Chapter 8 - WHAT DAISY SAW
Damon did not repeat the threatening call to Daisy. He gave it to Detective Marisol Vega, along with the storage unit number and photographs. Vega promised to check the cellular records through the proper process.
At Sofia's apartment, Daisy sat at the kitchen table drawing flowers with a box of broken crayons. A child psychologist had recommended gentle questions, without prompting or pressuring her to remember.
Sofia made grilled cheese while Vega sat across from Daisy.
“Did you see a truck yesterday?” Vega asked.
Daisy nodded and drew a rectangle with wheels. “A blue bird.”
“What happened near it?”
“Mama was yelling. A man told her she was making trouble. She said the food belongs to the kids.”
Daisy's crayon stopped. “Then he took her phone. I ran because Mama told me to.”
“Where did you run?”
“To the big party. There was a picture of cake on the sign.”
Damon looked away. She had followed pictures of food through unfamiliar streets because adults had taught her where help was supposed to be.
“What did the man look like?” Vega asked.
Daisy pressed hard enough to snap the crayon. “He had a mark here.” She pointed to her eyebrow. “Like a little moon.”
Vega wrote that down. Damon remembered Owen Pike's pale crescent scar beside his left eye.
Sofia carried Daisy into the living room, where she could finish her sandwich and watch a cartoon. Vega waited until the door was closed.
“Pike has prior complaints for witness intimidation,” she said. “Not convictions. I can look harder, but we need more than resemblance.”
Damon's phone flashed with a foundation email. It announced he had been removed as gala chair and placed on temporary leave from the board.
Below it was a private message from Elisa:
May you like
YOU KEEP PLAYING HERO, DAMON. NEXT TIME, THE CAMERAS WON'T BE THERE.
