Baby Doll(16)

Abby stood by Lily’s side.

“You heard what Lily said. She’ll take us to him. And if I’m not mistaken, you’re the cops. Your job is to protect us. Do your job.”

There was that harsh tone again—the edge Lily had heard when Abby snapped at their mother. Abby didn’t sound like herself, not the Abby she remembered, but her words were effective. Sheriff Rogers gave up and gestured for them to follow him.

Grateful, Lily hugged Abby again. She turned back to the sofa and picked up Sky, who barely stirred, nestling into Lily’s arms. Adrenaline coursed through Lily’s body as she moved toward the front door. An instant later, she remembered Abby. Her sister was still standing near the sofa, frozen, watching Lily, waiting to see what she should do. Lily stopped. She wasn’t alone anymore. Her sister, her best friend, was here to see her through this. She held out her hand, and Abby surged forward and grabbed on tightly. Together, in perfect unison, they walked hand in hand through the open door, toward the beginning of the end of Lily’s hellish nightmare.





CHAPTER NINE


EVE


This is real. This is real, Eve thought as she followed her girls outside. She watched them walking side by side, her heart about to burst out of her chest. Eve always said that having twins was like giving birth to three things: the two of them and their relationship. Losing Lily had destroyed all of that, and now here it was, reborn. Eve would never forget this day. For so long that miserable day in September haunted her. The day she’d gotten Lily’s voice mail.

“Uh, Mom, it’s almost six, and I’m still at school. That bitch… sorry, birch… Abby, left me here. Can you pick me up? And I’m starving. Let’s get sushi tonight.”

Eve had deleted the message, doing her best to fight off her annoyance. She’d been stuck in a budget meeting all day, and now she was going to have to spend her evening playing referee. The girls’ constant bickering was a part of life, like traffic jams or plowing the driveway after a snowstorm, but that didn’t make it less taxing.

She arrived at the high school a little after six. The place was deserted. She’d wandered around, but there was no sign of Lily. She’d tried her cell, but in spite of her and Dave’s pleas, the girls never charged their phones, and the damn thing went straight to voice mail. Eve figured Lily had gotten a ride from Wes or one of her track friends. She’d stopped at Yoshi’s to pick up sushi, knowing that spicy tuna always brokered peace in their household. Dave was on call at the hospital that night, and Abby had been upstairs, in the bedroom she shared with Lily, laboring over her homework.

“Where’s your sister?” Eve asked when she arrived at home.

Abby shrugged. “Her highness said she’d get a ride. I’m sure she’s at Wes’s.”

Eve’s motherly instincts hadn’t been fully functioning earlier, at the school, but in that moment, they kicked into overdrive.

“Call Wes and make sure she’s there.”

Abby did as she was told and dialed Wes.

“Hey, can I talk to Lil?” Abby had paused, her nose scrunching up in concern. “So you haven’t talked to her since last period? Okay, if you hear from her, tell her to call us ASAP.” Abby hung up, staring back at the phone as if willing it to ring.

Eve had instructed Abby to phone all her friends. Anyone Lily might have gotten a ride with. Each call only seemed to confirm Eve’s worst fears. Something bad had happened to Lily. She called Dave at the hospital, praying that Lily had dropped by to visit her father.

“Please tell me that Lily is with you.”

“No. I haven’t seen her since breakfast.”

Eve’s dread grew. “Lily. I think… I think she’s missing.”

She’d tried to keep the panic out of her voice, but he heard it anyway.

“I’ll be there in ten. Call the police, Eve. I’m sure she’s okay, but call them now.”

Eve had tried to stay calm, hoping to counteract Abby’s growing hysteria. She kept offering up suggestions. Maybe Lily went to a movie or out to dinner. Or she’d gone into Philly and forgotten to call. But that was ridiculous. Lily wasn’t impulsive like that, and she never went anywhere without her sister by her side.

At some point, their house began to fill with cops. Neighbors showed up, along with a flood of tearful teenagers. The press arrived too, camping out on the front lawn. The FBI was next, and then the interviews began. Eve and Dave were questioned—no, grilled—for hours. Polygraphs. Police interrogations. They asked prying, probing questions. They wanted to know about her marital problems. About Dave’s infidelity and Eve’s subsequent visit to a divorce attorney. They were questions that had nothing to do with Lily being gone.

“She’s my daughter. My goddamn daughter. Why would I hurt her? Why? It doesn’t make sense,” Eve had said over and over again. Dave did his best to console her, but they were at the point where everything about their partner annoyed them. Lily’s disappearance only heightened that.

When it became clear that neither Eve nor Dave had anything to do with Lily being missing, the authorities cast a wider net. They questioned the entire school and faculty, interviewed transients and sex offenders. The police swept rivers and swamps. Hundreds of friends and family members searched the countryside. The story made national news. Usually, there were clues, but sometimes, the pundits on CNN said again and again, people simply vanish.