Chapter 4 - The Camera That Stayed Awake
Tessa picked me up before midnight. Robert followed in his truck with my overnight bag. I wouldn't let either man pretend the house had been abandoned; I simply needed one safe night.
"You're coming back for your things with an officer," Tessa said. "Not alone."
As a construction estimator, I backed up everything, from bid spreadsheets to holiday photos. I had installed the cameras myself and set the driveway feed to save locally even if the main cloud account changed.
I opened the backup drive at Tessa's table.
Christmas dinner appeared in a corner of the frame. The camera couldn't see the dining table clearly, but it captured the hallway and the front door. At 6:14, Natalie walked in holding a blue folder.
At 6:17, Daniel stepped into view.
"She's going to say no," he told her.
Natalie didn't look surprised. "Then Mom has to make her leave. We need the house empty before Monday."
"Don't let her get her phone," Daniel said. "She records everything."
Tessa reached across the table and stopped the video. "That is not a normal family argument."
I called the lawyer's emergency number. Nina Bryant answered, listened, and told me to preserve the files, sign nothing, and send copies securely.
"We'll notify the escrow company first thing tomorrow," she said. "A contested title doesn't become clean because somebody scheduled a closing."
Robert watched the footage twice. His face seemed to age between one replay and the next.
"My son knew," he said.
"He knew I'd be hurt?" I asked.
Robert couldn't answer.
I let the video run. At 6:22, Teresa came into the hall, adjusting her red Christmas cardigan.
"If she refuses to go," she said, "we call the police after the mess. They'll take his side."
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The screen flickered as Daniel leaned close to the camera.
Then he said, clearly enough for all of us to hear, "She won't be at that closing. She'll be in custody."
