Chapter 2
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Noah was still crying against Emily’s chest.
My mother stared at my hand around her arm.
“Let go of me.”
“Answer the question.”
“There is no question.”
Emily gave a bitter laugh.
It was the first angry sound I had heard from her all evening.
“She was going to take it.”
Linda spun toward her.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I saw you checking it this morning.”
My heart started pounding.
“Checking what?”
Emily looked at me.
“The camera.”
I released my mother and walked down the hallway.
Linda followed immediately.
“Daniel, don’t be ridiculous.”
I pushed open our bedroom door.
At first, I saw nothing.
Our bed was unmade.
A basket of clean baby clothes sat beside the dresser.
The curtains were half closed.
Then Emily pointed from the doorway.
“Top shelf.”
There was a digital clock on the bookshelf near our bed.
I had seen it a hundred times.
I had never bought it.
I stepped closer.
There was a tiny dark circle inside one of the numbers.
My stomach turned.
“Where did this come from?”
Linda folded her arms.
“It’s a clock.”
I picked it up.
A cable ran from the back.
There was a memory card slot underneath.
I looked at my mother.
“You put this here?”
“No.”
Emily spoke quietly.
“I watched her move it.”
Linda’s face snapped toward her.
“You watched me dust it.”
“You pointed it at the bed.”
“That’s enough.”
“No,” I said.
My mother stared at me.
I had never used that tone with her before.
Not once.
I held up the clock.
“Did you put this in our bedroom?”
Her mouth tightened.
“It’s my house too.”
The words hit me strangely.
“What did you just say?”
She immediately changed direction.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.”
“I helped you buy this place.”
“You gave us five thousand dollars for the closing costs.”
“And apparently gratitude means nothing anymore.”
I almost laughed.
“You think giving us money means you can secretly record my wife?”
“I wasn’t recording anyone.”
I removed the memory card.
Linda’s expression changed.
It lasted half a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Emily saw it too.
“Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“She doesn’t want you to see what’s on that card.”
My mother reached for it.
I stepped back.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
She said nothing.
I took out my phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
Linda’s face drained.
“You would call the police on your own mother?”
“If you put a hidden camera in my bedroom, absolutely.”
“It wasn’t for you.”
The sentence came out fast.
Too fast.
Emily stopped rocking Noah.
I stared at my mother.
“What does that mean?”
Linda looked trapped.
Then she glanced at Emily.
“It was for the baby.”
Emily’s jaw dropped.
“The camera was pointed at our bed.”
“I wanted to make sure she was taking care of him.”
“You wanted to spy on her.”
“I was protecting my grandson.”
“From his mother?”
Linda looked directly at me.
“You’re never home.”
The accusation landed hard.
Emily lowered her eyes.
My mother continued.
“You leave before sunrise some mornings. You come home late. You have no idea what happens here.”
I stepped closer.
“What exactly are you accusing my wife of?”
“I’m saying she isn’t stable.”
Emily flinched.
I turned toward her.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Linda laughed without humor.
“You think I’m lying?”
“Yes.”
“She cries every day.”
“She had a baby four weeks ago.”
“She forgets things.”
“She sleeps whenever Noah sleeps.”
“She once left a bottle on the counter for an hour.”
Emily suddenly raised her voice.
“Because I fell asleep standing up!”
Noah startled and cried louder.
Emily immediately kissed his head.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, baby.”
I felt something tear inside me.
My wife looked exhausted.
Not lazy.
Not unstable.
Exhausted.
And I had somehow missed how bad things had become.
“Emily,” I said quietly, “how long has this been happening?”
She didn’t answer.
“Please.”
Her eyes filled again.
“Since the second day after we came home from the hospital.”
I looked at my mother.
She had been staying with us for almost a month.
She had told me she was helping.
Every night when I came home, she gave me a report.
Emily slept too much.
Emily was emotional.
Emily didn’t appreciate her.
Emily wasn’t keeping the house clean.
And every night, Emily told me she was tired.
I had believed both things could be true.
Now I realized I had never asked why Emily was so tired.
“What else?” I asked.
Emily hesitated.
Linda stepped forward.
“Don’t start inventing stories.”
I pointed toward the living room.
“Sit down.”
“I will not be ordered around in a house I helped pay for.”
“Sit down or leave.”
Linda stared at me.
Then she laughed.
“You’re choosing her.”
Emily’s face changed.
My mother saw it and smiled.
It was small.
Cruel.
I suddenly understood that sentence had been used before.
I turned to Emily.
“How many times has she said that?”
Emily whispered, “Every day.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“She keeps telling me that eventually you’ll have to choose between us.”
Linda threw her hands up.
“Oh, please.”
“She says you always choose family.”
“You are family,” I said.
Emily looked at me.
My mother cut in.
“She means blood.”
I turned toward Linda.
“And I mean my wife and son.”
My mother’s mouth fell open.
I had never said it that clearly.
Maybe that was part of the problem.
I walked into the living room and set the camera on the coffee table.
Then I called the police.
Linda began pacing.
“This is insane.”
I ignored her.
Emily sat on the couch, still holding Noah.
I crouched beside her.
“Can I hold him now?”
She looked uncertain.
Not because she was afraid of me.
Because she was afraid to let go.
“I’ve got him.”
Her arms slowly loosened.
I lifted our son.
The second he left her chest, Emily’s hands began shaking harder.
I finally saw how severe it was.
“Emily.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m just tired.”
Her knees buckled when she tried to stand.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
My mother muttered, “Here we go.”
I whipped around.
“Stop.”
Linda went silent.
Emily leaned against me.
Her skin felt cold.
“When did you last eat?”
She didn’t answer.
“Emily.”
“This morning.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did you eat?”
“A piece of toast.”
It was almost seven at night.
I looked at Linda.
“You were here all day.”
“She’s an adult.”
“You made her mop while holding a newborn, but feeding herself was suddenly her responsibility?”
Linda’s face hardened again.
“She’s manipulating you.”
A knock sounded at the front door.
Two officers stood outside.
My mother’s confidence disappeared.
I explained what we had found.
One officer examined the clock.
The other spoke privately with Emily.
Linda kept interrupting until the officer finally told her to stop.
Then one of them asked the question I had been dreading.
“Mrs. Carter, do you feel safe staying here tonight?”
Emily looked at me.
Then at Linda.
“No.”
My mother gasped.
“Unbelievable.”
The officer turned toward her.
“Ma’am.”
Linda went quiet.
I told Emily we would go somewhere else.
She immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“This is Noah’s home.”
Her voice grew stronger.
“I’m not leaving my home because of her.”
I looked at my mother.
Linda seemed shocked.
Maybe she had never expected Emily to say it.
I hadn’t either.
I stood.
“Mom, pack your things.”
Linda blinked.
“What?”
“You’re leaving.”
“You cannot be serious.”
“You’re not staying here tonight.”
“I have nowhere to go.”
“You have a sister twenty minutes away.”
“You would throw your mother out?”
“You secretly recorded my bedroom.”
“For the baby!”
“You kept my wife from feeding him until she cleaned!”
“That is not what happened.”
Emily suddenly stood.
Her legs were still unsteady.
But her voice wasn’t.
“You took my phone.”
I froze.
“What?”
Linda went pale.
Emily pointed at her.
“She took my phone every morning after you left.”
I stared at my mother.
“That’s a lie.”
“Then where is it?”
Nobody moved.
Emily looked at me.
“I haven’t seen my phone since nine this morning.”
I remembered texting her all afternoon.
No answer.
I had assumed she was sleeping.
“Mom.”
Linda looked toward the hallway.
I walked past her.
“Where is Emily’s phone?”
She followed me.
“Daniel, stop.”
I checked the guest room.
Nothing.
I opened the nightstand.
Nothing.
Then I saw Linda’s purse on the chair.
She grabbed it before I could.
“You have no right.”
One of the officers stepped forward.
“Ma’am, if the phone belongs to Mrs. Carter, return it.”
Linda clutched the purse.
Her entire face changed.
Emily whispered behind me.
“She deleted something.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“This afternoon I heard her talking to someone.”
Linda’s breathing quickened.
Emily continued.
“She said, ‘Daniel still believes me.’”
Silence swallowed the room.
May you like
Then she added,
“And she said tomorrow was the day they would finally get rid of me.”
