Chapter 6
Rachel backed away.
“I swear I didn’t do anything.”
Detective Alvarez watched her.
“Where is your phone?”
Rachel pulled it from her pocket immediately.
“Here.”
“Put it on the table.”
She did.
“Laptop?”
“I don’t have one with me.”
“Tablet?”
“No.”
Marcus stood between Rachel and me.
His posture made his opinion obvious.
I hated that mine was no longer as certain.
Rachel looked at me.
“Claire, please.”
“I don’t know what to think.”
Her face crumpled.
“I saved Eli.”
“I know.”
“I recorded Vanessa.”
“I know.”
“I would never hurt him.”
“I know.”
But did I?
Detective Alvarez called for a cybercrime technician.
Twenty minutes later, two officers began checking every device connected to my Wi-Fi.
My phone.
Marcus’s phone.
Rachel’s phone.
The smart TV.
The baby monitor.
My laptop.
Then the technician frowned.
“There’s one more.”
“What?” I asked.
“Unknown device.”
“Inside the house?”
“Connected to the network, yes.”
Marcus began walking room to room.
The technician followed the signal.
Upstairs.
Hallway.
Guest room.
Rachel’s face went blank.
“No.”
The strongest signal came from her suitcase.
Marcus stared at her.
Rachel shook her head violently.
“That’s not mine.”
An officer opened the suitcase.
Clothes.
Toiletries.
Shoes.
Then, inside the lining, his fingers found something.
A small tablet.
Black.
No case.
No markings.
Rachel staggered backward.
“I’ve never seen that.”
The technician turned it on.
No password.
The screen opened directly to the camera account.
My bedroom appeared.
Live.
I nearly threw up.
Rachel began crying.
“Someone put it there.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Convenient.”
“I’m telling the truth!”
Detective Alvarez inspected the suitcase.
“Who had access to your belongings today?”
Rachel wiped her face.
“My suitcase was at Daniel’s house until the police let me collect it.”
“When?”
“Maybe five.”
“Who packed it?”
“I did.”
“Was Vanessa already in custody?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else inside?”
“Police.”
“Before today?”
Rachel stared at the floor.
“Everyone.”
“Vanessa had access?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Any other employees?”
“The gardener sometimes comes inside. And the cleaning service twice a week.”
“You’re the housekeeper.”
Rachel looked embarrassed.
“I manage the household. A crew handles deep cleaning.”
Marcus muttered, “Rich people problems.”
Normally I would have glared at him.
Today I barely heard it.
The technician checked the tablet.
“This device connected to Claire’s Wi-Fi automatically.”
“How?” I asked.
“Saved credentials.”
My stomach turned.
“So whoever used it knew my password.”
“Or had access to a device that already had it.”
I thought.
Only a few people knew my Wi-Fi password.
Marcus.
My mother.
Daniel.
Daniel had helped set up the router when I first moved.
Before things between us became openly hostile.
“Daniel knew.”
Detective Alvarez nodded.
“That matters.”
Rachel suddenly looked up.
“Vanessa used Daniel’s laptop all the time.”
Everyone turned.
“For what?”
“I don’t know. Everything.”
“Could she have gotten Claire’s Wi-Fi password?”
“Yes.”
I sat down.
It was impossible to know where Daniel’s carelessness ended and Vanessa’s planning began.
The tablet was taken as evidence.
Rachel was not arrested.
But Detective Alvarez asked her not to leave town.
That hurt Rachel deeply.
I could see it.
Still, she nodded.
“I understand.”
After the police left, Rachel stood by the front door with her coat.
“You’re leaving?”
She looked at me.
“I think I should.”
“Where will you go?”
“A hotel.”
“At two in the morning?”
“I don’t want Marcus thinking I’m going to murder everyone in their sleep.”
Marcus didn’t apologize.
I wanted to be angry with him.
I couldn’t.
“Rachel.”
She waited.
“I believe you didn’t know about the tablet.”
Her eyes filled.
“But?”
“But I don’t know anything anymore.”
She nodded.
“That’s fair.”
Then she left.
The house felt emptier immediately.
Marcus locked the door behind her.
“You did the right thing.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You didn’t beg her to stay.”
“She saved Eli.”
“And maybe someone is using that to get close to you.”
I looked at him.
“You think she’s involved?”
“I think we trust nobody.”
I hated that he was right.
The next morning was the emergency custody hearing.
I attended by video because I refused to take Eli into a courthouse.
Daniel appeared from a detention room.
He looked exhausted.
His attorney sat beside him.
Vanessa did not appear.
She was represented separately in criminal court.
Stephanie presented the police reports.
Videos.
Hospital records.
Drug test.
The judge’s face hardened more with each piece.
Daniel’s attorney did not fight temporary sole custody.
He did fight the no-contact order.
“My client is a father who made devastating mistakes, Your Honor, but there is currently no allegation that he physically harmed his son.”
Stephanie responded immediately.
“He knowingly violated the temporary custody schedule, placed an eight-month-old infant in the unsupervised care of a person the child’s mother had repeatedly identified as unsafe, and participated in a campaign designed to frighten my client into surrendering custody.”
Daniel shook his head.
His attorney whispered to him.
The judge noticed.
“Mr. Parker, do you wish to say something?”
Daniel stood.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
His attorney looked unhappy.
Daniel looked into the camera.
At me.
“Claire, I’m sorry.”
The judge interrupted.
“Address the court.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I’m sorry, Your Honor.”
“Continue.”
“I did agree to scare Claire.”
Hearing it from him was different.
Worse.
“I was angry about the divorce. I thought she was keeping Eli from me.”
I whispered, “You had him three days a week.”
Stephanie touched my arm.
Daniel continued.
“Vanessa said Claire would never compromise unless she believed she was losing control.”
The judge’s expression hardened.
“What did you agree to?”
“Leaving notes. Moving things around outside. Following her car once.”
“Did you agree to entering her residence?”
“No.”
“Installing surveillance equipment?”
“No.”
“Poisoning her?”
Daniel looked horrified.
“No.”
“Harming your child?”
“No.”
“Did you know Vanessa was giving Eli medication?”
“No.”
“Did you know she intended to push his stroller down stairs?”
“No.”
The judge leaned back.
“Did you know she disliked your son?”
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
“She was frustrated.”
The judge stared at him.
“An infant frustrated her.”
“Yes.”
“And despite the child’s mother warning you not to leave the infant alone with this person, you did so repeatedly.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Yes.”
The judge granted everything Stephanie requested.
Sole temporary custody.
No unsupervised contact.
No contact between Daniel and me except through attorneys.
No contact with Eli until further court review.
When the hearing ended, I thought I would feel victorious.
I felt nothing.
Daniel was still Eli’s father.
One day, Eli would ask why there were no photographs of his father holding him after eight months old.
What would I say?
Because Daddy wanted to frighten Mommy into giving you away.
Because Daddy trusted the woman who drugged you.
Because Daddy cared more about winning than protecting you.
I closed the laptop.
Stephanie stayed on the line.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
I almost laughed.
Then she became serious.
“There’s something you should know.”
“What?”
“Daniel’s attorney gave police access to his cloud account.”
“And?”
“He says there are deleted messages proving Vanessa was impersonating him.”
My stomach tightened.
“Does that change anything?”
“Not what he admitted.”
Exactly.
Daniel might not have planned to hurt me.
But he had opened the door.
Vanessa simply walked farther through it.
That afternoon, Detective Alvarez called.
They had identified fingerprints on the bedroom camera.
“Vanessa?”
“One partial belongs to her.”
I exhaled.
“And the tablet?”
“No usable prints.”
“So Rachel really could have been framed.”
“Yes.”
Guilt hit me.
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
“What?”
“She didn’t check into the hotel she named.”
I stood.
“Did she go home?”
“Her apartment is empty.”
“Maybe she left town because she was scared.”
“That’s possible.”
“But?”
Detective Alvarez paused.
“We found another recording on the tablet.”
“What recording?”
“Not from your bedroom.”
My heart began pounding.
“Where?”
“Daniel’s home office.”
I froze.
“What does it show?”
“A conversation between Daniel and Vanessa.”
“When?”
“About six weeks ago.”
“Can I see it?”
There was a pause.
Then, “I think you need to.”
An hour later, Alvarez came to my house.
Marcus stayed with Eli while I watched.
The video showed Daniel sitting behind his desk.
Vanessa paced.
“She’s never going to give him up,” Vanessa said.
“I don’t want her to give him up.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I want equal time.”
“She’ll never let you have it.”
“She doesn’t get to decide.”
Vanessa leaned over the desk.
“Then make her afraid.”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“We talked about this.”
“No violence.”
“I know.”
“No touching her. No touching Eli.”
Vanessa smiled.
“Of course.”
Then Daniel said something that made my stomach turn.
“If Claire thinks someone is watching her, she’ll come running back to me for protection.”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“And then what?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Vanessa stared at him.
“You still love her.”
He looked away.
“I love my family.”
“You mean Claire.”
“No.”
“You mean Claire.”
Daniel stood.
“This was a mistake.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“All of it?”
“I mean scaring her.”
“What about me?”
Daniel said nothing.
Vanessa laughed softly.
“I gave you everything.”
“Vanessa—”
“No. You wanted Claire scared because you wanted her dependent on you again.”
Daniel looked ashamed.
And I realized something.
This had never only been about custody.
Daniel wanted control.
He wanted me frightened enough to need him.
Vanessa knew it.
And she hated me for it.
The video continued.
Vanessa walked toward the camera.
Just before the recording ended, she looked directly into the lens.
Not accidentally.
Directly.
Like she knew it was there.
She smiled.
Then she said something quietly.
“So if anything happens to Claire, everyone will know whose idea this was.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What did you say?”
Vanessa laughed.
“Nothing.”
The recording ended.
I looked at Detective Alvarez.
“She was planning to frame him.”
“Possibly.”
“But why record that conversation?”
“Insurance.”
“Against Daniel?”
“Against everyone.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Detective Alvarez gestured for me to answer on speaker.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
A woman whispered.
“Claire?”
I recognized the voice.
Rachel.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t come back.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows.”
My skin prickled.
“Who?”
Rachel began crying.
“Vanessa.”
“She’s in jail.”
“No.”
I looked at Alvarez.
“What do you mean, no?”
Rachel whispered four words.
May you like
“She has someone outside.”
The line went dead.
