Chapter 1 - WATCH THE CAMERA FIRST

I heard Lily screaming before I reached the stairs.

Not crying. Screaming.

I dropped my briefcase in the foyer and ran.

The nursery door was open. Maria, our housekeeper, was on the floor with my three-year-old daughter pressed against her chest. Lily’s face was red, wet with tears, one tiny hand twisted into Maria’s sweater.

Claire stood over them.

“What happened?” I shouted.

Claire pointed at Maria. “She dropped her.”

Maria went white. “Mr. Bennett, no—”

“Don’t lie!” Claire snapped.

I took Lily from Maria and checked her arms, her legs, the back of her head. There was a red mark near her temple and a shallow scrape below her hairline.

My fear turned into anger before my brain had time to catch up.

“How could you drop her?” I demanded.

Maria’s eyes filled. “I didn’t.”

Claire grabbed my forearm. “Daniel, fire her. Right now.”

Maria looked at me, not at Claire.

“Please watch the camera first.”

Claire froze.

“What camera?” she asked too quickly.

Maria pointed at the baby monitor above the crib.

Claire gave a nervous laugh. “That thing hasn’t recorded in months.”

Except I had replaced the memory card three days earlier.

I pulled out my phone and opened the security app.

Claire stepped closer. “Daniel, you don’t need to upset yourself more.”

I moved away from her.

The video loaded.

Lily was sitting peacefully on the rug, stacking wooden animals.

Then Claire entered.

She checked the hallway.

She locked the nursery door.

My stomach tightened.

On the screen, my wife picked Lily up. Lily reached toward her, trusting.

Claire whispered something I couldn’t hear.

Then she shoved Lily backward onto the padded bench hard enough that Lily’s head struck the wall.

Lily screamed.

Claire didn’t rush to her.

She stood there and watched.

Then she grabbed Lily’s wrist and pulled her toward the floor just as Maria started pounding on the door from the hallway.

Beside me, Maria covered her mouth and began crying.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Claire…”

She snatched my phone.

“You have no idea what that child has done to my life!” she screamed.

The room went silent.

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Then, from my arms, Lily whispered the sentence that changed everything.

“Daddy… she does it when you go to work.”