Chapter 14 - Lily’s Secret
The bear was not the rabbit I brought home.
It was an old brown teddy bear Lily had owned since she was two.
Agents recovered it from our house.
Inside the stuffing was a miniature audio device.
Grant had hidden it there.
At first, I assumed he had used it to spy on Lily.
Then we listened.
The recordings were Grant’s private insurance policy.
Whenever Pike visited the house, Grant placed the bear somewhere nearby.
Kitchen.
Study.
Basement.
Dining room.
The files captured months of conversations.
Pike naming federal employees.
Pike discussing bank accounts.
Pike describing the border organization.
Pike ordering the death of my confidential source.
Then we heard something none of us expected.
Vanessa.
Her voice appeared in a recording from six weeks earlier.
“You said Lily would just go away.”
Grant answered.
“She will.”
Vanessa sounded nervous.
“What does that mean?”
“It means stop asking questions.”
Then Pike spoke.
“She doesn’t need to know.”
Vanessa whispered.
“I’m standing right here.”
Pike laughed.
“For now.”
The recording continued.
Glass clinked.
A chair moved.
Then Lily’s small voice came through the speaker.
“Daddy?”
Silence.
“What are you doing down here?”
“I want water.”
Grant sounded frightened.
“Go upstairs.”
Then Pike spoke.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
I nearly stopped the recording.
Nolan placed his hand near the controls but waited.
Lily’s recorded footsteps crossed the floor.
Pike asked her a question.
“Do you know what secrets are?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Because your mommy has a lot of them.”
Grant interrupted.
“Enough.”
Pike continued.
“And sometimes children have to learn how to keep secrets too.”
Then the recording ended.
The next file was dated one day later.
Grant was alone.
He was crying.
“I screwed everything up.”
His voice shook.
“If Evelyn finds this, Pike is going to kill us all.”
There was a long silence.
Then he said something I never expected.
“Lily, if you ever hear this, Daddy is sorry.”
I closed my eyes.
Apologies recorded in secret meant nothing to a child he failed in person.
But Grant had hidden the bear for a reason.
He wanted evidence to survive him.
Nolan checked the coordinates again.
“We move on the warehouse tonight.”
I looked at him.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“I know Pike.”
“You know how he thinks.”
“That’s exactly why you stay with Lily.”
I looked through the glass wall.
She was drawing at the table.
A house.
Two people.
No father.
I knew Nolan was right.
Then Santos entered quickly.
“Problem.”
“What?”
“The warehouse cameras just went active.”
She turned the screen toward us.
Grant was tied to a chair.
Pike stood behind him.
May you like
And on a television beside them was a live feed.
Of Lily’s room.
