ADVERTISEMENT
“I’ll be right outside,” I promised.
I hated myself for saying it. Everyone Sophie trusted had already been pushed behind a different door.
Eric was waiting when I stepped into the hallway.
“You let that man live with our daughter.”
“Daniel has never harmed her.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
Eric laughed without humor.
“Did you know he goes into her bedroom at night?”
My stomach dropped.
“How did you know that?”
“Sophie told me last weekend.”
He saw my expression and moved closer.
“You didn’t know, did you?”
I did know.
Three weeks earlier, I had awakened at four in the morning and found Daniel sitting on the floor outside Sophie’s open door. She had another headache and was afraid to sleep. He had brought her water, placed a cold washcloth over her forehead, and stayed where she could see him.
I had thought it was kindness.
Now Eric was turning it into evidence.
“She’s been waking up sick,” I said. “He checks on her.”
“A ten-year-old girl has pregnancy hormone in her blood, Rachel.”
“Stop saying that like it proves Daniel did something.”
“What else could it prove?”
I had no answer.
ADVERTISEMENT
