Chapter 11 - THE CAMERA
I called the police.
Then I woke the twins, put them in the car, and drove to Maya’s house while officers searched mine.
At two in the morning, one of them called.
They found a small wireless camera hidden inside a decorative smoke-detector cover in the hallway between the children’s rooms.
A second camera was tucked behind a cookbook in the kitchen.
Neither belonged to me.
The next afternoon, with an investigator present, we watched it.
I had to leave the room twice.
On the videos, Diane arranged my home like a set, emptying shelves and moving food before taking photographs.
She placed Lily at the table and told her to keep her hands in her lap.
“Say it again,” Diane ordered.
“I’m hungry.”
“Louder.”
“I’m hungry.”
“And why are you hungry?”
Lily hesitated.
“Because Mommy forgot.”
“Good.”
I turned away.
Maya stopped the video.
“We have enough.”
“No,” I said. “Keep going.”
The final clip was recorded three nights before I caught Diane in the kitchen.
She was standing near the sink, talking to someone just outside the camera frame.
A man.
At first, only his shoulder was visible.
Then he stepped forward.
Evan.
My stomach dropped.
“You said we were documenting neglect,” he said.
“We are.”
“This isn’t documentation. You’re creating it.”
Diane lowered her voice. “Rachel will never lose custody unless the evidence is undeniable.”
“I’m not doing this.”
“You already did. Your name is on the consulting agreement.”
Evan went pale.
Then Diane said, “Once she is removed, the trust transfers. We fix what Michael should have fixed himself.”
Evan stared at her.
“I never agreed to hurt the kids.”
Diane’s answer was quiet.
“Then you should have read what you signed.”
The video ended.
Maya looked at me.
“Rachel, we need to know exactly what Evan signed.”
Before I could answer, my phone rang.
May you like
It was Evan.
His first words were, “My mother knows you found the cameras.”
