Chapter 1
The baseball bat hit the wall hard enough to knock a framed photograph crooked.
Four-year-old Lily Cole screamed and ran barefoot down the upstairs hall.
"Dead girls keep secrets, sweetheart."
Vanessa's voice followed her.
Lily did not understand every word, but she understood the bat. She understood the look in her stepmother's eyes. And she understood that the bedroom door at the end of the hall was locked.
So she ran for the stairs.
Vanessa was three steps behind her when another figure came out of the shadow beside the guest room.
Grace Cole.
Lily's mother.
Grace had not been allowed inside that house for six months.
She did not stop to explain how she had gotten in.
She grabbed Vanessa around the waist just as the bat came up.
All three of them went down hard on the runner.
"Lily, run!"
Lily stumbled toward the landing.
Vanessa twisted, kicked Grace away, and screamed, "Get off me!"
Then the front door below opened.
Daniel Cole came home with two security officers behind him.
He looked up and froze.
His ex-wife was on the floor.
His new wife was holding a baseball bat.
His daughter was crying against the banister.
"What the hell is happening?"
Vanessa pointed at Grace.
"She broke in! She attacked me! She tried to kill me!"
Grace stared at Daniel as if the accusation barely registered.
"Ask Lily."
Daniel looked at his daughter.
Lily's face was white.
Vanessa snapped, "She is four. She doesn't know what she saw."
Lily slowly reached into the pocket of her pajamas.
Her hand shook so badly she almost dropped what she pulled out.
A tiny black recorder.
"No, Daddy," she whispered.
Daniel went still.
Lily held it toward him.
"She already tried once."
Nobody spoke.
Then Vanessa's face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
May you like
She knew exactly what was on that recorder.
And she lunged for it.
