Chương 12
“No.”
“Did you delete anything?”
“No.”
Emily’s eyes lifted sharply.
Julian had not asked the question because she told him to.
He had asked because suddenly he was afraid to know the answer.
Corinne snapped, “Why would I delete anything?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because now you think I’m hiding evidence?”
Julian stared at the wall.
“I think you’re scared.”
“I am scared.”
Her voice cracked.
“I am terrified.”
He heard movement on her end.
A cabinet door closed.
Then another.
She seemed unable to stay still.
“You told them about the locks.”
“Yes.”
“You told them about the bag.”
“Yes.”
“You told them about the camera.”
“I just found out about the camera.”
Corinne stopped moving.
Julian’s pulse quickened.
“How?”
“Desmond.”
A sharp exhale.
“Of course.”
Julian’s anger rose.
“Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like he did something to you by telling the truth.”
“You don’t know whether it’s the truth.”
“He knew the camera was there.”
“So?”
“He knew what you used it for.”
Corinne’s voice rose.
“I used it because food was disappearing.”
Emily shifted slightly in her chair.
Julian heard the admission for what it was.
“You watched Wren.”
“I monitored the pantry.”
“At night?”
“Sometimes.”
“To catch her eating?”
“To understand what was happening.”
Julian rubbed his forehead.
“And when you saw her?”
“I talked to her.”
“Only talked?”
Corinne did not answer.
He heard her breathing.
“Corinne.”
“Sometimes I took the food away.”
Julian looked down.
His fingers had begun trembling again.
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
“How often?”
“I said I don’t know.”
“Once a week?”
“No.”
“Every few days?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily raised one hand slightly.
Julian stopped.
He understood.
This was no longer a conversation he should turn into an interrogation.
Corinne was crying now.
Quietly.
“I thought I was helping her.”
Julian said nothing.
“I thought if I let it continue, it would become a problem.”
“She is five.”
“I know how old she is.”
“Then why were you treating her like she was hiding liquor?”
Corinne gave a broken laugh.
“That’s cruel.”
Julian looked away.
“Yes.”
He regretted it immediately.
Corinne whispered, “You think I enjoyed this.”
“No.”
“You do.”
“I think you believed you were right.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
He rubbed his thumb along the edge of the phone.
“It may be worse.”
Emily watched him carefully.
Corinne became silent again.
Julian wondered whether the call had dropped.
Then she said, “There are recordings.”
His entire body went still.
Emily leaned forward.
“What?”
Julian asked.
“The camera records motion.”
Corinne’s voice had changed.
She sounded exhausted now.
“The clips save for thirty days.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Are they still there?”
“Yes.”
Emily mouthed, Don’t touch anything.
Julian nodded.
Corinne continued.
“I didn’t delete them.”
“Why is the camera offline?”
“I unplugged it.”
Emily wrote something.
Julian asked, “Why?”
“Because I couldn’t stand looking at it.”
“What does that mean?”
Corinne began crying harder.
“I went into the pantry after you left.”
Julian waited.
“I saw the bag.”
Her voice broke.
“I saw everything Desmond had hidden.”
Julian pressed his lips together.
“And then?”
“I opened the app.”
Emily’s attention sharpened.
Corinne said, “I watched some of the clips.”
Julian felt cold.
“What clips?”
“Wren.”
He could barely get the next question out.
“Doing what?”
“Eating.”
The word came out strangled.
“At night.”
Julian stared at the floor.
Corinne continued.
“She waits until I go upstairs.”
Emily’s pen stopped.
“She comes down in the dark.”
Corinne took a shaky breath.
“She sits on the pantry floor.”
Julian’s throat closed.
“She eats whatever Desmond leaves.”
He covered his mouth with one hand.
Corinne whispered, “Sometimes she looks at the camera.”
Julian could not speak.
“I thought she knew I was watching.”
Her crying became louder.
“I thought she was being defiant.”
Julian shut his eyes.
Emily looked away for the first time.
Corinne said, “But she wasn’t.”
Julian opened his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“She was checking whether the light was on.”
He felt the words physically.
Corinne’s voice dissolved.
“She knew when it was recording.”
Julian stared at the wall.
“She would wait.”
The room blurred.
Julian blinked hard.
Corinne kept talking.
“She would wait until the little light went off and then take the food.”
Emily’s face tightened.
Julian asked, “Why would it go off?”
“The camera sleeps between motion triggers.”
Corinne inhaled sharply.
“She figured that out.”
Julian put his head down.
For a moment, all he could hear was the faint buzz of the exam room light.
Corinne whispered, “Julian, she learned how to hide from me in our own house.”
He pressed his fingers against his eyes.
Emily sat very still.
The sentence seemed to strip away every possible excuse.
Not punishment.
Not discipline.
Not a parent losing patience once.
A five-year-old had learned the habits of surveillance.
Julian lowered his hand.
“Do not touch the camera.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not delete anything.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not move the locks.”
Corinne hesitated.
“I already took them off.”
“Where are they?”
“On the counter.”
“Leave them there.”
“Okay.”
“Leave the bag.”
Julian looked at Emily.
She nodded once.
Corinne whispered, “Are they going to come here?”
“Probably.”
“Today?”
“I don’t know.”
“Will they make me leave?”
Julian swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
“Will they take the kids?”
“I don’t know.”
Her breathing grew ragged again.
“Stop saying that.”
“I can’t promise you things I don’t control.”
“You used to.”
The sentence surprised him.
He almost answered defensively.
Then he understood what she meant.
He used to tell her everything would be fine before he knew whether it would.
He used to close uncertainty quickly because Corinne hated it and because he hated watching her unravel.
He had called that reassurance.
Maybe sometimes it had been avoidance.
Corinne said, “Tell me they’re coming home.”
Julian looked toward the closed door.
Beyond it, Wren and Desmond were somewhere near the fish tank.
“I can’t.”
Corinne made a wounded sound.
May you like
“Julian.”
“I’m not bringing them back today.”
