Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Camera
Madison hid the flash drive inside the lining of Rowan’s empty diaper bag and called Detective Elena Reyes from the hospital corridor. Reyes had interviewed her briefly after the ambulance ride, asking whether she believed Ethan had intentionally locked her in.At the time, Madison had been too weak to answer.Now she said, “I have records showing someone entered my house while I was bleeding.”“Your husband says the system malfunctioned,” Reyes replied.“The system says service override.”“Can you email me the file?”“Not from the house.”“Why not?”Madison looked toward the guest-room door. “Because my husband can see everything I do.”Reyes was silent for a moment. “Come to the station.”“I can’t leave my baby.”“Then have your husband bring you.”“I need to know whether he can alter the copy.”“Mrs. Mercer, preserve what you have and don’t confront him alone.”“I already confronted him.”“Then don’t do it again.”That afternoon, Ethan drove to the hospital to visit Rowan. Madison remained at home because he told her Patricia had arranged a private nursing consultant and she needed rest. She did not trust the consultant, or the information, but she needed Ethan away from the house.She waited ten minutes after his car left, then opened the Nestor control panel.The interior cameras were listed under a category called Wellness.There were five: nursery, kitchen, upstairs hall, primary bedroom, and garage.Madison had known about the nursery camera. Ethan had said it was necessary for the baby. She had not known about the bedroom camera.She opened the recording from the morning of the emergency.At 6:32, Ethan entered the bedroom carrying a black case.He leaned over the bed. Madison was asleep, one hand curved around her stomach.The recording showed him placing something beneath her pillow. Then he lifted the fetal monitor cable, looked at the screen, and unplugged it.Madison stopped the video.The doorbell rang.She nearly fell from the chair. When she looked through the side window, she saw a woman standing on the porch in a gray coat.The woman was Patricia.Madison opened the door but kept the chain engaged.“What are you doing here?” she asked.Patricia looked past her. “I came to see how you’re recovering.”“You came without calling.”“I’m the baby’s grandmother.”“You’re not entitled to enter my house.”Patricia smiled. Her face was elegant, composed, and sharpened by years of refusing to age. “Ethan tells me you’re having a difficult time.”“Ethan tells you whatever protects him.”“That’s a cruel thing to say to the woman who hosted your baby shower.”“You invited forty people and spent the evening telling them my mother died because she was weak.”Patricia’s smile vanished. “Your mother had problems.”“So do you.”“I’m not here to fight.”“Then leave.”Patricia’s gaze shifted to the camera above the door. “You always were suspicious.”Madison felt cold spread through her. “How long have you been watching me?”“That camera belongs to Ethan.”“You know where it is.”“Everyone knows where it is.”“Did you enter the house that morning?”Patricia’s eyes hardened.“Answer me.”“You’re accusing me of breaking into my son’s home?”“The lock history shows a service override.”“Then ask the lock.”“I am asking you.”Patricia stepped nearer to the chain. “Ethan says you’ve been taking medication incorrectly.”“I’m not taking medication.”“You should be.”“Get off my porch.”Patricia leaned close enough that Madison could smell her perfume. “You think a baby will make him choose you. It won’t. Blood is stronger than paperwork.”Madison shut the door.The camera continued recording. She watched Patricia walk to the curb, stop, and make a phone call.Then, instead of leaving, Patricia turned toward the house.Madison went upstairs and opened the camera feed from the garage. Patricia’s car remained parked at the end of the street. The garage door lifted.The camera showed nobody entering.At 6:58 p.m., the feed went black.At 7:01, it returned.Madison checked the event history. The interruption had been marked as routine maintenance.Her phone rang. It was Dr. Hart.“Madison, I reviewed your chart,” he said. “There’s something I want to clarify.”“You wrote that I was fixated on security.”“That isn’t what I meant.”“Did Ethan tell you to write it?”A pause.“He called me the night before your delivery.”“Why?”“He said you were paranoid and not sleeping.”“Was I?”“You had a normal prenatal appointment two days earlier.”“Did you see anything abnormal?”“No.”“Then why did you document a psychiatric concern?”“I shouldn’t have.”“Will you correct it?”“I can add an amendment.”“Add that I was alert, oriented, and medically stable.”“Madison—”“Add it.”After the call, she returned to the bedroom camera. Ethan was still in the room at 6:32, but the recording had a gap between 6:35 and 6:38. She replayed the final frame.On the floor behind him lay the black case.It was open.Inside was a small injector pen.Madison remembered the sharp sting in her left arm before she woke bleeding. She had thought it was a dream.Someone had not only locked the house.Someone had prepared her body for the crisis.
