“Two weeks ago, she told me Uncle Howard had a phone that ‘sang like birds.'”
A memory hit me.
Vicky loved identifying ringtones.
She would mimic them perfectly.
“She saw it?”
“At our house.”
“When?”
“During one of her weekend visits.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Howard do?”
“He became furious.”
“At Vicky?”
“Not exactly.”
Denise swallowed.
“He asked her where she’d seen it.”
“And?”
“She said it was behind the books in his office.”
I drove home so fast Mercer threatened to call police on me himself.
Vicky was coloring at the kitchen table when I rushed in.
She looked up.
“Why are you breathing weird?”
I knelt beside her.
“Bug, I need you to remember something.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“When you stayed with Aunt Denise, you found a phone.”
Her eyes widened.
“The bird phone?”
“Yes.”
“Uncle Howard said not to touch it.”
“Where was it?”
“Behind books.”
