Chapter 2 - THE GIRL WHO KEPT THE RECEIPT
At St. Mary's Medical Center, a surgeon closed Daniel's wound while another doctor examined Lily. The little girl had injuries that needed attention and careful observation, but she was awake. She asked twice for her yellow blanket and once whether Daddy was going away.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Daniel told her.
Emma sat on a plastic chair in the hall, clutching an untouched vending-machine sandwich. She looked younger than sixteen, with a child's fear behind eyes determined to stay dry.
“You did the right thing,” Daniel said.
“I was watching the camera because Mom told me to stay upstairs.”
“You weren't responsible for stopping her.”
“I heard Lily crying. I didn't know what she was doing until I looked.” Emma swallowed. “I should have run in sooner.”
Daniel sat beside her even though his stitches pulled. “Listen to me. You got help. You protected your sister. That's enough.”
Detective Maya Chen arrived with a second investigator, Owen Brooks. She explained that the recording was being preserved as evidence, not posted online. A live-stream copy, sent automatically to an account Amanda didn't control, documented the assault and what followed. Emma had also shared the emergency link with a trusted neighbor who called 911.
“Can she get out?” Emma asked.
“The prosecutor will address detention and protective conditions,” Chen answered. “Meanwhile, none of you should contact her.”
Daniel's phone buzzed. The screen showed an unfamiliar number.
YOU THINK A VIDEO CAN FIX YOUR DEBTS?
He showed Chen. Her jaw tightened. “Don't respond. We'll preserve that too.”
The next message carried a photograph. It showed Daniel walking into the hospital only twenty minutes earlier, Lily's yellow blanket over his shoulder.
“You said Amanda was in custody,” he whispered.
“She is,” Chen said.
“Then who's following us?”
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Outside the glass doors, a dark pickup rolled slowly away from the emergency entrance.
