Chapter 2 - The Hidden CameraI didn't sleep that night.
Not because Emma was unstable.
She was resting.
The doctors said her condition was improving.
But I couldn't stop looking at that photograph.
I zoomed in until the image turned into a blur of pixels.
At first I thought the figure was my father.
The height seemed right.
The shoulders seemed right.
But then I noticed something.
The person was holding a phone.
Not pointed at Emma.
Pointed at the kitchen.
Recording.
I called the unknown number.
It rang once.
Then disconnected.
I texted.
Who are you?
No response.
I sent another.
Why were you in my kitchen?
Nothing.
At 2:11 a.m., my phone lit up again.
Another image.
This one was darker.
It showed the same kitchen from a different angle.
Vanessa was visible.
My mother was in the background.
And Emma was sitting at the table.
Then I noticed the clock.
8:21.
Four minutes before the crash.
A message appeared underneath.
You were never supposed to see this.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I turned toward Emma.
She was still sleeping.
I stepped into the hallway and called the police.
I explained everything.
An officer arrived forty minutes later.
He studied the images.
“Do you recognize this angle?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He looked at the photo again.
“Your family has cameras?”
“Not that I know of.”
He frowned.
Then he zoomed in.
“There.”
A tiny black object sat beneath the cabinet above the refrigerator.
I felt ice crawl down my back.
“That wasn't there yesterday.”
“Are you sure?”
“I clean this kitchen every day.”
He wrote something down.
“Don't touch it.”
The next morning, a technician arrived with another officer.
They found two cameras.
One in the kitchen.
Another in the hallway.
Both had been installed recently.
The police asked who had access to the house.
I listed my parents.
Vanessa.
My husband, Daniel.
And one person I almost forgot.
Lily's nanny.
But the technician shook his head.
“These aren't consumer cameras.”
“What does that mean?”
He removed a small memory card.
“They’re wired into a local system.”
“So someone planned this?”
He didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
The police took the equipment.
I went back to Emma's room.
She was awake.
Her face was swollen.
A purple bruise covered one side of her cheek.
“Mommy?”
I sat beside her.
“I'm here.”
She looked toward the door.
Then whispered something.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“Bad auntie.”
I froze.
“You mean Aunt Vanessa?”
Emma nodded.
Then she looked around as if she was afraid someone could hear her.
“She said I was naughty.”
“What did she do?”
Emma started crying.
I held her hand.
“You don't have to be scared.”
She squeezed my fingers.
“She told me to sit there.”
“Where?”
“Lily's chair.”
My breathing stopped.
“Then what?”
Emma stared at the ceiling.
“She said…”
Her voice became so soft I almost didn't hear it.
“Mommy would go away.”
My blood turned cold.
“What did she mean?”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“She said Daddy knew.”
I couldn't move.
“Daddy knew what?”
Emma looked directly at me.
“Daddy said it was okay.”
That afternoon, Daniel arrived at the hospital.
He kissed Emma's forehead.
Then he looked at me.
“Why is the police calling me?”
My stomach dropped.
I hadn't told him.
“Because,” I whispered, “I think someone recorded what happened.”
His face changed.
Not confusion.
Not fear.
Recognition.
May you like
And in that instant, I knew something terrible.
Daniel already knew about the cameras.
