Chapter 5 - AUNT RACHEL ARRIVESRachel Monroe arrived at the hospital wearing mismatched shoes and a coat thrown over pajamas.
She looked like Anna.
Same brown eyes. Same heart-shaped face. Same terrified determination in the jaw.
The moment she saw Lily through the glass, she broke.
“My baby,” Rachel whispered. “What did he do to you?”
Denise stopped her gently before she entered. “Lily is safe, but she’s been through trauma. We need to introduce you calmly.”
Rachel nodded too fast. “Of course. Yes. Anything. I’ll do anything.”
Detective Hayes stepped beside her. “Rachel, we found something connected to Anna.”
Rachel pressed one hand to her mouth.
“The pink bunny?” she whispered.
Hayes looked surprised.
Rachel’s eyes overflowed. “Anna called me the week before she disappeared. She said if anything happened, Lily’s bunny mattered. I told the police. Greg said I was hysterical. He said Anna had always been dramatic.”
Hayes’s face darkened. “That detail wasn’t in the official file I saw.”
Rachel laughed bitterly. “Because the first detective believed Greg.”
A silence followed.
Every town had a man like Greg Carter. Clean shirt. Steady voice. Grieving eyes for cameras. The kind of man people trusted because he knew exactly how trustworthy men were supposed to stand.
Rachel looked at me. “You’re the doctor?”
“Yes. Dr. Ellis.”
“Thank you for cutting the boot.”
I did not know what to say to that.
Inside the room, Lily stirred. Her eyes opened halfway, unfocused at first. Then she saw Rachel.
“Auntie?”
Rachel made a sound that was almost a sob and almost a prayer.
Denise nodded, allowing her in.
Rachel approached slowly, hands visible. “Hi, bug.”
Lily’s chin trembled. “Daddy said you hated me.”
Rachel shook her head, tears spilling freely. “Never. Not for one second.”
“He said Mommy left because I cried too much.”
Rachel sat beside the bed but did not touch her until Lily reached out first.
Then Lily lifted both arms.
Rachel gathered her carefully, avoiding the fractured arm, and held her with a tenderness that made the room look away.
Over Rachel’s shoulder, Lily whispered, “I didn’t tell him about the other hiding place.”
Hayes stepped closer.
Rachel closed her eyes.
“What other hiding place, baby?”
Lily looked at me first, then at Detective Hayes.
“Mommy said doctors know where secrets go when people are scared.”
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I felt cold move down my spine.
Because suddenly I knew exactly what Anna Carter might have done.
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