Evelyn did not answer.
The phone vibrated until the screen went dark.
Lily watched her.
"How does your mother know my husband?"
"She showed me his picture."
"When?"
"Last night."
"What did she say?"
Lily tightened both hands around the clip. "She said if he came before you called him, I should run."
Evelyn's stomach turned.
She had not called Adrian.
She had not texted him. She had not told her assistant she was at Bellamy. Adrian was supposed to be in Boston until evening, negotiating a licensing deal.
The phone rang again.
Evelyn declined it.
Thirty seconds later, a message appeared.
WHERE ARE YOU? I HEARD THERE WAS A PROBLEM AT BELLAMY.
She stared at the words.
"We're leaving," she said.
"Where?"
"Not home."
Lily's shoulders loosened by a fraction.
Evelyn paid in cash, took the service corridor through the café kitchen, and led Lily out through an alley behind the building. She ordered a rideshare under the name of a junior employee and gave the driver the address of an apartment she owned through a holding company.
Only three people knew the property belonged to her.
Adrian was one of them.
So she changed the destination halfway there.
They ended up at Naomi Pierce's townhouse in Brooklyn.
Naomi had been Evelyn's closest friend since law school, though Evelyn had left school after her father's death to take over Hart & Vale. Naomi had finished, become an attorney, and developed the irritating habit of looking at every crisis as if it were a contract with hidden clauses.
She opened the door in yoga pants and a silk robe.
"You look like hell."
Then she saw Lily.
"You brought a child."
"Lock the door."
Naomi did.
Twenty minutes later Lily was eating toast at the kitchen island while Evelyn told Naomi everything.
The clip.
The note.
The black sedan.
Adrian's call.
Naomi listened without interrupting, which was how Evelyn knew she was alarmed.
When Evelyn finished, Naomi held out her hand.
"The note."
Evelyn passed it over.
Naomi read it twice.
"You're sure this is Mara's handwriting?"
"Yes."
"After nine years?"
"I know my sister's handwriting."
Naomi did not challenge her.
Instead she crouched in front of Lily.
"Hi. I'm Naomi. I'm Evelyn's friend. Can I ask you a few questions?"
Lily looked at Evelyn first.
That small act of caution broke something in Evelyn's chest.
"It's okay," she said.
Naomi kept her voice gentle. "Where were you and your mother staying?"
"A motel."
"Do you know the name?"
Lily shook her head.
"What did it look like?"
"The sign had a green bird. And there was a gas station next door."
Naomi typed notes into her phone.
"Did anyone hurt you?"
Lily went still.
"No."
The answer was too fast.
Naomi noticed too.
"Did anyone hurt your mother?"
Lily's eyes dropped to the toast.
"Sometimes."
Evelyn's hands curled into fists.
"Who?"
"The men from the white building."
Naomi looked up sharply.
"What white building?"
"Mom called it St. Agnes."
Evelyn knew the name.
Not as a church.
St. Agnes Recovery Center had been one of the largest recipients of the Hart Family Foundation's money. It had closed six years ago after an insurance dispute and an electrical fire.
Adrian had personally handled the foundation's withdrawal from the property.
"Lily," Evelyn said carefully, "was your mother ever a patient there?"
The child picked at the edge of her toast.
"She said they kept her there because people thought she was somebody else."
A chill moved over Evelyn's skin.
"For how long?"
"A long time. Before I remember."
Naomi and Evelyn exchanged a look.
"Did she tell you who put her there?" Naomi asked.
Lily nodded.
"Mr. Gideon."
Evelyn stopped breathing.
Gideon Hart was her father's younger brother.
He was also chairman of Hart & Vale.
He had walked Evelyn down the aisle after her father died.
He had paid for Mara's funeral.
He was the person who had convinced Evelyn, years ago, to stop hiring private investigators and accept that her sister was gone.
Naomi rose slowly.
"We need to verify this before you confront anyone."
Evelyn nodded, but her mind had already moved ahead.
"St. Agnes's records were transferred after the fire."
"Where?"
"Foundation archive storage."
Naomi gave her a look. "And who controls access?"
Evelyn already knew the answer.
Adrian.
The doorbell rang.
All three of them froze.
No one should have known they were there.
A man's voice came through the intercom.
"Naomi? It's Adrian. I know Evelyn's with you. Open the door."
Lily dropped her toast.
"That's him," she whispered.
Evelyn looked at Naomi.
Naomi's face had gone pale.
"I never told him my address," she said.
