Chương 2
Evan carried Sophie toward the pale marble cabinet beneath the window.
His black tablet lay there beside a silver picture frame containing a photograph of Sophie at six months old.
"Can it go in this?"
"With the adapter."
Claire moved quickly.
"Don't."
Evan stopped.
The word had not been loud.
It did not need to be.
He turned his head.
Claire's arms had fallen to her sides.
"Why not?"
"Because you don't know where that card came from."
"I do," Imani said.
Claire ignored her.
"It could have malware on it."
Evan looked at the card again.
For the first time, uncertainty entered his face in a way Imani had never seen.
He was not deciding whether to trust his wife or his employee anymore.
He was deciding which possibility frightened him more.
Imani placed the memory card on the marble.
Its red plastic casing looked almost childish beside the sleek black tablet.
"I copied nothing," she said.
"Then how do you know what's on it?"
"I opened three files on the office computer."
Claire's head snapped toward her.
"You used my computer?"
"The family computer in the downstairs study."
"You had no permission."
"No."
Imani swallowed.
"You can fire me for that later."
Claire stared at her with something close to satisfaction.
"You're already fired."
"Claire."
"No, Evan, she's admitted accessing private files and stealing security property."
"I found it hidden in Sophie's room."
"You searched Sophie's room because that's your job."
"Exactly."
That landed.
Claire's jaw flexed.
Evan put the tablet down.
"Show me."
Imani took the adapter from the shallow drawer where the household kept charging cables.
Her hands had begun to shake.
She hated that Claire could see it.
She inserted the red card, connected it to the tablet, and waited.
The screen brightened.
A directory opened beneath a dark blue header.
CALLAHAN PRIVATE SECURITY.
Evan's breathing changed.
Not much.
Just enough that Imani heard it in the quiet room.
He touched the first folder.
Claire said his name.
He opened it.
Rows of stored records appeared, each marked by date, time, location, and an internal identification number.
Evan scrolled once.
Then stopped.
Sophie tugged his shirt.
He did not seem to notice.
Imani had seen only fragments downstairs because Claire's footsteps had interrupted her.
A nursery recording.
A security authorization.
A message chain containing Evan's name.
What had frightened Imani was not that she understood everything.
It was that she understood enough to know somebody had gone to extraordinary trouble to hide the rest.
Evan opened a message.
His thumb stopped against the glass.
Claire crossed the room.
"Evan, listen to me before you decide what you think you're seeing."
He did not answer.
His blue eyes moved slowly across the screen.
Imani watched the blood leave his face.
"What did you do?"
Claire stopped beside the cabinet.
"Not in front of her."
"She's holding the evidence."
"She's an employee."
"She was an employee thirty seconds ago."
Claire looked at Imani as though the distinction mattered more than anything on the tablet.
Evan scrolled farther.
A second record opened.
Then a third.
His mouth parted.
For several seconds, he seemed to forget to breathe.
Sophie patted his chin.
That finally reached him.
He looked down at his daughter, adjusted his grip automatically, and kissed the top of her head.
When he looked back at the screen, the confusion was gone.
Alarm had replaced it.
He raised his eyes toward Claire.
She did not look away.
"What did you do?" he asked again.
This time, Claire's silence answered enough to make Imani wish she had never found the red card.
Evan lowered his eyes to the tablet again, and the room seemed to reorganize itself around the fact that Claire had not denied him.
His thumb hovered over the screen without touching it.
Sophie rested one cheek against his shirt and watched the glowing display with solemn interest.
Claire took a careful breath.
"You don't know what you're looking at."
"Then tell me."
"It isn't that simple."
"Make it simple."
Imani stayed beside the cabinet, close enough to see Claire's reflection in the dark edge of the tablet.
Claire's face looked calmer there than it did in the room.
That frightened her.
Evan opened the message thread.
The first visible exchange had no names, only internal account numbers and timestamps.
One account had requested a nursery camera override at 2:13 in the morning three weeks earlier.
Another had confirmed that the recording would be stored outside the normal household archive.
A later message contained three words that made Evan stop scrolling.
SUBJECT REMAINS UNAWARE.
His eyes lifted.
"Subject?"
Claire rubbed one thumb across the inside of her opposite wrist.
"I didn't write that."
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"Your credentials are attached."
"Credentials can be used by other people."
"Your authorization code."
"I said they can be used."
Evan laughed once, without humor.
"Who has your authorization code?"
Claire glanced at Imani.
It happened so quickly that someone less frightened might have missed it.
Imani did not.
"Don't," she said.
Claire's mouth tightened.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
Evan turned toward Imani.
"About to what?"
"Make me useful."
Claire gave a tired exhale.
"Oh, please."
"That's what you've been doing since I walked in."
"I've been trying to understand why a woman I employ is stealing from my daughter's room."
"You already understood what was stolen."
"Enough."
Evan's voice cut between them.
Sophie startled.
All three adults went quiet.
Evan closed his eyes for a second and stroked the child's back.
"Sorry, sweetheart."
Sophie touched his lower lip.
He kissed her fingers, then looked at Imani.
"You said you opened three files."
"Yes."
"What was the third?"
Imani looked at Claire before answering.
"A video."
Claire's posture changed.
Barely.
Her shoulders drew back.
"What video?"
Evan asked.
"I couldn't watch all of it."
"What was on it?"
"The nursery."
"When?"
"The file said Saturday night."
May you like
Evan's eyes narrowed.
"We were in Chicago Saturday night."
