Chapter 5 - THE CALL
Kate called the police.
Vanessa stared up at her.
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“A child was hit,” Kate said. “They can decide what needs to happen next.”
Daniel stepped aside when Vanessa moved toward the door.
She paused, perhaps expecting him to stop her.
“Think about your daughter,” she said.
“I am.”
“Think about what this will do to her. Police in her home. Strangers asking questions.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
For a moment, the old reflex rose in him: calm everyone down, contain the damage, handle it privately.
Kate saw it.
“Daniel.”
He looked upstairs.
Lily stood behind the railing, holding the rabbit from her drawer.
Mrs. Brooks was beside her.
Vanessa followed his gaze.
“Lily, honey. Tell your father we had a misunderstanding.”
Lily stepped behind the housekeeper.
That decided it.
Daniel opened the front door.
“You can wait outside.”
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“This is my home.”
“Then wait in the living room. Away from Lily.”
When the officers arrived, they separated the adults.
Daniel answered questions at the dining table while another officer spoke with Vanessa.
From the living room came a sudden burst of crying.
Not Lily’s.
Vanessa’s.
Daniel had never heard her cry like that when they were alone.
An officer named Bennett looked toward the sound, then back at him.
“Does your daughter need medical attention?”
“Yes.”
Kate drove Lily to a pediatric emergency clinic while Daniel stayed to give his account.
He hated watching them leave.
Lily pressed her palm against the car window.
He pressed his against it from outside.
“I’ll meet you there.”
“You promised downstairs,” she said softly.
He swallowed.
“I did. And I came back.”
She nodded once.
After the car pulled away, Bennett asked about cameras.
Daniel pointed toward the patio.
“There’s a security camera over the pool.”
Vanessa stopped crying.
Only for a second.
But Daniel saw it.
He opened the security app.
The pool feed was offline.
He tapped the saved recordings.
A warning appeared.
ACCOUNT ACCESS CHANGED.
Daniel looked through the doorway.
Vanessa sat perfectly still.
“Funny,” he said.
She wiped her eyes.
May you like
“What is?”
“The camera stopped working three minutes before Lily brought you the cake.”
