Chapter 2 - What the Camera Saw
On the television, Vanessa checked over her shoulder before she touched the stroller.
She wasn't rushing to help. She wasn't even looking at Emma. She bent down, released the brake, and gave the handle a hard shove toward the staircase. The stroller rolled over the rug's edge. Clara came flying from the kitchen, caught it sideways, and went down on one knee. Emma's blanket slipped. Clara grabbed the baby before the stroller slammed onto the floor.
Then Vanessa threw herself against the wall and began to scream.
In the video, I heard my sister yell, "Why would you do that, Clara?"
I heard Clara answer, "Call an ambulance!"
The recording kept going. It showed Vanessa deliberately moving beside the tipped stroller and arranging her face into a frightened expression before I came through the front door.
I reached for the remote. Olivia pulled it away. "No. You haven't seen everything."
On the screen, my own hand flashed across Clara's face. Olivia had kept recording, probably from shock. I stared at the man in the dark coat who had used force before thinking. I knew him. I hated him.
Vanessa's crying stopped as abruptly as a faucet turning off. "The angle is wrong," she said. "Olivia doesn't understand what she saw."
"I understand," Olivia said. "You pushed my sister. And Dad believed you because you were louder."
Clara was still against the table. I started toward her, but she flinched. My feet stopped where they were.
"Don't," she said. "Please call for medical help."
I dialed emergency services with hands that barely worked. Vanessa slipped into the hallway, whispering into her own phone. Olivia stepped after her, camera raised.
"Who are you calling?" I demanded.
May you like
Vanessa looked straight at me. "Someone who can fix this."
A moment later she disappeared through the service door, and our security chief's name lit up on my phone.
