Chapter 3 - ERASED
Grant saw the light.
So did everyone else.
The tiny recorder looked like a toy, scratched at the ears and stained with purple marker. No one in the room understood that Lily had turned the one object adults ignored into a private witness that never looked away.
"Owen," he said, "open that vent."
Renata grabbed his sleeve. "This is ridiculous. We have hundreds of guests downstairs."
"Open it."
Owen removed the carved panel. Behind it sat a pinhole camera wired into the estate's internal security system.
Danner stopped reaching for his cuffs.
Grant turned slowly toward Renata. "Why is there a camera in this room?"
She recovered fast. "For Lily's safety. Your previous security consultant installed it after her nightmares. You knew that."
"I did not."
Owen carried the camera's memory unit to the wall console and entered a code.
The screen displayed one message:
FILE DELETED - 6:04 P.M.
Emma checked the clock. It was 6:11.
"Someone erased it seven minutes ago," she said.
Renata looked offended. "Are you accusing me of being a computer expert now?"
Lily slipped from Emma's arms and crawled under the vanity. She pulled out a tiny pink music player shaped like a rabbit.
Emma recognized it. Lily carried it everywhere, though she never played music aloud.
The girl pressed a button.
Renata's voice filled the bathroom.
"Flinch again and I'll get closer to your ear next time."
The room went dead silent.
Grant stared at his fiancée.
Renata stared at Lily.
Then she lunged for the recorder.
But someone behind Grant shouted, "Don't let her touch it!"
May you like
The voice belonged to Grant's younger brother, Mason.
And he was holding a second burned curling iron.
