I began to pace the room, racking my brain. I was sure there was more to the story than Kearney was telling me. It was only when I stopped pacing that the penny dropped. Sullivan! That bastard Sullivan! That was who Kearney was sending her to. Why hadn’t I realized it sooner? Hadn’t he told me that night in New York that he was ruining O’Hanlon so he could get Lily back? Kearney must have told him I didn’t get the biggest lease signed, so he decided to take the girl instead. And that blackguard, Kearney, had the girl already stowed away in case Sullivan asked for her. I felt sick to my stomach. How on earth could they treat a child like that?

It was clear to me now what I had to do. I had to take Lily back to her da, and the sooner the better. Who knew what else Kearney had up his sleeve? I went to the window and peered down to the street. By luck, the driver and car Sullivan had hired for me was still there. I took Lily by the hand and hurried her out of the room with me.

“Come on, Lily,” I said. “I’m taking you to your da.”

She didn’t fight me. I decided to leave my luggage behind me. I wouldn’t be taking the two o’clock train anyway—certainly not when I knew Sullivan would be waiting for me at the other end.

I told the driver to go as fast as he could to Shotgun City. When we arrived I told him to pull around the back of the hotel. I couldn’t risk having Kearney see us. We were halfway around the hotel when Lily shot up and shouted, “Stop!” The car screeched to a halt. I nearly jumped out of my skin. The child had a voice after all, and a loud one at that.

“Delia,” she cried. “Delia.”

I looked to where she was pointing and there, behind a glass window on the ground floor, I saw Delia. I hardly recognized her at first. She had filled out, and her skin was bronzed. Her hair was bleached the color of straw and hung in a thick braid down her back. I took in a deep breath. Where had the faded, sickly looking girl gone—the one who was afraid of her own shadow? This girl was gorgeous. If it hadn’t been for Lily, I might never have recognized her.