Part 2
The mention of Lily made Maya freeze.
She dropped her hands from her ears, her eyes wide with sudden, fierce maternal panic.
"What?" she whispered. "No. No, he promised he would never touch them. He told me it was just between us. He said he only needed to discipline them because I was too soft."
"He lied to you," I said bluntly. "People like him always lie. They slice away at your boundaries until there's nothing left of you, and then they start slicing away at the people you love."
Maya looked down at the recorder, her expression shifting from fear to something raw and primal.
The protective mother inside her was finally waking up from the nightmare.
Before she could speak, the phone in her lap began to vibrate violently. The screen lit up with Evan's name.
She flinched, looking at the flashing screen as if it might burn her.
"Don't answer it," she whispered.
"I'm not going to let you answer it," I said, reaching over and taking the phone from her hand.
I didn't silence it. Instead, I pressed the green button and slid the phone to my ear.
"Evan," I said coldly.
May you like
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. The panic in his voice was completely gone, replaced instantly by that smooth, calculated arrogance he used like a shield.
"Arthur," Evan said, his tone dripping with fake warmth. "Thank God. I assume Maya is with you? Put her on the phone. We had a little misunderstanding, but everything is fine now. The police left. It was just a nosy neighbor."
