Charlotte hummed softly from the other end.
"I just heard from Aunt Matilda that you aren't home," Clara said, her voice carrying a hint of caution. "Where … did you go?"
There was a brief pause on the other end of the call.
Charlotte didn't respond immediately. She took a moment before finally replying, "Yes … I stepped out for a bit. I'll be back in some time."
That wasn't what Clara wanted to know.
She wanted something more —something that could give her a clue … a hint of what she had been suspecting.
But hearing Charlotte keep her words so vague, she understood that she wouldn't get anything unless she asked directly.
"Mom …" Clara spoke again, her tone lowering, laced with a subtle but unmistakable suspicion, "did you go to find Adelyn?"
Charlotte didn't respond.
And her silence alone was enough.
