I rewound.
Played it again.
The same.
The sentence was gone.
Stephen was staring at me.
I felt as though the floor had shifted beneath my chair.
“Daniel was nineteen when Claire left,” I said.
Stephen nodded slowly.
“He worked at Harlow later.”
“Not until years afterward.”
“Are you sure?”
I started to answer.
Then stopped.
Because I wasn’t.
Daniel and I had met in college.
Everything I knew about his life before that came from Daniel himself.
I picked up my phone.
There were three missed calls.
All from him.
And one message.
Anna, call me as soon as you can. It’s about Lily.
I called immediately.
Daniel answered before the first ring finished.
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
“Is Lily with you?”
“No, she’s at preschool.”
Silence.
“Daniel?”
“Go get her.”
My heart began pounding.
“Why?”
“Just get her.”
“No. Tell me what’s happening.”
He exhaled.
Then said something I never expected.
