Chapter 18 - No More Doors
I spent the next hour sitting between Lily and Elena on Rosa's couch. A cartoon played on mute. None of us watched it.
Park had warned us not to travel to the motel, and I obeyed. Earlier, I might have chased Vanessa down a highway to demand answers. Now I understood that Lily didn't need a father who could shout louder than the threat. She needed one who would stay.
At 1:36 a.m., Park called.
"Vanessa is in custody," she said. "She was alone. The officers recovered documents and electronic devices."
I closed my eyes. Elena began to cry, not with joy but with the exhaustion of someone who had been holding a door shut for days.
"Is Lily safe?" I asked.
"There is no known accomplice still looking for her. We'll continue checking. The protective plans stay in place."
When Lily woke, we told her only what she needed to know: Vanessa had been found, adults were handling the case, and she would not have to see her without a carefully considered legal process.
A few days later, Park met us with an update. The motel room contained the missing passport, a packet of fabricated court papers, and a phone holding messages between Vanessa and Ricardo. They had argued after the police found Waverly Lane. Ricardo wanted more money; Vanessa wanted the scheme completed before I realized how much she'd taken.
There was also video from the first rental house. In it, Vanessa practiced questions she intended to ask Lily on camera.
"Say Daddy doesn't want you," she instructed an empty chair. "Say Mommy Elena forgot you."
I stood up before the video finished. Mara told me we had enough for the moment.
Outside the interview room, Lily waited with Elena and a box of crayons. She looked up when I approached.
"Did you find the bad lady?"
"The police found Vanessa."
Lily nodded once.
May you like
Then she asked the question I had been dreading.
"Does that mean she'll finally believe me?"
