PART 4 – Madison’s Aunt Told Me What the Family Had Been Hiding, and I Had to Decide Whether to Protect My Parents or Tell the Truth

Madison's aunt was named Teresa. She had been waiting outside the sheriff's office when I came out. She was a small woman with dark hair pulled into a knot, and she kept rubbing her palms together as though they were cold.

"I don't know how much you know," she said.

"Not enough."

She looked at the building behind me.

"Madison's mother is at the hospital. Her father is there too. They're not sleeping."

I thought of Lily and Grant driving away.

"Is Madison going to be okay?"

Teresa nodded, but her eyes filled with tears.

"She's alive. That's what we're holding on to."

We sat on a bench near the parking lot. Cars passed on the road, and a truck rattled over a pothole.

"Your brother called us two weeks ago," she said.

I turned toward her.

"Why?"

"He said he knew where Madison was."

My hands went cold.

"He knew?"

"He told us she had run away. He said she was staying with a friend. We asked him to bring her home."

"What did he say?"

"He said she didn't want to come back."

I looked at the pavement.

"Did you believe him?"

Teresa shook her head.

"We thought he was trying to protect her. Madison had been having problems at school. She was upset about something, but she wouldn't tell us."

I remembered the girl in the basement. The way she had said she wanted to go home.

"Why didn't you tell the police?"

"We did. They were already looking for her."

I sat very still.

"Then why did he call you?"

"He said he needed money."

I looked up.

"Money?"

"He said he had found her, and she needed a place to stay. He asked for money to pay for a hotel room."

I thought of the locked basement door.

"Did you give him any?"

"No."

Teresa looked down at her hands.

"After that, he stopped answering."

I did not know what to say.

She continued.

"Your father called us the next day."

I felt my stomach turn.

"What did he say?"

"He said Evan was having trouble. He said we should stop calling."

I closed my eyes.

My father had known. My mother had known. And my brother had been telling Madison's family that she was safe.

I had spent years believing my parents were the people who would help me if I ever needed them. They had helped me through the divorce. They had taken Lily into their home. They had told me I could stay as long as I needed.

Now I understood that they had been protecting Evan.

Teresa reached for my hand.

"I know this is difficult."

I pulled away.

"I need to know everything."

She looked at me.

"Madison told her mother something before she disappeared. She said she was afraid of someone."

"Who?"

"We don't know."

I thought of Evan's voice in the basement.

Stop making noise. Do you want everyone awake?

I remembered the way he had looked at me on the stairs. The way my father had told me I was overreacting.

"Did Madison ever mention my brother?"

Teresa shook her head.

"Not by name."

I stood.

"I have to see her."

The hospital was a short drive away. Bell had told me I could not visit her yet, but I wanted to see the place where she was being treated. I wanted to know whether she was really alive, whether the girl I had seen was more than a frightened face in a basement.

I sat in the waiting room until a nurse came out.

"Are you Claire Whitman?"

"Yes."

"Detective Bell said you might come."

I stood.

"Can I see her?"

The nurse hesitated.

"She's sleeping."

I nodded.

"Is she okay?"

"She's stable."

I sat back down.

The nurse looked at me for a moment.

"She asked whether the woman who found her was safe."

I stared at her.

"She asked about me?"

"She said you were the only person who had tried to help."

I covered my mouth with my hand.

The nurse walked away.

I sat in the waiting room until Bell called. He told me that Evan had been taken into custody and that my parents were being questioned. He said that Madison's family was waiting for more information.

I asked him whether my mother had admitted to knowing about the girl.

"Yes."

"How long?"

"We're still investigating."

I looked at the hospital doors.

"She knew."

Bell did not answer.

I thought of Lily's face when Evan struck the car window. I thought of the way she had clung to me in the gas station. I thought of my mother standing in the hallway, confused, asking what I was doing.

I had spent years believing that family meant safety. Now I had to decide what family meant when the people I loved had chosen to protect someone who had hurt a child.

I called Grant.

He answered immediately.

"How's Lily?"

"She's asleep."

I sat down in the chair beside the hospital window.

"I need to tell you something."

He was silent.

"I think my parents knew."

He did not ask what I meant.

"I know," he said.

I closed my eyes.

"How?"

"Because your mother called me last night."

I opened my eyes.

"What did she say?"

Grant took a breath.

"She asked me to bring Lily back."

I stared at the hospital doors.

"She said she was sorry."

Click here to continue reading: PART 5: The Apology My Mother Sent Was Nothing Like an Apology, and One Sentence Inside It Made Me Question Why She Wanted Lily Back