Chapter 4 - The Missing Cameras
By morning, CPS had told Daniel not to return Lily to the house until they completed an initial safety assessment.
He took her to a hotel under his attorney's name.
Then he called Marcus Bell, the security technician who had installed cameras in Daniel's house after Emma died.
"I need every recording from the dining room and kitchen for the last three months."
Marcus was quiet.
"Daniel, I thought you knew."
"Knew what?"
"Those cameras have been offline almost every weekday since May."
Daniel felt cold move across his shoulders.
"That's impossible."
"Not impossible. Somebody with administrator access created an automation. Cameras disconnect thirty minutes after your phone leaves the property and reconnect before you usually get home."
"Who has administrator access?"
"You. And the secondary account."
"Vanessa?"
"No. The account is under Margaret Reed."
Daniel gripped the edge of the desk.
His mother had insisted on emergency access because Lily sometimes stayed with her.
Marcus continued. "There's something else. The disconnects started the same day the nursery camera was removed."
"I never removed it."
"Someone did."
Daniel opened the smart-home app. The nursery camera wasn't just offline. It had been deleted from the device history.
A CPS investigator named Nora Fields arrived at noon. Daniel gave her everything, including Marcus's report.
Nora read it twice.
"Mr. Reed, has anyone recently discussed custody of Lily?"
"No."
"Guardianship?"
"No."
She slid a document across the table.
It was a petition filed two days earlier in county court.
Petitioner: Margaret Reed.
Emergency temporary guardian requested for Lily Emma Reed.
Reason: Father's escalating instability and violent behavior.
Attached was a sworn declaration from Vanessa.
May you like
Daniel looked at the filing date.
It had been submitted twenty-six hours before he came home early.
