I saw the sign.
“911, what is your emergency?”
“My daughter disappeared a year ago,” I said. “I just found proof she was alive 3 days later.”
“Is your husband home?”
“No.”
“Are you safe?”
I looked at Sophie’s scarf. “No. Not in any way that matters.”
When I hung up, I called Denise.
“911, what is your emergency?”
“Dani?”
“Come over.”
“What happened?”
“Mark lied.” I stared at the wristband. “Sophie might still be alive.”
***
The police arrived first. Denise came in right behind them.
One officer crouched beside the tackle box.
“This was hidden under the panel?”
“Sophie might still be alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Mark kept this box for the past year?”
“Yes. I’d never looked inside until now.”
The front door opened before he could ask anything else.
Mark walked in with his lunch bag.
He saw the officers, then the tackle box.
“No,” he whispered.
That told me everything.
“I’d never looked inside until now.”
I stepped toward him. “What is that center?”
“Dani, please.”
“What is it?”
His face crumpled. “I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“I needed her to get better first.”
My whole body went cold.
“I was going to tell you.”
“Was she alive when I stood at that lake screaming her name? Answer me.”
“Yes,” he whispered.
I slapped my hand against the wall to keep myself upright.
“You didn’t lose our daughter,” I said. “You took her from me.”
Mark cried, but this time, it didn’t touch me.
“She was hurt,” he said. “She fell near the cabin trail.”
“You took her from me.”
“What cabin?”
“My dad’s old fishing cabin. Sophie and I were fixing it up for you.”
I looked at the sign on the floor.
“Mom’s Lake House.”
“What happened?”
“The path was wet. She went back for the sign and slipped.”
“Why didn’t you call 911?”
“Sophie and I were fixing it up for you.”
“I panicked. I drove her to urgent care.”
The officer stepped closer. “How did the center keep her mother from her?”
Mark looked down.
I felt the answer before he said it.
“I signed the intake forms.”
“You’re her father,” I said. “That explains one day. Not a year.”
