Chapter 6 - THE MISSING MESSAGES
By midnight, my house no longer felt like mine.
Jenna sat at the dining table copying Lily's notebook pages. Peter had emailed both party videos. I had called a family-law attorney and arranged an emergency meeting for the morning.
Vanessa stayed in the primary bedroom with the door locked.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from her.
You are destroying this family because an eight-year-old knows how to cry.
I stared at it.
Then another arrived.
Ask yourself why every caregiver has eventually had trouble with Lily.
I walked upstairs and knocked.
"Open the door."
"Not until you calm down."
"Camille. Why did she leave?"
No answer.
Our nanny had quit six months earlier after three years with us. Vanessa told me Camille stole jewelry.
I called her.
She answered cautiously.
"Mr. Cole?"
"Did you steal from us?"
A long breath.
"No."
"Why did you leave?"
"Because your wife threatened me."
I gripped the banister.
Camille told me she had seen Vanessa lock Lily in the laundry room for nearly an hour after Lily spilled juice. When Camille objected, Vanessa accused her of theft and said she would ruin her immigration sponsorship if she contacted me.
"Why didn't you call anyway?"
"I tried."
My stomach turned.
"She answered your phone."
Again.
Camille sent me screenshots of messages she had saved.
One from Vanessa read:
Daniel doesn't need another woman filling his daughter's head with stories.
Another said:
You come near Lily again and I'll make sure you regret it.
I forwarded everything to my attorney.
Then Camille sent one final image.
It was a photograph of our hallway security monitor.
On the screen, Vanessa was dragging a storage bench beneath the camera outside Lily's room.
The date was four months earlier.
The same date as the first page in Lily's notebook.
May you like
Under the photo, Camille wrote:
I think she started covering the camera after she realized it could record audio.
