Chương 9
Adrian did not.
“What camera?”
Olivia’s voice broke.
“Mom put one in my room.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What do you mean, in your room?”
Olivia wiped her cheek with the heel of her hand.
“A little camera.”
“Where?”
“In the smoke detector.”
Marisol swore softly in Spanish.
Clara looked at Adrian.
He had gone perfectly still.
“Who found it?” he asked.
“The police.”
“Why were they searching her room?”
“They were looking for more cameras,” Marisol said.
Adrian’s eyes moved to her.
“More?”
Marisol nodded once.
“Because they found one in the nursery too.”
The coffee cup slipped from Adrian’s hand.
It hit the floor and rolled beneath the chair, spilling a thin brown line across the tile.
Nobody bent to pick it up.
Olivia watched it disappear.
Clara thought absurdly that someone would have to mop that later.
Then she hated herself for noticing.
Adrian crouched in front of his daughter.
“Did you know it was there?”
Olivia shook her head.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did your mother ever tell you she was recording you?”
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
Clara could see him trying not to react in a way that would frighten her.
It did not work.
Olivia saw everything.
“She watched me?”
Adrian opened his eyes again.
“I don’t know.”
“She watched me change clothes?”
He flinched.
Marisol stepped closer.
“Sweetheart, we don’t know what was recorded.”
“That means yes.”
“No,” Adrian said quickly.
“It means we don’t know yet.”
Olivia’s chin began trembling.
Clara pushed herself upright despite the ankle brace.
“Come here.”
The girl crossed the small room immediately.
Clara lifted one arm.
Olivia leaned into her side carefully, avoiding the injured wrist.
Adrian remained crouched in front of them.
“She said she trusted me,” Olivia whispered.
Nobody answered.
“She said she put the baby monitor away because I was old enough to have privacy.”
Clara felt something in her chest tighten.
Adrian looked like he might be sick.
Marisol reached for the curtain.
“I’m going to find Ruiz.”
Adrian stood.
“I’ll go.”
Olivia grabbed Clara’s sleeve.
“Don’t leave.”
Adrian stopped.
The words were not directed at him, but he heard them.
“I’m staying,” Clara said.
Adrian hesitated.
“I’ll be right outside.”
Olivia did not look at him.
He left.
For several minutes, Clara listened to the girl breathe.
The television remained muted.
The cooking show had ended.
An advertisement showed a smiling family unloading groceries from a car.
Olivia stared at it without seeing it.
“Did your mom ever ask what you talked about when she wasn’t around?”
Clara asked.
Olivia nodded against her shoulder.
“All the time.”
“What kind of things?”
“What Dad said.”
Clara’s stomach tightened.
“What else?”
“What you said.”
Clara went still.
“Me?”
Olivia lifted her head.
“She asked if you talked about her.”
“Did we?”
“No.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That.”
“And?”
“She didn’t believe me.”
Clara looked at the curtain.
“When did she start asking?”
“I don’t know.”
“Before Emma was born?”
Olivia thought about it.
“Maybe.”
Clara closed her eyes briefly.
There had been months of tension she had mistaken for ordinary household strain.
Vanessa watching her too closely.
Vanessa asking what Adrian had eaten when she was not home.
Vanessa joking about Clara knowing everyone’s schedules.
Vanessa appearing in doorways without warning.
Clara had filed all of it under rich-family discomfort.
Now each piece felt rearranged.
Marisol returned with Ruiz.
Adrian followed.
Ruiz looked tired.
He had removed his cap.
“Olivia, I need to ask your dad and Clara a few things.”
“About the camera?”
“Yes.”
“Can I stay?”
He glanced at Adrian.
Adrian looked at Clara.
Clara said, “If she wants to.”
Ruiz nodded.
“Okay.”
He stood near the counter instead of taking the chair.
“We found two hidden cameras so far.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“One in Olivia’s bedroom and one in the nursery?”
“Yes.”
“Connected to what?”
“That’s still being examined.”
“Were they recording?”
“We believe so.”
“Believe?”
Ruiz’s tone stayed controlled.
“The equipment was storing footage locally and may also have been transmitting.”
Adrian swore under his breath.
Olivia pressed closer to Clara.
Ruiz continued.
“We also found evidence that the upstairs security archive was accessed repeatedly from Mrs. Mercer’s personal tablet.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Could she delete files from there?”
“Yes.”
“Could she edit them?”
“Not easily.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Ruiz looked at him.
“Some systems allow clips to be removed from ordinary viewing while preserving logs or backups.”
Adrian rubbed his forehead.
“So she was monitoring the house.”
“That appears possible.”
Clara asked, “Why?”
Ruiz looked at her.
“That’s one of the questions we’re asking.”
Olivia spoke quietly.
“She wanted to know what people said.”
Ruiz turned to her.
“What makes you say that?”
“She always knew things.”
Adrian looked at his daughter.
“What things?”
Olivia picked at the seam of Clara’s blanket.
“She knew when Aunt Rachel said Mom was being weird.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“When did Rachel say that?”
“At Christmas.”
“Where?”
“In the pantry.”
Adrian stared.
“She wasn’t there.”
“I know.”
Marisol crossed her arms.
Clara remembered that Christmas.
Rachel had cornered her while looking for sparkling water and asked whether Vanessa seemed more tense than usual.
Clara had said everyone was tense around the holidays.
Rachel had laughed.
Then Vanessa had walked into dinner ten minutes later and accused her sister-in-law of treating her like a patient.
At the time, everyone assumed someone had repeated the conversation.
Nobody admitted doing it.
Ruiz wrote something down.
“Anything else?”
Olivia nodded.
“She knew Dad told Clara he hated the new dining chairs.”
Clara almost laughed despite herself.
Adrian blinked.
“That was months ago.”
“You said they looked like expensive dentist chairs.”
Marisol covered her mouth.
Clara looked down.
Adrian stared at the floor for one second, embarrassed even now.
Ruiz said, “Where did that conversation happen?”
“The breakfast room,” Clara answered.
“Was Mrs. Mercer there?”
“No.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
May you like
“So she was listening.”
Ruiz did not confirm it.
