CHAPTER 10
The trial date was set for November.
Victoria faced charges involving Lily, Rosa and the attempted removal of Lily from the country.
The older allegations involving Michael would be handled separately because of legal issues surrounding the age of the case.
Victoria pleaded not guilty to everything.
Then she requested a meeting.
Not with me.
With Michael.
His answer was immediate.
“No.”
The request came again through attorneys.
Victoria claimed she wanted to apologize.
Michael laughed when Rachel told him.
“She doesn’t apologize.”
A third request arrived.
This time Victoria said she had information about Charlie.
Michael stopped laughing.
The dog.
The one who disappeared when he was ten.
“That’s cruel,” I said.
Michael stared at the letter.
“She knows it will get my attention.”
“You don’t have to go.”
“I know.”
He went.
Only after prosecutors arranged it.
The meeting took place in a secured room at the courthouse.
Victoria sat behind glass.
Michael wore a recording device with full consent from investigators.
I waited outside.
When he entered, Victoria smiled.
According to the recording I later heard, her first words were:
“You got old.”
Michael sat.
“So did you.”
“You look like Dad.”
“Don’t.”
Victoria leaned closer.
“You really hate me that much?”
Michael said nothing.
“You flew all this way to destroy me.”
“I came because you hurt another child.”
“That little girl manipulated Daniel.”
Michael laughed once.
“She’s four.”
“She knows exactly how to get what she wants.”
There it was.
The same belief.
Children were enemies.
Children betrayed her.
Children deserved retaliation.
Michael asked, “What about Charlie?”
Victoria smiled.
“You still remember that stupid dog?”
Michael’s breathing changed.
“Yes.”
“He ran away.”
“You told me you would make him disappear.”
“I was seventeen.”
“You were old enough.”
Victoria leaned back.
“You have spent your entire life blaming me because you were weak.”
Michael went silent.
Watching later, I wanted to reach through the screen.
But Michael did not react.
He simply asked:
“Was Lily weak too?”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“Lily is spoiled.”
“So you burned her hands?”
“I taught her consequences.”
“You locked her in a basement.”
“She needed to learn.”
“You hit her.”
“She lied.”
Michael leaned toward the glass.
“Do you hear yourself?”
Victoria smiled.
“Do you?”
Then she made the mistake that prosecutors had hoped she might make.
“You think Daniel would have noticed any of it if he hadn’t come home early?”
Michael did not move.
Victoria continued.
“He was never there.”
A confession without calling it one.
She knew there had been something to notice.
Michael remained quiet.
Victoria realized too late.
Her expression changed.
“You’re recording me.”
Michael stood.
“Goodbye, Victoria.”
“Michael.”
He stopped.
She stared at him.
“What do you want from me?”
He turned.
“Nothing.”
That answer devastated her more than anger would have.
“You’ve wanted revenge your whole life.”
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“I wanted a sister.”
Victoria said nothing.
“I stopped wanting that a long time ago.”
He walked out.
I was waiting in the hallway.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then Michael sat on a bench.
“She doesn’t know where Charlie went.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I knew she probably didn’t.”
He stared at the floor.
“I wanted one thing from her.”
“What?”
“For her to say I didn’t deserve it.”
My throat tightened.
“She didn’t.”
“No.”
I sat beside him.
“But you didn’t.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked at me.
“You didn’t deserve any of it.”
His eyes filled.
“So why did everyone act like I did?”
“Because the adults around you failed.”
He turned away.
I let him.
That evening he told Lily he would return to Oregon after the trial.
She immediately cried.
“Why?”
“Because my home is there.”
“You can live here.”
Michael smiled sadly.
“I have boats to fix.”
“Daddy has money.”
I choked on my coffee.
Michael laughed.
“I’ve noticed.”
“So Daddy can buy your boats.”
“Lily.”
“What?”
She looked completely serious.
“Then you don’t have to leave.”
Michael crouched.
“I’m still going to visit.”
“How many sleeps?”
“I don’t know.”
Her face fell.
He corrected himself.
“Before I leave, we’ll make a calendar.”
That satisfied her.
I watched them together.
Healing was strange.
Lily had given Michael something without knowing it.
A chance to become the adult he had needed.
And Michael had given Lily something too.
Proof that what happened to her did not have to define the rest of her life.
A week later the family court made my temporary custody order permanent pending divorce proceedings.
Victoria would have no visitation while the criminal no-contact order remained.
Her parental claim as a stepparent was effectively over.
When Rachel told me, I sat in silence.
“You won,” she said.
“No.”
She understood.
Lily had won safety.
That was different.
I went upstairs.
She was sitting on the floor coloring.
“Sweetheart?”
“Hmm?”
“I have something to tell you.”
She looked up.
“You’re staying with me.”
Her forehead wrinkled.
“I already stay with you.”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
“As long as you’re a kid.”
“What about when I’m big?”
“Then I hope you still visit.”
She thought about it.
“What if I live next door?”
“That works.”
“What if Michael lives on the other side?”
“We’ll need to ask him.”
“What if Rabbit gets his own house?”
I laughed.
“That might be too expensive.”
She gave me a serious look.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“You have money.”
May you like
From the hallway Michael burst out laughing.
And for the first time since the nightmare began, our home sounded like a home again.
