Chapter 12 - The Girl in the Red Coat
Olivia nearly dropped her phone.
"She's at school," she whispered.
"Call the school," I said.
She did.
The secretary checked the attendance office and confirmed Lucy was in math class.
No one had signed her out.
Still, Olivia's hands wouldn't stop shaking.
We showed the message to the detective assigned to Faye's intimidation report.
He advised Olivia to document it and arrange a safe pickup through the school.
Elias drove with us, not in uniform, because Lucy didn't need an armed parade outside her classroom.
She came out wearing a red coat and carrying a science project made of cardboard planets.
Olivia ran to her.
"Mom, you're squishing Saturn," Lucy complained.
The sound of a child being annoyed by ordinary affection almost broke my heart.
We took them to a safe place arranged through counsel.
For the first time in years, Olivia asked me a question without first apologizing.
"Did you really send Dad money all those years?"
"Yes."
"Mom told me he paid for everything through his military pension."
"He paid what he could."
Olivia began crying.
"He was proud of you. He kept your newspaper clippings inside a cookbook because Mom threw out anything with your picture."
She reached into her bag and handed me a creased photograph.
It showed Dad watching my first commissioning ceremony on a small television.
Someone had taken it from behind his chair.
On the back he'd written, MY GIRL DID IT.
My throat closed.
Then my phone rang.
May you like
Samuel didn't waste time on greetings.
"Derek has found a buyer for Harbor House," he said. "The closing is scheduled for nine tomorrow morning."
