Chapter 8 - SARAH COMES BACK
Sarah didn’t leave.
Not really.
She walked outside.
Closed the front door.
Then stood behind the stone column beside the porch.
Her hands shook.
Everything in her told her to call the police.
But what would she say?
A bottle had been found in Victoria’s purse.
Pills had been found under Sarah’s mattress.
A memory card had vanished.
A fire had started.
Too many accusations.
Too little proof.
Then she remembered something.
The house had more than one camera.
The baby monitor wasn’t security.
But the driveway camera was.
And the service entrance camera.
Daniel controlled those.
Sarah called him.
“Please don’t hang up.”
“Sarah? What happened?”
“I need to know who entered the service wing today.”
There was a pause.
“I’m not supposed to give staff footage without Mr. Carter’s permission.”
“Leo had sedatives in his blood.”
Silence.
Daniel’s voice changed.
“Give me a second.”
Keyboard clicks.
Sarah paced behind the column.
“Come on.”
Then Daniel said, “That’s weird.”
“What?”
“The service-wing camera was disabled from 12:32 to 1:06.”
“Who can disable it?”
“Mr. Carter. Me.”
“Victoria?”
“No.”
Sarah exhaled.
“Unless?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Unless she knows Ethan’s admin code.”
Sarah thought of Victoria constantly using Ethan’s office tablet.
“Can you see who logged in?”
“Yeah.”
More typing.
Then Daniel whispered, “Oh.”
“What?”
“The system was accessed from Mr. Carter’s study tablet at 12:31.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Victoria had been in the study all morning.
“Anything else?”
“Camera came back at 1:06.”
“Was Victoria seen leaving the service wing?”
“I can check the hallway camera.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Sarah stopped moving.
“When?”
“1:04.”
“Can you send that to Ethan?”
“Right now.”
Sarah hung up.
Through the front window she saw Ethan standing in the drawing room.
Victoria held Leo.
She lifted the bottle toward his mouth.
Sarah ran inside.
“Don’t!”
Ethan spun around.
Victoria dropped the bottle.
“What the hell?”
Sarah rushed to the table and grabbed it.
“I saw her giving him this.”
“It’s formula!” Victoria shouted.
Ethan’s phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
A message from Daniel.
Video attached.
Ethan pressed play.
Victoria appeared on the hallway camera.
She glanced left.
Right.
Then entered the service wing.
Thirty-three minutes later she came out.
Something small was in her hand.
Ethan looked up.
Victoria’s face was stone.
“You went into Sarah’s room.”
“I was looking for a towel.”
“For thirty-three minutes?”
“I couldn’t find one.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“In a room with six white towels stacked beside the sink?”
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“Did you plant the bracelet?”
“No.”
“The pills?”
“No.”
“Then why did you disable the camera?”
“I didn’t.”
“Someone used my tablet.”
Victoria screamed, “Maybe Sarah did!”
Sarah held up both hands.
“I was grocery shopping at 12:31. The receipt is in my bag.”
Ethan looked at Victoria.
The silence grew unbearable.
Finally, Victoria picked up her coat.
“I’m leaving.”
Ethan stepped in front of the door.
“This time, I agree.”
Victoria blinked.
“What?”
“You’re leaving.”
Her face changed.
“You’re choosing her?”
“I’m choosing my son.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“After everything I’ve done for you?”
“What have you done?”
“I rebuilt you after Claire.”
Ethan flinched.
Victoria saw it.
And pushed harder.
“You were nothing after she died. You couldn’t eat. You couldn’t sleep. You couldn’t even hold your own baby without shaking.”
Sarah watched Ethan’s face close.
Victoria continued.
“I saved you.”
“No,” Ethan said quietly.
She stopped.
He looked toward Sarah.
“I think people around me saved me.”
Victoria’s eyes filled with rage.
“You’ll regret this.”
“Give me your key.”
She stared at him.
“Now.”
Victoria pulled the house key from her purse.
Dropped it on the floor.
Then leaned close to Ethan.
“You think getting me out fixes anything?”
Ethan said nothing.
Victoria smiled.
“You don’t even know what’s already in that bottle.”
May you like
Everyone looked at the formula.
Sarah’s heart stopped.
