this." She held out a flash drive in a paper sleeve. "It's the parlor security footage. I made a copy before anyone requested an edit."
We watched it on my laptop at home. Victoria stepped behind Lily, pulled her away from the piano bench, and shoved her. There was no accident to explain away. Lily cried before she ever reached the floor.
Then the footage showed Victoria looking at a security camera and speaking directly to it.
"You won't be using this against me, Ethan. Arthur owns half your board."
Arthur Haynes, her father, financed the company's largest expansion. His name was on every charity invitation and, apparently, every threat.
An hour later, an unknown number called my phone.
"Miss Vega?" a man asked. His voice was smooth, professional. "I'm calling about your daughter. You have something that belongs to the Caldwell family."
"Who is this?"
May you like
"Owen Pike. Security. Don't send that video anywhere."
I knew the name. Four years ago, a man calling himself Owen Pike had told me which bus to take out of New York.
