Chapter 2

The accountant rubs his forehead, trying to play peacemaker.

"Tessa, come on. Locking us in here isn't gonna magic her back. Maybe she just got bored, snuck out, you know how kids are. Why don't we just call 911?"

Every phone in the room pings at the same time.

His face drops. Screens light up with his own paper trail. Cooked books. Fake invoices. Years of skimming, all laid out clean.

I tilt my head.

"You sure you wanna call 911, Bennett?"

He's already sweating through his shirt.

"That's not, no, I didn't, that's not what I meant, Tessa, please."

I send the next file.

"Then explain these. All these big numbers, no receipts. Where'd that money go, Bennett?"

His eyes flick to Ryan. Mouth opens. Closes. Nothing.

I smile, slow.

"Fine. I'll save you the trouble. Two million on a condo for Yvonne. Quarter mil on her car. Twenty grand on a single handbag. Want me to keep going? I have screenshots."

"Enough!" Ryan snaps. "Yvonne's new in town, okay? She needed a place. End of story. You wanna stand here counting receipts, or you wanna find your kid?"

Yvonne bites her lip. Lets out the tiniest, prettiest little sob.

"It's okay. He was just being nice. I'll give it all back, I swear. I'll quit today."

Ryan pulls her in.

"Stop it. You're not going anywhere. Tessa's the one with the problem, not you."

The room turns on me.

"Are we looking for this kid or what?"

"She doesn't even care. She just wants to slut-shame some twenty-something."

"No wonder her kid ran off. I wouldn't wanna be raised by her either."

Something inside my chest splits open.

I worked three jobs to put Ryan through his startup. Waitressing, retail, cleaning offices at night. I handed him every dollar I made.

He threw me five hundred a month and called it generous. Said the company was bleeding. Said I shouldn't make it worse.

Lily and I lived in a one-bedroom with mold on the ceiling. Day-old bread. Canned soup.

Meanwhile he was buying her a condo. Buying her designer bags. Taking her to the kind of restaurants I'd never even heard of.

With our money. With my money.

I shove it all back down.

"My daughter is in this building. Ninety minutes."

Nobody argues this time.

"Okay! Okay, we're going!"

The room clears out. I reach into my bag and slide a folder across the table.

"Sign it. We're done."

Ryan's jaw locks.

"Tessa, no. I'm not signing anything. Yvonne and me, there's nothing there. She's like a sister to me, I swear to God."

His phone buzzes.

He looks down. The blood drains right out of his face.

"You're blackmailing me?"

I shrug.

"Sign it. Or in three minutes, every single person in this building reads that text."

"Are you out of your mind? You really want Lily growing up without a father?"

I look up at him. My eyes sting.

A father who's never been to a single birthday party. A father who couldn't tell you the name of her preschool.

What exactly is she losing?

Ryan grabs the pen. Signs so hard he nearly tears the paper.

"This isn't over. We can still tear it up. Eight years, Tessa. Eight years of marriage. You're really gonna throw that away?"

I almost laugh.

Eight years ago, I cut off my own family for him. Moved across the country. Believed every word out of his mouth.

If my parents hadn't reached back out to me last year, I wouldn't even be standing here. I wouldn't have anything to fight him with.

The search team trickles back in. Empty hands. Empty faces.

Kyle is red and panting.

"She's not in the building, Tessa! We checked everywhere, twice!"

I don't argue. I just turn on the projector.

Every camera. Every angle. The hour before Lily disappeared, on a loop.

She never walked out that door. Not once.

I tap the timer.

"Sixty minutes."