Chapter 4 - The Card
Maya closed her fist around the card and ran.
A hand grabbed her wrist in the dark.
She twisted hard, drove her shoulder backward, and heard a man curse.
"Maya!"
Adrian.
She stopped fighting.
"Someone was behind me."
He switched on his phone flashlight. The patio was empty.
"What did you find?"
She opened her palm.
Adrian stared at the memory card.
"Don't give it to security," she whispered.
He didn't ask why.
They went to his private study, locked the door, and used an old laptop disconnected from the estate network.
The card contained six video files.
Five were ordinary surveillance clips.
The sixth began at 11:41 that morning.
There was Celeste in the blue dress.
She stood alone beside Caleb's stroller.
Maya gripped the desk.
On screen, Celeste looked toward the house, then toward the pool.
She removed something from her purse.
Not a phone.
A small silver key.
She unlocked the stroller brake.
Then someone stepped into frame.
Evelyn Mercer.
Adrian stopped breathing.
There was no audio, but Evelyn pointed toward the pool. Celeste shook her head once.
Evelyn grabbed her arm.
Then Celeste placed both hands on the stroller.
And pushed.
Adrian recoiled from the laptop.
"My mother was there."
Maya whispered, "She told her to do it."
The video continued.
As Maya ran into frame and jumped into the pool, Evelyn calmly walked toward the trees.
Straight toward the camera.
The clip ended.
Adrian's face had gone gray.
Then Maya clicked the final file.
It was dated three months earlier.
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The camera showed Caleb's nursery window at night.
At 2:13 a.m., Celeste climbed through it.
