Chapter 3

"From now on, every ten minutes, I drop a new secret."

"Don't find my kid, and you're either going to prison or your life is over. Pick one."

The room explodes at me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! We didn't lose your kid!"

"You're the mom! Why didn't you watch her?!"

"Honestly? You deserve this. Garbage mom, garbage kid. She's probably hiding somewhere laughing at us right now."

I don't react. I just turn my head, slow, and look right at Yvonne.

"What about you?"

She freezes for a second. Then her eyes well up right on schedule.

"It's all my fault. I won't sleep, I won't eat, I'll tear this place apart with my bare hands until we find Lily, I swear."

Ryan strokes her hair like she's the heartbroken one.

"That's my Yvonne. Some people don't even love their own kid. Won't even give her a real family."

Yvonne's eyes flash. Just for a second. Then back to wounded puppy.

"Yvonne." I cut clean through their little moment. "If you knew Ryan had a video call this morning, why did you tell my mother-in-law to bring Lily to the office?"

The room goes dead silent.

The same people who were just calling me a monster mom, suddenly nobody's got anything to say.

Ryan stares at her too. His face is doing something weird.

I've raised Lily on my own from day one. He came in this morning and found a four-year-old in his lobby, and he's been blaming me for it in his head ever since.

Yvonne feels every eye in the room land on her. Her lip wobbles right on cue.

"You, you said last week, when you'd been drinking, you said you missed her. I thought you wanted to see her, so I…"

Ryan's face goes blank. But he nods anyway. Of course he does.

Then he glares at me.

"See? Yvonne thinks about me. Not like you. You couldn't even bother to come along when my mom brought her over. This is on you, Tessa. All of it."

I drop my eyes.

So I was right.

His mother hasn't held our daughter in two years. She wouldn't have shown up today on her own. Somebody told her to.

The ten-minute timer hits zero.

I let my eyes drift around the room. Land on Ryan. And smile.

He goes pale.

"Tessa, I signed it. You can't use that one against me, we had a deal."

I shake my head.

"Oh, honey. You have so many secrets. I'm spoiled for choice."

Every phone in the room pings.

It's a photo.

A little boy on Ryan's shoulders. Both of them grinning like the sun came up just for them.

I took that picture myself. Last summer. I was at the park with Lily, picking up empty bottles to cash in for grocery money.

He was twenty feet away. Yvonne next to him. That little boy laughing on his shoulders. Looked like a perfect Sunday afternoon family.

Lily saw it before I did. Her eyes lit up. And then she looked closer.

"Mommy. Is that Daddy?"

"Mommy. I want Daddy to pick me up like that. Just one time."

I just held her tighter and swallowed the whole ocean down.

Ryan stares at the photo. His face goes stiff, then ugly.

"What does any of this have to do with finding her?! I'm done! I'm DONE!"

I tip my head back. Push the tears down. My voice comes out flat.

"Tell me where my daughter is. Or this little boy disappears. For good."

Yvonne screams. Like an animal.

"YOU'RE INSANE!"

She catches herself. Coughs. Brings the tears right back up.

"Tessa, please, I lost her, take it out on me, kill me if you want, just don't hurt a baby."

She drops to her knees. Crawls toward me. Wraps her arms around my legs.

I don't even get a chance to kick her off.

She goes flying. Shrieks as she hits the floor.

Ryan's face turns black.

The next second, his hand cracks across mine.