her before she could run from the room.
“Sweetheart, you need a robe at least. The police are coming.”
“What do I care about—”
He took the one laid over the foot of the bed, helped her put it on.
“I’m shaking, I’m shaking. This is all like some terrible dream. Caitlyn.”
Weeping again, she ran from the room, rushed down the stairs. She let out a wail when she saw Cate sitting on the floor working on a puzzle.
She leaped again, fell to her knees and pulled Cate close and tight against her. “Caitlyn, Cate. My Catey. My baby! I can’t believe you’re—”
She cut herself off, showering kisses over Cate’s face.
“Oh, let me look at you, let me look. Oh, my darling, did they hurt you?”
“They locked me in a room, but I got away.”
“Oh, how could this happen?” She dragged Cate to her again. “When I think what might—That Nina! I want her arrested!”
“Charlotte.” Even as Hugh tried to speak, Cate wiggled free, pushed away.
“Nina didn’t do anything! You can’t be mean to Nina!”
“She was supposed to watch you, take care of you. I trusted her. Oh, I’ll never forgive her. For all we know she was part of this. My sweet baby girl!”
“It’s not Nina’s fault.” Again, Cate pushed away from Charlotte’s reaching arms. “You told me where to hide. You told me to play hide-and-seek and hide up in the tree where nobody would find me and I’d win!”
“Don’t be silly.”
Before Aidan could speak, Hugh held up a hand, got slowly to his feet. “When did your mother tell you where to hide, Catey?”
“Stop badgering her! Hasn’t she been through enough? Aidan, it’s time we took our daughter out of this house. Time we took her home.”
“When, Caitlyn?” Hugh repeated.
“In the morning before the celebration.” While her voice shook a little, Cate kept her gaze steady on Charlotte’s face. She didn’t look at her mother as if studying a stranger, but as if finding something she’d always known.
“She said let’s go for a walk, even before Nina got up. Early. And she said she had the best hiding place, and when she showed me, she said not to tell anybody. It was our secret, and to make hide-and-seek the last outside game.”
“This is ridiculous. She’s confused. You come with me right now, Caitlyn. We’re going upstairs to pack.”
“ ‘Them.’ ” Pale as death, Aidan moved forward, stood between his wife and daughter. “When I told you Cate was here, was safe, first . . . It was shock, not relief. I see that now. And you said ‘them.’ Did the police catch them, the men who took her.”
“For Christ’s sake, Aidan, what difference does that make? And I was coming off a sleeping pill. And—”
Her father’s voice, so cold when he spoke, had Cate shivering. Lily drew her back.
“Because when you took the pill, we only knew of one. One man. But it was two. It was two. How did you know that, Charlotte?”
“I didn’t!” Her robe swirled around her as she turned, as she pressed a hand to her heart. “How could I! It’s just a figure of speech, and I was groggy and upset. Stop it. I want to go home.”
Something in Cate’s belly shook, but she stepped closer again. “I couldn’t remember when I talked to the police, but now I do.”
Lily took Cate’s hand. “What do you remember?”
“He said, when I pretended to be asleep, when he talked to somebody on the phone. He asked are you using the nanny’s phone? And how if they ever checked, she’d get blamed.”
“Caitlyn’s confused and God knows what they did to her when they—”
“No, I’m not.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, but the eyes that shed them stayed hot. “I remember. You told me where to hide. You said make it the last game. And he asked if you were using the nanny’s phone. Because it was you. I knew it. I knew it inside, G-Lil, so I didn’t want to see Mom this morning. I only wanted Daddy.”
“You stop this nonsense right now.” As Charlotte made a grab for Cate, Lily blocked her.
“Don’t you dare touch this child.”
“You get out of my way, you washed-up bitch.” Charlotte’s angry shove didn’t move Lily an inch. “You get your fat ass out of my way or—”
Eyes glittering, Lily pushed her face into Charlotte’s. “Or what? You want to take a shot at me, you soulless excuse for a mother? You couldn’t act your way out of a room with one door