Chapter 3 - THE VIDEO HE COULDN'T ERASE
Bradley placed the recorder on the kitchen table.
Nobody laughed anymore.
Officer Delgado stood between him and the device.
Her partner asked everyone to stay where they were.
Barbara immediately started talking.
"This has become completely insane."
Officer Delgado looked at her.
"Ma'am, I need you to stop speaking for other people."
Barbara blinked.
That may have been the first time in twenty years anyone had told her to stop talking.
She didn't handle it well.
"This is my family."
"This is a police investigation."
Barbara's face changed.
Bradley looked at me.
"You really want to do this?"
That question almost worked.
For one second, I saw the man I married.
The man who brought me coffee every morning.
The man who cried when our first pregnancy ended at eleven weeks.
The man who slept on a hospital chair beside me after surgery.
Then I looked at the red marks on my arms.
The memory passed.
"You already did it."
He clenched his jaw.
Officer Delgado asked about the camera system.
The rental agreement said recordings were stored locally and backed up to the property manager's cloud account.
Bradley's shoulders dropped.
He had ripped the recorder out of the wall for nothing.
I watched that realization hit him.
Barbara saw it too.
She turned toward him.
"You idiot."
Everyone heard her.
Bradley stared at his mother.
"You told me to get it."
The entire kitchen went silent.
Barbara's eyes widened.
"I told you no such thing."
"Yes, you did."
"Bradley."
"You said we couldn't let her make us look like criminals."
Barbara stepped toward him.
"Stop talking."
Officer Delgado lifted one hand.
"Actually, I'd prefer if everyone kept talking naturally."
Trevor looked like he wanted to disappear.
Mason sat down.
Thomas leaned against the counter.
I couldn't tell whether he was sick, ashamed, or both.
The officers separated us for statements.
I told the truth.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
I told them about the argument with Barbara.
I told them about Bradley demanding an apology.
I told them about Trevor and Mason holding me.
I told them I asked them to stop.
I told them Bradley pushed me.
I told them about the laughter.
Then I told them about Barbara saying to take my phone.
Officer Delgado wrote everything down.
"Do you feel safe staying here tonight?"
"No."
"Do you have somewhere to go?"
"Yes."
I didn't.
But I would figure it out.
Rachel texted me.
DO NOT RETURN HOME WITH HIM.
Then another message appeared.
CHECK EMAIL.
I opened it.
Rachel had already sent me a link to a hotel twenty minutes away.
Reservation made under my name.
I almost cried.
Not because of the hotel.
Because one person had believed me without requiring a performance first.
When the officers finished, they told Bradley he needed to stay away from me for the night.
No arrest was made on the spot.
The evidence still had to be reviewed.
Bradley immediately acted victorious.
"See?"
Barbara whispered.
"They know she's exaggerating."
Officer Delgado heard that.
She turned around.
"No, ma'am."
Barbara stopped.
"We're separating everyone while we preserve evidence and determine what charges, if any, apply."
She looked directly at Bradley.
"And attempting to remove a recording device after an incident is something investigators will note."
His victory lasted about four seconds.
I went upstairs to pack.
Ten minutes later, Thomas appeared in the doorway.
He held my coat.
I stared at it.
"You left it downstairs."
"Thank you."
He didn't leave.
"Maddie."
I waited.
"I owe you an apology."
"Yes."
He flinched.
Maybe he had expected me to make it easier.
I wasn't going to.
"I should have stopped them."
"Yes."
"I thought Bradley was just going to splash you."
"Two men were holding me."
"I know."
"And you laughed."
His eyes lowered.
"Yes."
I zipped my suitcase.
He whispered something.
"I didn't laugh because it was funny."
I looked at him.
"Then why did you?"
His face tightened.
"Because that's what we do."
I frowned.
He looked toward the hallway.
"In this family, when Barbara decides something is funny, everyone laughs."
My stomach twisted.
"That's pathetic."
"It is."
For once, he didn't defend himself.
Then he pulled something from his pocket.
A memory card.
I stared at it.
"What is that?"
"Trevor was filming before the police came."
My pulse jumped.
"Why do you have it?"
"He gave it to me."
"Why?"
Thomas looked over his shoulder.
"Because Barbara told him to delete everything."
I took the card.
"Did he?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Thomas gave me a tired smile.
"Because Trevor isn't as loyal as Barbara thinks he is."
I put the memory card into my purse.
Thomas started to leave.
Then he stopped.
"There is something else."
"What?"
"Bradley knew you were going to be angry this weekend."
"I think that became obvious."
"No."
Thomas shook his head.
"I mean before you arrived."
A strange feeling moved through me.
"Why?"
"I heard him and Barbara talking Thursday night."
"What were they talking about?"
He hesitated.
Then he said the words that changed the entire shape of the weekend.
"They were talking about getting you to lose your temper."
My fingers went cold.
"What?"
"They wanted you angry."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I'm telling you what I heard."
I stared at him.
Thomas stepped closer.
"Barbara said, 'Once Maddie reacts, Bradley gets the leverage.'"
The room seemed to shrink around me.
"What leverage?"
"I don't know."
Thomas looked toward the stairs.
"But whatever happened tonight..."
He swallowed.
"I don't think it was spontaneous."
My phone vibrated.
Rachel again.
This time, the message was only six words.
DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING BRADLEY SENDS.
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
I FOUND SOMETHING IN YOUR POSTNUP.
I stopped breathing.
Bradley and I had signed a marital agreement four years earlier.
I had barely thought about it since.
Thomas saw my face.
"What is it?"
May you like
I looked at him.
"I think I know what the leverage was."
