Chapter 6 - THE SECOND CAMERA
Linda protested loudly.
Jason stopped talking completely.
Sarah sat at the dining table with Miles pressed against her side while Deputy Harris copied the messages and photographed the hidden envelope.
“You need a lawyer,” he told her quietly.
“I know.”
“And somewhere safe tonight.”
“This is my safe place.”
He glanced toward Jason.
“Not tonight.”
Sarah hated that he was right.
Then a woman near the kitchen raised her hand.
It was Jason’s cousin Tessa.
“I recorded part of it.”
“What?”
Tessa held up her phone.
“I was filming the dessert table for Instagram. The camera kept running.”
Linda entered frame, wiped the juice stain, looked toward Jason, and paused.
Jason gave a tiny nod.
Then Linda threw the towel.
Sarah’s skin went cold.
Sarah pressed the towel against Linda’s mouth. Jason started toward her.
But before he reached Sarah, Linda smiled straight at him.
Deputy Harris asked Tessa to send the video.
“There’s another camera.”
“The baby monitor.”
“We stopped using it months ago.”
“Linda asked me where it was when she came in.”
The old monitor camera was mounted above the hallway bookcase, angled toward the living room.
She had forgotten it was still plugged in.
11:04 a.m.
Linda and Jason stood alone in the living room.
Linda’s voice crackled through the phone.
“If she doesn’t react?”
“She will.”
“And if she doesn’t touch me?”
Jason looked toward the kitchen.
“Then we use Plan B.”
Sarah stopped breathing.
Tessa whispered, “What the hell is Plan B?”
Sarah pressed play again.
Linda lowered her voice.
“The pills?”
“They’re already in her purse.”
Sarah’s hand went numb.
Her purse was hanging on the chair by the front door.
Inside was a prescription bottle with Sarah’s name printed on the label.
The medication was a powerful sedative.
Half the bottle was empty.
Harris looked at Jason.
“Sir, put your hands behind your back.”
May you like
Jason whispered, “Mom?”
But Linda was already moving toward the back door.
