Chapter 6: The Pendant Light And The Plan
The photographer pulled the front door closed behind him and the house went quiet again. I could hear Richard's shoes on the upstairs hardwood, pacing. He'd changed out of his navy blazer and left the bedroom door open, and the light from the hall pendant fell straight down the stairwell and made a white stripe on the foyer tiles.
I hadn't moved from the upstairs hallway. I was still in the red dress. My hands were empty. Lily was in the back bedroom with the door cracked an inch, sitting on the floor with her coloring book. I told her to stay there until I came to get her.
Daniel came up the stairs slowly. He didn't look at the pendant light. He looked at me.
"He wants her at the ballroom tonight instead," I said. My voice was low. "He said we'll get the family photo there."
Daniel nodded once. His gray jacket was over his arm. The white shirt was still open at the collar and his neck tattoos showed against it. "He's in the closet changing his tie," he said. "He'll be down in five minutes."
I pressed my fingertips against the diamond necklace. It was still warm from my skin. Richard had given it to me two years ago after the first foundation gala, and he always checked that I was wearing it.
"We need to get through the speech," I said. "If I don't give it, he'll make a scene."
"We get through it," Daniel said. "Then we leave."
That was the first time either of us said it out loud up there. I felt my breath catch and forced myself to keep it even.
He laid his jacket on the banister and pulled his phone from his pocket. He showed me the map on the screen, the downtown ballroom on High Street, the valet loop in front and the small side lot on the east side where the caterers parked.
"Valet is out front. Too many eyes, too many people from the board," he said. "I park my truck in the side lot before you and Richard go in. I tell valet I'm your driver, stay close. You give the speech right after dinner, before the dance set starts. That's when they dim the lights and everyone moves to the floor. That's when you walk out."
I stared at the little blue dot that was his truck. "And Lily?"
"She's not in the ballroom. She goes with your sister's sitter in the dressing suite upstairs. You told Richard she'll be ready for the photo after your speech. He's expecting that. While you're at the podium, I take her down the service stairs to the side lot. No valet, no lobby."
My sister lived twenty minutes from downtown, in the apartment over the hardware store on County Road. We'd only mentioned it once before, in a text Richard didn't see. Daniel said the name now just to make sure I was still thinking of it.
"Your sister's place," he said. "Not your mom's. He'll look at your mom's first."
I nodded. My throat was dry. "He'll notice if I try to take a suitcase."
"You don't," Daniel said. "One bag for Lily. I already put it in the truck this morning. Jacket, snacks, her bunny. You bring one small clutch, that's all. Like you always do for the gala."
I went into the bedroom. My clutch was on the dresser, a small beaded box the size of my hand, and next to it my earrings were lying where I'd taken them off before the photographer came. Richard had been angry that Lily wasn't in the photos, but he hadn't noticed the earrings.
I picked them up. The teardrops were heavy. I held them for a second and then opened the clutch. It had a thin silk lining and a small inside pocket. I slipped the earrings into that pocket, and then my phone right beside them. I zipped it shut. The phone made a small hard lump against the beads.
I left the necklace on. I could feel it every time I breathed.
When I came back to the hallway, Daniel was holding something else in his palm. A small white card with a county seal on it.
"County sheriff's office," he said, and handed it to me. "Non-emergency line. Detective Morales. I called last month after the thing in the kitchen. He said not to wait for one big incident."
I turned the card over. There was a direct number written in blue ink and the words call anytime underneath.
"He said document a pattern," Daniel said. His voice stayed flat, but his hand was tight around the banister. "Dates, what was said, what you did. Not just tonight. If you can. Your phone, if you keep it on you, can do that."
I slipped the card into the clutch with the earrings and the phone. It fit exactly. I zipped it again and held it against the red fabric of my dress. My hand was shaking a little and I pressed it harder against my side to stop it.
"What if he checks my clutch?" I asked.
"He won't before the speech. He wants you to look perfect for the speech," Daniel said. "After, you tell him Lily's tired, you're taking her to the bathroom. You don't go back to the table. You go to the side lot. I'll be running the truck."
I looked down the hall toward the back bedroom. I could see Lily's light blue sleeve where she sat on the floor. She hadn't made a sound.
"And if he follows us?" I whispered.
Daniel looked at the pendant light, then at me. "Then we have the card. And we have what he said on my phone from this afternoon. But we try to not let it get to that. We leave while there's music and people dancing. He won't want to make a scene in front of donors."
Richard's closet door slid shut down the hall. His voice carried, not loud, just sharp. "Margaret? We're leaving in twenty."
I tucked the clutch under my arm. The necklace caught the pendant light and threw a bright spot on the white wall.
"Twenty," I called back, and my voice didn't crack.
May you like
Daniel picked up his jacket. "I'll move the truck to the side lot now," he said quietly. "Meet you in the dressing suite after your speech. East stairs."
I nodded. We had a plan that depended on timing, on music, on a small side lot and a clutch that held everything I wasn't supposed to keep.
