Chapter 4 - THE CAMERA BEHIND THE WALL
The officers waited outside.
I could see their breath in the cold.
Leo held Arthur so tightly his knuckles whitened.
Vincent didn't open the door.
Not yet.
Evelyn examined the papers on Marco's tablet.
“Emergency custody orders require specific findings.”
“Daniel bought the doctor,” Vincent said.
“Then we prove it.”
“Before they take Leo?”
Evelyn met his eyes.
“We have minutes.”
I looked at the screen.
A date appeared beside the psychologist's signature.
Two weeks ago.
I remembered the appointment.
The doctor had arrived in a gray sedan.
He wore expensive shoes.
He had asked Leo strange questions.
And he had left a folder in the laundry room.
My heart kicked.
“The folder.”
Vincent turned.
“What folder?”
“Pierce forgot something.”
I hurried downstairs.
The laundry room smelled of bleach.
I opened the cabinet beside the dryer.
Nothing.
I checked beneath the folded sheets.
Nothing.
Then I saw the blue towel.
It had been pushed behind the detergent.
I pulled it free.
A thin folder slid onto the floor.
Inside were handwritten notes.
Not a diagnosis.
A script.
ASK WHETHER CHILD FEARS FATHER.
REPEAT QUESTION IF ANSWER IS NO.
DOCUMENT DISORIENTATION.
My hands shook.
A second page listed a payment.
SABRINA VALE — CONSULTING.
I photographed everything.
Then I ran.
Evelyn took the folder.
Her expression sharpened.
“Good work.”
The officers entered with the court representative.
She introduced herself as Ms. Harlow.
Her voice was careful.
“We're here to assess immediate safety.”
Leo shrank against me.
Vincent stepped forward.
“My son stays with me.”
Evelyn raised a hand.
“Mr. Caruso, let me handle this.”
She showed the woman the notes.
Then Isabella's letter.
Then the forged guardianship petition.
Ms. Harlow read silently.
The officers exchanged glances.
Finally, she looked at Leo.
“Would you feel comfortable talking privately?”
Leo shook his head.
“Emma stays.”
“Of course.”
We went into the breakfast room.
The table still held two mugs.
One had a little blue dinosaur on it.
Leo sat beside me.
Ms. Harlow pulled out a notebook.
“Leo, did anyone tell you what to say tonight?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“Who?”
“Sabrina.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That if I said Dad was angry, I'd get a new bedroom.”
“Did you want a new bedroom?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Leo stared at his shoes.
“Because Mom painted the stars on my ceiling.”
Ms. Harlow wrote something.
“Are you afraid of your father?”
Leo looked toward the door.
“No.”
“Is there anyone here you fear?”
His eyes filled.
“Sabrina.”
“Why?”
“She said she could make people forget me.”
Ms. Harlow stopped writing.
I felt Leo's hand slide into mine.
He whispered, “She said Mom forgot me first.”
I nearly cried.
But Leo needed me steady.
I squeezed his fingers.
“Your mother never forgot you.”
Ms. Harlow closed her notebook.
“Thank you for telling me.”
An hour later, the officers left.
Leo stayed.
The order would be challenged at an emergency hearing.
It wasn't over.
But we had time.
Vincent sat beside his son.
He didn't try to explain everything.
He simply held him.
I stepped away.
Then Leo called me back.
“Emma?”
“Yes?”
“Can you stay until I fall asleep?”
Vincent looked at me.
“Please.”
That single word surprised me.
I followed them upstairs.
Leo's room was cold.
Someone had opened his window.
Rain had soaked the curtains.
Marco checked the latch.
“Tampered with.”
Vincent's face hardened.
“Seal this wing.”
I pulled fresh blankets from the closet.
Leo climbed into bed.
Arthur rested against his pillow.
I sat beside him.
“Tell me about the music box,” I whispered.
Leo stared at the ceiling stars.
“Mom played it when I couldn't sleep.”
“What song?”
“A song without words.”
“Can you hum it?”
He did.
Four soft notes.
Then three more.
I recognized the melody.
Not from a music box.
From the Caruso kitchen.
Every Thursday, the old cook hummed it while baking bread.
“Mrs. Bell knows that song.”
Leo nodded.
“She helped Mom.”
My stomach tightened.
“Helped her do what?”
Leo's eyes widened.
“She told me not to say.”
“Why?”
“Because she said bad people listen through the walls.”
I glanced at the air vent.
A tiny red light blinked inside.
I stood slowly.
“Leo, come with me.”
He slipped from bed.
We walked into the hallway.
Vincent waited beside the stairs.
I pointed toward the room.
“There's a camera in the vent.”
He moved instantly.
Marco removed the grille.
A small device rested inside.
Its light was still blinking.
Vincent turned it over.
A memory card slid out.
Marco checked the serial number.
“This belongs to our internal system.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Who has access?”
“Your office. Security. Daniel.”
“And Sabrina?”
Marco hesitated.
“Her access was approved last month.”
Vincent shut his eyes.
He had signed the form.
I remembered carrying it to his desk.
Sabrina had told me it was for holiday decorations.
I hadn't read it.
I thought about all the times Leo had whispered into Arthur.
All the nights he'd cried.
Someone had been watching.
Vincent wrapped the camera in a cloth.
“Find every device.”
Marco's men spread through the house.
I took Leo to the downstairs sitting room.
Mrs. Bell appeared from the kitchen.
She looked older than usual.
Her hands trembled around a tray.
“I heard what happened.”
Leo ran to her.
“Mrs. Bell!”
She hugged him.
Then she saw Arthur.
Her face went white.
“Where did you get that?”
“Mom made him.”
Mrs. Bell shook her head.
“No.”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
She reached for the blue paw.
Her fingers traced the stitching.
“Isabella made the first bear.”
Leo frowned.
“First?”
Mrs. Bell looked toward the door.
Then she whispered, “There were two.”
A sound came from the kitchen.
Metal striking tile.
Mrs. Bell gasped.
The lights went out.
Someone grabbed my shoulder.
I spun.
A gloved hand covered my mouth.
May you like
And in the darkness, a man's voice whispered:
“Give me the real bear, Emma.”
