Patricia approached slowly. “What did I tell you about sitting here?” she snapped

“I recorded her,” Lily said.

That was the first thing I heard after my daughters’ breathing. Not crying. Breathing. Sharp, quick, controlled, like they’d practiced staying quiet.

Cal stepped in behind me and shut the door. Vanessa tried to smile, but it came too late and sat wrong on her face.

“Ethan, thank God,” she said. “Your daughters are overreacting.”

Lily held the phone toward me with both hands. “She said not to tell you. She said you’d send Mara away if we did.”

I took the phone. The screen was spiderwebbed, but the audio file was still open.

I pressed play.

Vanessa’s voice filled the room, thin and ugly through the cheap speaker.

“When your father isn’t here, you answer to me. Cry again and I’ll make sure Mara is gone by Friday.”

Then June’s little voice.

“Please don’t.”

Patricia approached slowly. “What did I tell you about sitting here?” she snapped – mynraa