Page 149 of Love Notes & Lifelines
Beck searches for the volume and turns it up as loud as it will go.
“Where were you?” a voice screeches. Danica.
“I told you,” Cally wheezes. “I was putting notes in the girls’ rooms for when I’m gone.”
“What’s that shit all over your hands? Why did the cameras turn off this afternoon?” Danica comes into view now, her face the picture of evil.
“I fell and knocked over some of the girl’s art supplies.” Her voice is so weak we can barely make it out.
“She’s on the stairs to the third floor,” Beck whispers. “This must be the day she was hiding evidence.”
“Why do you bother?” Danica snarls. “You’re down to your last days, you pathetic piece of shit. Give me six months andthose girls will never even remember you existed. By the time they graduate boarding school, they won’t even remember they had a family. I might even destroy all your little love notes after you’re gone.”
Cally reaches out, but she’s clearly exhausted and has no energy left to hold her arm up. “Please,” she begs. “I did what you asked. I signed everything over to you, so please, leave the notes alone. Please.”
Danica leans in close to Cally’s face, and to Cally’s credit, she doesn’t back away. “I’ll leave your notes—for now. Tell me, Cally. Does that break your pathetic heart knowing your daughters will never even remember they had a sister after I separate them? Or a mother?”
Cally spits in Danica’s face, and the crazy woman laughs. It’s an eerie sound that makes me want to vomit.
Danica gives a rough tug on Cally’s foot, and she’s too sick to stop the fall. We watch in horror as Cally slides down the stairs and lands in a heap at the bottom.
Emmy runs from her room, appearing to hiss at Danica on her way by. She throws herself over her mother, and my stomach does heave this time.
Beck stands from the desk with such force that his chair rolls across the room. “I’ll be back. Watch the girls.”
I claw after him. “Beck, don’t. Don’t go after her. We need you here.” I don’t know what Beck is capable of after seeing that, but if he feels half of what I’m experiencing, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say Danica’s life is in danger.
He stops in the doorway and softens his features. “I won’t put myself at risk. I know what’s at stake, but our attorney needs to see this, and we need to get Teddy and a team here as soon as possible.”
“Beck?” Elijah calls from the stairs. “Stella? We—ah—we have company.”
My heart rate accelerates, and I cling to Beck as he gathers up all the papers and sticks them back into the folder. That doesn’t sound good. We walk hand in hand down the hallway toward the stairs. At the bottom, we see a woman in an ill-fitting suit, and for the second time in less than an hour, my stomach tries to revolt.
“Mr. Hayes? My name is Angela Marsh. I’m with Child Protective Services. I’m here to investigate claims made on behalf of Emmy and Ruby Hayes. This is…” The woman squints at the man. “Dr. James Montgomery. He’s here to observe.”
“Fucking Danica,” Beck mutters through clenched teeth. Turning to Elijah, he hands him the file. “Don’t let this out of your hands. If you have to piss, hold it. If you take a phone call, hold it. It doesn’t leave your hands, understand?”
Elijah nods. “I’ve got you, Beck.” His lighthearted tone is gone. He reads Beck’s face better than I do.
I squeeze Beck’s arm tight. “We have nothing to hide,” I remind him. He takes my hand in his and we descend the stairs as one.
“Isit normal for them to be alone with the girls for so long?” I ask. I’ve probably already worn a hole in the carpet, but I can’t stop myself. At least they have Daisie, but it’s getting dark and they aren’t dressed warmly enough.
Mr. Sterling arrived from his Sailport Bay office shortly after we called him. While the girls have been playing outside with Mrs. Marsh and the child psychologist, Beck has been filling him in on what we know so far.
“They will be thorough, Miss Anderson,” he says dismissively.
“She’s worried about them, Harold. Show some fucking respect.” Beck’s words are a warning, and he heeds it well.
“I’m sorry, Miss?—”
“Stella. Just call me Stella.”
“Right. I’m sorry, Stella. It’s a lot of information I’m taking in. I should have been more sympathetic to your plight.”
I hate the guy, and as more time goes on, I can tell Beck does too.
“So you’re aware, Harold, this meeting is being recorded. The only people who know this information are in this room right now. Should it slip to anyone, I’ll be speaking with the Bar Association.”
