Chapter 2 - THE FIRST LIE
Serena lunged for the device.
Marco caught her wrist before she reached Lily.
“Let go of me,” Serena snapped.
Victor turned slowly. “You were crying a second ago.”
The anger vanished from Serena’s face again. “I’m scared. That woman has been watching me for months.”
Lily pushed herself against the base of a marble column. “It’s a nanny camera. I bought it after Ethan started waking up with bruises no one could explain.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Bruises?”
Lily nodded. “Small ones. Upper arms. Back of his legs. Serena said he fell against the crib. Then his medicine started disappearing.”
“You never told me.”
“I tried.” Lily looked toward the security office. “Every message I sent was answered by your assistant. He said you were traveling and I should follow Serena’s instructions.”
Victor looked at Marco. “Which assistant?”
“Mr. Cole,” Marco answered.
Victor’s expression hardened. Julian Cole had managed his private schedule for five years. He also happened to be Serena’s cousin.
The ambulance arrived first. Paramedics examined Ethan on the foyer rug while another checked Lily’s ribs. Victor stayed beside his son, answering questions with clipped, controlled words.
Serena paced near the staircase.
“This is ridiculous,” she said. “Ethan is clumsy. Babies fall.”
The paramedic looked up. “This injury doesn’t look like a simple fall.”
Serena went silent.
Two Chicago detectives entered next. Detective Mara Quinn, a compact woman with silver at her temples, took one look at the room and separated everyone.
Victor handed her the recording device.
“Play it,” Serena said suddenly. “Then everyone will see what that nanny did.”
Lily’s face drained of color.
“The memory card,” she whispered. “It should be inside.”
Marco opened the camera.
The slot was empty.
Serena gave a small, relieved laugh. “Convenient.”
Detective Quinn watched her. “Very.”
Then a young housemaid named Tessa appeared at the doorway, trembling so badly that a tray rattled in her hands.
May you like
“Mr. Blackwood,” she said, “I saw Mr. Cole enter the nursery this morning. He took something from the camera.”
Before Victor could answer, every light in the mansion went out.
