Chapter 2 - THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE VIDEOS
Daniel watched the words on his screen until they blurred.
DON’T LET MOM FIND THIS.
He opened the November 3 file.
The video player spun once.
Then an error appeared.
FILE REMOVED FROM CLOUD STORAGE.
The download record remained.
The footage did not.
Daniel checked the other forty-one.
Same result.
Every archived clip had been deleted after being downloaded.
He could restore the administrator account.
He could see timestamps.
He could see which cameras had triggered.
But whatever Paige had saved now existed only on her iPad.
Daniel checked the clock.
1:21 a.m.
He could wake her.
He almost did.
Instead, he opened the event log.
Over the last four months, the kitchen camera had gone offline almost every weekday between nine in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Not disconnected.
Disabled manually.
Most evenings, it came back on before Vanessa returned from the real-estate office.
Daniel kept scrolling.
The foyer camera showed no similar pattern.
That meant whoever disabled the system understood camera zones.
He checked the local recorder.
The app showed it as unavailable.
He went to the utility room.
The cabinet lock had been replaced.
Daniel stood in the dark hallway staring at the new silver latch.
Vanessa had once complained that she could barely reset the Wi-Fi router.
Now she had changed administrator permissions and replaced hardware locks.
A floorboard creaked behind him.
Daniel turned.
Paige stood at the bottom of the stairs in plaid pajama pants and an oversized Northwestern sweatshirt.
Her blond hair was tied in a knot.
“What are you doing?”
Daniel lowered his phone.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
Her eyes moved toward the utility cabinet.
Then back to him.
“You should try.”
“Paige.”
She stiffened.
“What?”
“When did you start downloading videos from the security system?”
The color left her face.
For one second, she looked exactly like Vanessa had when Daniel entered the kitchen.
Then she looked away.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
“Your iPad is listed.”
“Then Mom probably used it.”
“Did she?”
Paige hugged herself.
Daniel kept his voice low.
“I’m not asking you to choose sides.”
She gave a short, humorless laugh.
“That’s what everyone says right before they make you choose sides.”
“Did you save those videos?”
She looked toward the stairs.
Daniel waited.
After a long silence, Paige whispered, “Go to bed.”
“Paige.”
“Please.”
“Did your mother hurt Grandma?”
Paige’s eyes filled immediately.
That was his answer.
Daniel took one step toward her.
She backed away.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not angry with you.”
“You will be.”
“Why?”
Paige wiped beneath one eye with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
“You just got home.”
“So?”
“So you still think you know everybody.”
Before Daniel could answer, a door opened upstairs.
Vanessa called down.
“Daniel?”
Paige’s expression changed.
She pressed a finger to her lips.
Then she turned and went upstairs.
“Coming,” Daniel said.
He waited two minutes before following.
Vanessa was sitting up in bed.
“What were you doing?”
“Water.”
“There’s water in the bathroom.”
“I wanted cold water.”
She looked at him longer than necessary.
Then she smiled.
“Jet lag?”
“Probably.”
He climbed into bed.
Vanessa turned toward him.
Her hand rested on his chest.
“I missed you.”
Daniel looked at the ceiling.
“I missed home.”
“You know, things were hard while you were gone.”
“I’m starting to understand that.”
Vanessa’s fingers went still.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I was gone too long.”
“That isn’t my fault.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
She rolled away from him.
“You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Say something innocent and make me feel like I’m on trial.”
Daniel said nothing.
At seven-thirty the next morning, he drove Eleanor to urgent care.
Vanessa objected immediately.
“She doesn’t need a doctor.”
Daniel tied his shoes.
“Her hands are swollen.”
“She has arthritis.”
“Then a doctor can tell me that.”
“Daniel, we have brunch with the Larsons.”
“You go.”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“You’re embarrassing me.”
He stood.
“By taking my mother to a doctor?”
“By acting like I neglected her.”
Daniel picked up the car keys.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You have no idea what the last eighteen months were like.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“Then I guess I have a lot to catch up on.”
At the clinic, Eleanor tried to minimize everything.
The physician assistant was a woman in her fifties named Karen Moss who had no patience for vague explanations.
“These bruises aren’t all from yesterday.”
Eleanor looked down.
“No.”
“Did someone grab you?”
Eleanor said nothing.
Karen pulled her stool closer.
“I’m going to ask Daniel to step out for a minute.”
Daniel stood.
His mother grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
Karen watched the gesture.
“Mrs. Mercer, are you afraid to be alone?”
Eleanor swallowed.
“No.”
“Are you afraid of someone at home?”
Her eyes filled.
Daniel looked away.
Karen documented the swelling, bruising, a healing cut near Eleanor’s palm, and inflammation in both knees.
Nothing was broken.
That somehow made Daniel angrier.
There was no dramatic X-ray.
No single catastrophic injury.
Just a body that had been hurt in small, repeatable ways.
Before they left, Karen gave Eleanor information about Adult Protective Services and asked whether she wanted assistance making a report.
Eleanor folded the paper twice.
“Not today.”
Daniel waited until they were in the car.
“Why not?”
“Because Paige lives there.”
“She’s nineteen.”
“She’s still her daughter.”
“That doesn’t make this okay.”
“I know.”
“Then help me understand.”
Eleanor stared through the windshield.
“Vanessa says things when she’s angry.”
“What things?”
“That Paige has nowhere else to go.”
Daniel gripped the steering wheel.
“She has me.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“That’s what I told her.”
Something in her tone made him turn.
“What happened after you said that?”
Eleanor’s fingers tightened around the folded APS paper.
“She took my bank card.”
Daniel closed his eyes for one second.
Then he drove directly to Eleanor’s bank.
The branch manager printed six months of statements after Eleanor verified her identity.
Twenty-three thousand six hundred and forty dollars was gone.
ATM withdrawals.
Online payments.
Credit-card transfers.
A $4,800 payment to an unfamiliar company.
BENTON & CHASE LLP.
Daniel stared at it.
“Do you know this name?”
Eleanor shook her head.
The branch manager leaned over the desk.
“It appears to be a law firm.”
Daniel searched it on his phone.
The first result loaded.
BENTON & CHASE FAMILY LAW
DIVORCE • MARITAL PROPERTY • HIGH-ASSET SEPARATION
Eleanor went pale.
Daniel looked at the payment date.
August 12.
Four months before he came home.
May you like
His wife hadn’t just taken his mother’s money.
She had used it to hire a divorce lawyer.
