The Messages They Buried

Marcus backed away from Vanessa's phone.

“No.””

Naomi stared at him.

“No what?””

He shook his head as if he could physically reject the words on the screen.

“That note doesn't prove anything.””

Detective Ellis took a photograph of the displayed note with her department-issued device.

“Mr. Reed, we're not asking you to interpret the note yet.””

“Then stop looking at me like I've done something.””

Ross closed his notebook.

“Your own response is making that difficult.””

Marcus looked around the room, searching for someone who would defend him. Vanessa wouldn't meet his eyes. Naomi stood beside the memorial table, her face wet with tears.

For a moment, he looked toward Lily's photograph.

Then he turned away.

“Lily was a child. She misunderstood things.””

Naomi stepped forward.

“What things?””

“Conversations. Arguments. She had an active imagination.””

“You just told us you barely spoke to her before you left.””

“I spoke to her plenty!””

“You said you were too busy to sing to her.””

Marcus's shoulders fell.

“I made mistakes.””

“Stop using that word as though you forgot to buy groceries.””

Naomi's voice rose.

“Our daughter wrote that you were lying about something that happened before she got sick. What happened, Marcus?””

He stared at her.

“I can't explain it here.””

Ross moved toward the front door and closed it firmly.

“Then explain it now.””

Marcus looked at the detectives.

“I want a lawyer.””

Ross nodded.

“You're entitled to seek legal counsel. We won't force you to answer questions. But we still need to document what has been presented and determine whether anyone else may have relevant information.””

Marcus sank into a chair.

Naomi's knees trembled. She reached for the table, steadying herself beside the teddy bear.

“Before she got sick,” she repeated.

Her mind raced through the months leading up to Lily's hospitalization.

There had been the unexplained headaches. The nights Lily woke crying. The morning she refused to go to school because she felt dizzy. The emergency room visit that Marcus had insisted was probably just exhaustion.

And there had been the argument.

She remembered it now with painful clarity.

It had happened in their kitchen six months earlier. Marcus had come home late, carrying his briefcase and smelling faintly of expensive cologne. Lily had been sitting at the counter drawing pictures while Naomi prepared dinner.

When Lily saw her father, she had dropped her pencil.

“Daddy, did you bring it?””

Marcus had frozen.

“Bring what, sweetheart?””

“The little blue thing.””

He had glanced at Naomi.

“Lily, we talked about this.””

The girl had lowered her head.

“I know.””

Naomi had asked what they were talking about, but Marcus had insisted it was nothing important.

Now she looked directly at him.

“What was the little blue thing?””

Marcus's face lost color.

“Naomi, don't.””

“What was it?””

He stood abruptly.

“I can't do this.””

Ross moved between him and the doorway.

“You may remain seated or stand here while we clarify what you have already volunteered. Nobody is preventing you from requesting counsel.””

Marcus looked at the detective, then reluctantly sat again.

Naomi waited.

Finally, he spoke.

“It was a flash drive.””

“What was on it?””

“Work documents.””

Lily's note seemed to burn in Naomi's memory.

Ask him what happened before I got sick.

“Why would Lily ask you about a flash drive?””

Marcus rubbed his jaw.

“She found it.””

“Where?””

“In my office.””

“What did she see?””

“Nothing important.””

Vanessa made a sound that was almost a laugh.

Marcus turned toward her.

“Don't.””

“You told me she never found it.””

The room went still.

Detective Ellis looked up from her notes.

“What did Lily find, Ms. Cole?””

Vanessa pressed her hands together.

“I don't know everything. I only know Marcus was terrified she had seen something.””

Marcus stood.

“Vanessa, stop talking.””

“No.”” She wiped her eyes.

“You've let me take the blame for everything because you thought I'd stay quiet.””

Naomi stared between them.

“What are you talking about?””

Vanessa turned toward Naomi.

“Marcus was involved in a business deal that went wrong. He told me someone had threatened to expose him. He said he needed to move some files before they were discovered.””

Marcus's expression hardened.

“You have no idea what you're talking about.””

“Then why did you ask me to take a package to your office?””

Ross immediately looked at Vanessa.

“What package?””

Vanessa hesitated.

“A small envelope. I never opened it.””

“When did this happen?””

“About six months ago.””

Naomi felt a chill travel down her arms.

“Was that when Lily found the flash drive?””

“I think so.””

Marcus shook his head.

“This has nothing to do with Lily's illness.””

Ross's voice remained level.

“That's something we'll need to establish independently.””

Naomi looked at her husband.

“You knew she was frightened.””

Marcus stared at the floor.

“She asked me questions I couldn't answer.””

“What questions?””

He rubbed his eyes.

“She wanted to know why a woman kept calling my phone. She wanted to know why I was arguing with people. She wanted to know why I was hiding things from you.””

Naomi felt tears slipping down her cheeks.

“And what did you tell her?””

“I told her grown-up problems weren't her responsibility.””

“That part was true.””

“I know.””

“Then why does her note say you were lying?””

Marcus pressed his lips together.

Vanessa looked at him with sudden urgency.

“Tell her about the hospital.””

Naomi turned sharply.

“What about the hospital?””

Vanessa shook her head, frightened by her own words.

“Marcus, please. She deserves to know.””

“Know what?”” Naomi demanded.

Ross stepped toward Vanessa.

“Ms. Cole, be specific.””

Vanessa stared at Marcus.

“The first time Lily went to the hospital, Marcus asked me to delete a photograph from his phone.””

Naomi went completely still.

“What photograph?””

“I never saw it clearly. I only saw the preview. It showed a document with Lily's name on it.””

Marcus's face tightened.

“That is not what happened.””

“You told me it was a mistake. You told me if Naomi saw it, she would think you had done something terrible.””

Naomi felt as though she were listening from the bottom of a deep well.

“A document with my daughter's name?””

Vanessa nodded.

“I thought it was a medical document.””

Ross exchanged a look with Ellis.

“Do you know where that document came from?””

“No.””

“Do you know what it contained?””

“No.””

Marcus took a shaky breath.

“I want this conversation to stop.””

Ross nodded.

“We can pause your questioning. But we need to know whether the document still exists.””

Marcus stared at the floor.

“I destroyed it.””

Naomi covered her mouth.

“You destroyed a document with Lily's name on it?””

“I thought it was a duplicate.””

“A duplicate of what?””

Marcus didn't answer.

Ross picked up his phone.

“We need to verify that statement.””

While he stepped into the foyer to make a call, Detective Ellis asked Vanessa to describe the package she had carried to Marcus's office. Vanessa began explaining, her voice unsteady.

Naomi barely heard her.

She was staring at the teddy bear.

Lily had given it to her the night she first returned from the hospital. The child had pressed the bear into Naomi's arms and whispered that she needed her mother to keep it safe.

At the time, Naomi had thought it was an ordinary childhood request.

Now she remembered the tiny folded piece of paper Lily had tucked beneath the bear's ribbon.

Naomi reached for it with trembling fingers.

“Wait.””

Everyone turned.

She gently lifted the bear and untied its faded blue ribbon.

A small piece of paper slid into her palm.

Marcus stared at it.

Vanessa stopped speaking.

Naomi unfolded the paper.

Inside, written in Lily's uneven purple handwriting, was a date, a time, and a series of numbers.

Beneath them were six words.