“He did this to my grandmother, Patrick. Did you know he came to see her recently? Clara told me.”

“Yep, I know all about it. By the way, I think they're sending Clara down for a cardiac workup. You nearly gave her a heart attack.”

“Don't joke about that,” Lily warned, thinking of Rose and her long rounds of heart surgery.

“They're saying you're back from the dead. Much speculation is swirling out there—and it's not just Clara and the nurses, either. Nope. We've got doctors in on the guessing game—I'm serious. They're all gathered round the nurses' station. Let's see. You were kidnapped nine years ago. Your husband did it. No, wait—a cult did it. Satanists. Or—now, get this: you staged your own disappearance.”

Lily ignored Patrick, but she felt herself trembling as she kept hold of her grandmother's hand.

“Never mind what they think,” she said. “Edward put Maeve here, Patrick! He poisoned her.”

“The doctors told me you think that.”

“Then pay attention to that, and never mind about what happened nine years ago.”

“Maybe you really don't know what you're in for,” he said. “You're a phenomenon. Can you grasp the amount of interest there was in your disappearance?”

“No,” she said. “And I don't care. It's my life—no one else's.”

“Mara,” he said. Catching her dirty look, he shook his head. “Lily. Sorry. I've thought of you as Mara Jameson for nine years. I retired in semi-disgrace over not being able to find you, and my wife accused me of being obsessed with you and divorced me, so I think you kind of owe me a little kindness, okay?”

“You did find me,” she said. “That's why I'm here now.”

“Took me nine years to find you,” he said. “And your grandmother practically had to draw me a goddamn road map to get there.” His eyes moved from Lily to Maeve. “Jesus, Maeve. I wish you'd wake up, so I could yell at you. Keeping it a secret all this time.”

“She did what she had to do. We both did.”

Patrick shook his head. “It must have killed her, to not know Rose.”

Lily jolted at Rose's name. “Listen to me, Patrick,” she said. “Edward doesn't know about her.”

“Hiding Rose in Canada was one thing. But now you're back here—at home, in the United States. A kid is going to stand out, you know?”

“She's somewhere safe—help us keep it that way.”

“Us?”

“Liam and me. Please, Patrick.”

“The cops are going to want to interview you,” he said. “And me—because I found you.”

“I know that,” Lily said. “And I'm going to tell them the truth—about everything except Rose. I can't let Edward get to her.”