He looked up.
“I said something cruel.”
Lauren waited.
He didn’t dodge.
“I told her if she was going to keep acting like she didn’t belong in my house, maybe she should think about what that really meant.”
Lauren’s stomach dropped.
He closed his eyes for one second.
“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
“But she heard it that way.”
“Yes.”
He opened his eyes.
“And children always hear the wound, not the footnote.”
Lauren glanced toward the window.
No movement outside.
No landlord yet.
Just this man and his confession.
“She took some cash from a bowl by the kitchen door. About three dollars in coins and singles. Then she disappeared.”
Lauren’s mouth went dry.
“You called the police?”
“Immediately.”
“Did they find her?”
He gave a tiny shake of the head.
“Not for six days.”
Lauren thought of the little girl’s dress again.
