Chapter 6 - THE STORY RACHEL TOLD
By midnight, Rachel was telling family members Daniel had shoved her and sending around a photo of a bruise.
Daniel stared at the image on his phone.
“That bruise wasn’t there.”
Dana nodded. “Doesn’t matter yet. We prove what happened.”
The front hallway camera should have shown Rachel leaving.
Daniel opened the security app.
The camera was offline.
So was the hallway camera.
And the kitchen camera.
Only the exterior cameras worked.
Noah whispered, “She turns them off.”
“How?”
“There’s a box in the laundry room.”
Daniel found the network cabinet behind a shelf. Three camera cables had been unplugged.
Dana photographed everything before he touched it.
The outside driveway camera showed Rachel leaving at 6:14 p.m. She walked normally. She carried her purse with the arm she claimed Daniel injured.
Then Noah tugged Daniel’s sleeve.
“Mr. Ben has a camera.”
Their neighbor, Ben Holloway, had a doorbell camera angled partly toward Daniel’s front porch.
At 12:23 a.m., Daniel called him.
Ben answered in a sleepy voice. “Everything okay?”
“No. I need a favor.”
Ten minutes later, Ben sent a clip.
Rachel stepped onto the porch, turned back toward the closed door, and lifted both middle fingers.
Then she pulled her phone out and said, clearly enough for the microphone to catch:
“He finally did exactly what I needed.”
Dana leaned closer.
“What did she need?”
Noah looked down.
“She told Peter if you got angry, the judge would pick her.”
Daniel closed the laptop.
“Then tomorrow, I don’t get angry.”
Dana nodded. “Tomorrow, you tell the truth.”
Lily had fallen asleep against Daniel’s shoulder.
He carried her upstairs and tucked her into his bed because she refused to sleep alone.
As he turned off the lamp, she caught his hand.
“Daddy?”
“I’m right here.”
“Is Aunt Rachel coming back?”
“No.”
Lily stared at him.
“She has a key you don’t know about.”
Daniel’s hand froze on the blanket.
“What key?”
May you like
Lily pointed toward the hallway.
“The silver one she hides under the angel outside.”
