Page 66 of No More Words

Ethan touches her arm and she flinches. His expression is sympathetic. “I wish I knew more.”

So did she. But what he did tell her helped. He confirmed she can’t trust her dad. He reaffirmed Lily needs her, more than she ever has before.

“I leave for Malta in the morning, but I’ll reach out if I think of anything else.”

She nods, biting her bottom lip to stop it from trembling.

“Will you be okay?”

“Yeah.” She pushes her hair off her face and plugs in her smile, even though she’s screaming inside. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

CHAPTER 23

Day 5

Olivia pushes her shades up her nose and crouches in her car across the street and two houses up from her parents’. Lucas texted this morning that Charlotte doesn’t know Lily’s address. His next text told her to stop asking Mom about their sister. She’s emotional. Lily’s a sensitive subject and Olivia’s stressing her out. Which is why Olivia finds herself hiding in her car as if she’s casing the neighborhood. She needs to get inside Dwight’s office to find Lily’s address without Charlotte around. She also wants to search for the photos Dwight said he had of Lily and Ethan to see if she can tell who Josh’s father might be, as well as review yesterday’s surveillance tape. How visible is Josh’s face? The recordings autodelete after six days, but Charlotte mentioned Dwight does watch them, and that’s a chance Olivia won’t take. He’ll be home tomorrow.

This time she left Josh at home with Amber.

Through the rearview and side mirrors, Olivia watches Charlotte load her Mercedes trunk with A-frame signs:OPENHOUSE. She adds a bag of flyers and a plastic container of freshly baked cookies to the back seat before settling into the driver’s seat. For a few minutes, she touches up her mascara and lipstick, then reverses out of the driveway. Olivia waits until her mom turns the corner before she pulls into the drive Charlotte just vacated.

She lets herself in through the unlocked front door, grateful Charlotte believes a gated community and security cameras keep her safe and home invaders out. The window hasn’t been replaced, but is boarded up. She wonders if Charlotte is still steamed about the damage. She also wonders how often she thought about her youngest daughter, out in the world, alone with an infant. How devastating that must have been for her. No wonder Charlotte avoids talking about Lily. Her heartache must be unbearable.

Granted, she wanted Lily to put Josh up for adoption, but she had Lily’s best interests in mind. Charlotte never finished college. She met and married Dwight. Olivia suspects Charlotte has resented that decision. She pushed for her children to earn degrees. It wasn’t a question that they would. Olivia is the only one of the three who achieved that milestone. Olivia surmises Charlotte took it personally when Lily ran away. She took with her Charlotte’s hopes and dreams for her artistically talented, athletically inclined daughter.

The house smells of the cookies Charlotte just baked, melted chocolate chips and butter. Even though Olivia has plenty of time—Charlotte isn’t expected to return until after 5:00 p.m.—she rushes to Dwight’s office, feeling sick to her stomach. She’s let herself in before, has so many fond memories of watching her dad work in his room, but she’s never invaded his personal space under false pretenses, especially now that she suspects of him what she does.

She drops her hobo purse on a chair and rounds his desk. He’s a neat freak, so she should be able to locate what she needs quickly. Still, her hands shake when she boots up Dwight’s computer. Dishonesty makes her physically ill. For once, she’s the betrayer.

“Hurry, hurry,” she whispers to the room. His computer is an old Dell, and the unit takes its sweet time waking up. She rubs her hands together, looking around the spartan office she spent many hours in while growing up. When she was a kid, she’d do her homework on thefloor while Dwight made his late afternoon calls. Her gaze latches on to his Rolodex. He still uses that? She rotates the wheel, landing on C. The front door slams and she almost falls out of the chair.

“Olivia? Olivia, are you here?”

Olivia’s stomach drops.

She stabs the computer’s power button to shut it down and stuffs the Rolodex in her bag. It’s unwieldy, but she needs something to point her to Lily. Shouldering her bag, she gives the computer a look of frustrated longing. Dwight’s contact list will have to wait. Charlotte appears in the doorway as she’s walking out. She flips her hair over her shoulder and slaps on a smile. Charlotte’s gaze volleys from Olivia to Dwight’s desk. The fan on the archaic computer whirs. Olivia’s heart runs a marathon around her chest.

“Hey, Mom,” she says, her smile strained. “Thought you were gone.”

“What are you doing here?” Charlotte asks.

“Uh ...” She flounders for an excuse, looking back at the desk to see if she left anything amiss other than the Rolodex she lifted. “I, uh, can’t find my wallet. I think it fell out of my purse when Josh ... you know ...” She hitches her purse higher on her shoulder. “Don’t you have a showing?”

“I do. Forgot my phone.” Charlotte turns to leave, but her gaze snags like a shirt on a doorknob, hooking onto the naked space where Dwight’s Rolodex had been.

“What?” Olivia asks innocently when Charlotte peers at her shoulder bag.

“What are you doing in your father’s office?”

“I thought you might have put my wallet in here.” She twists her watch on her wrist and looks at the time. “I have to go. Josh is waiting.” She tries to move past her mom.

“What’s in the bag?”

“Nothing.” She pushes her purse behind her back. “Talk later?”

Charlotte moves aside, letting Olivia past. She gets halfway to the door when she stops. The way her mom suspiciously looked at her triggers a memory. She’s seen that look on her before in her dream.

Olivia turns around. “Do you remember that nightmare I had as a kid?” she asks, walking back to Charlotte. “Dad was knee-deep in the water?” His shirt was bloodied, and although the dream was blurry, she swore he carried a knife. Moonlight glinted off the blade. Her mom stood beside him, hair and clothes drenched. She eyed Dwight suspiciously before running to Olivia, where she fell to her knees and grabbed her hands. Olivia felt her desperation. She woke gasping almost every time.

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