“Enough.”
“She’s confused.”
Emily stepped forward.
“No, Ryan.”
He looked at her.
For the first time, I saw fear in his face.
Emily’s voice shook.
“I was confused after the accident.”
Ryan said nothing.
“I believed you when you said James didn’t want to speak to me.”
Silence.
“I believed you when you said my parents couldn’t handle seeing me.”
Ryan stared at her.
“I believed you when you said Lily was having nightmares because of me.”
Lily looked up.
“I never had nightmares about Mommy.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
Ryan rubbed his forehead.
“This is exactly what I was worried about. You’re putting a child in the middle of adult medical issues.”
Vanessa laughed once.
It sounded almost hysterical.
“Adult medical issues?”
Ryan turned.
“Vanessa, stay out of this.”
“You told me your wife was buried.”
“Not now.”
“You proposed to me four months after her funeral.”
“There was no funeral,” I said.
Vanessa stared at me.
“What?”
I looked at Ryan.
“He told the family Emily was cremated according to her wishes.”
Emily’s mouth fell open.
“I never wanted to be cremated.”
Ryan suddenly headed toward the side exit.
A security guard stepped in front of him.
“Sir, please remain here until officers arrive.”
Ryan stopped.
“This is my wedding.”
The guard looked around.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a wedding.”
Someone in the back actually laughed.
Vanessa heard it.
She ripped the engagement ring from her finger.
Ryan’s eyes widened.
“Don’t.”
She threw it.
The ring hit his chest and fell onto the dance floor.
“You made me part of this.”
Ryan lowered his voice.
“You knew enough.”
Vanessa froze.
Emily heard him.
So did I.
“What does that mean?” Emily asked.
Vanessa shook her head quickly.
“Nothing.”
Ryan smiled.
It was the first smile I had seen from him since Emily walked in.
And it was ugly.
“She knew you were alive.”
Vanessa turned toward him.
“You liar.”
“You visited the facility.”
Emily’s face changed.
“What?”
Vanessa went pale.
Ryan kept going.
“She came with me twice.”
“That’s not true.”
“Tell her.”
“I stayed in the car!”
Emily stumbled backward.
Lily grabbed her hand.
I stepped between Emily and them.
Vanessa started crying.
“He told me you were permanently brain damaged.”
Emily stared at her.
“He told me you didn’t know your own name anymore.”
Ryan said, “Be careful.”
Vanessa rounded on him.
“No. You be careful.”
Then sirens became audible outside.
Ryan’s confident expression disappeared.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“I have messages.”
Ryan looked at her.
“What messages?”
“Every message you sent me.”
“Vanessa.”
“Every photo.”
His face changed.
“And every time you told me what to say if anyone asked about Emily.”
Ryan lunged toward her.
The security guards grabbed him immediately.
“Get off me!”
Lily screamed.
Emily pulled her close.
Ryan fought against the guards.
“This is all being twisted!”
The ballroom doors opened.
Two police officers entered.
Behind them was an older woman in navy scrubs.
Emily gasped.
“Nurse Carter.”
The nurse walked directly toward her.
Ryan stopped fighting.
Because unlike me, Nurse Evelyn Carter had not come with anger.
She came carrying a thick brown envelope.
She handed it to one of the officers.
“I brought the copies.”
Ryan stared at the envelope.
“What copies?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Your wife’s medical records.”
Ryan went still.
“And the visitor logs.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Evelyn continued.
“And the authorization forms bearing Emily’s signature.”
Emily whispered, “I never signed anything.”
“I know,” Evelyn said.
Then she looked directly at Ryan.
“Because some of those forms were signed on days Emily physically could not hold a pen.”
Nobody made a sound.
The officer opened the envelope.
Ryan’s knees seemed to weaken.
Then Evelyn delivered the sentence that finally erased every trace of arrogance from his face.
“There’s more.”
Ryan looked at her.
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“The facility has cameras.”
Chapter 3
Ryan was taken out of the ballroom twenty minutes later.
Not in handcuffs.
Not yet.
The officers said they needed statements.
They needed records.
They needed to understand what had actually happened.
Ryan tried to make that sound like a victory.
As he walked past me, he leaned close.
“You just destroyed your sister’s life.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
Then I looked at Emily holding Lily.
“You did.”
He was escorted outside.
The wedding guests scattered in nervous groups.
Some hugged Emily.
Some apologized.
Some avoided her because they didn’t know what to say to a woman whose death they had accepted without ever seeing a body.
Vanessa sat alone at the bridal table.
Her perfect wedding makeup was streaked with tears.
Emily didn’t look at her.
She had only one concern.
Lily.
For the next hour, Lily refused to let go of her mother.
She touched Emily’s face repeatedly.
Her hair.
Her hands.
Her shoulders.
Like she was making sure she was real.
Finally Lily whispered, “Are you coming home?”
Emily looked at me.
That question was harder than anything Ryan had said.
Because the house Lily meant was Ryan’s house.
And none of us knew what would happen next.
Emily crouched beside her.
“I’m staying with Uncle James tonight.”
“Can I come?”
Before Emily could answer, a police officer approached us.
Officer Martinez had been one of the first through the ballroom doors.
He looked uncomfortable.
“Mr. Walker?”
That was me.
“Yes?”
“We need to discuss Lily.”
Emily stood.
“What about her?”
“Her father currently has legal custody.”
Emily’s face changed instantly.
“I’m her mother.”
“I understand.”
“I never gave up custody.”
“I understand that too.”
“Then she comes with me.”
Martinez lowered his voice.
“Mrs. Carter, I’m not trying to separate you from your daughter.”
“Then don’t.”
Lily clung to her dress.
Martinez sighed.
“Child Protective Services is being contacted because of what happened tonight. There are witnesses to Mr. Carter striking Lily.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means she won’t automatically be released back to him.”
Emily exhaled.
“But there’s another problem.”
Of course there was.
There was always another problem.
“What?” Emily asked.
Martinez glanced at his notebook.
“According to the state database, Emily Carter is legally deceased.”
The words hit differently when a police officer said them.
Emily stared at him.
“What?”
“Your death certificate was filed seven months ago.”
I felt cold.
Vanessa had told the truth.
Ryan hadn’t just lied.
He had created paperwork.
Emily whispered, “How can I be dead when I’m standing here?”
“That’s what we’re going to investigate.”
Lily began crying again.
“My mommy isn’t dead!”
Emily immediately picked her up.
“I know, baby.”
Martinez nodded.
“We know.”
But legally, it mattered.
Everything mattered.
The death certificate.
Custody.
Property.
Bank accounts.
Insurance.
Marriage.
Every lie Ryan had told had been reinforced by another lie.
We left the country club after midnight.
CPS approved Lily staying with me temporarily because I was family and because dozens of witnesses had seen Ryan strike her.
Emily came too.
Lily fell asleep in the back seat with her head in Emily’s lap.