Chapter 4 - The Recording Elise Never Meant Grant to See)
Tessa did not own a card reader.
Grant did.
She remembered seeing one in the drawer of the small desk near the living room bookshelves.
She placed Noah in the playpen and gave him his stuffed rabbit.
Then she found the reader.
Her hands shook slightly as she inserted the card into Grant's old laptop.
The screen displayed three folders.
HOME.
TRUST.
E.
Tessa stared at the final letter.
E.
Elise.
She clicked it.
A password request appeared.
Tessa tried Noah's birthday.
Incorrect.
Grant's birthday.
Incorrect.
She hesitated.
Then she typed Vivienne.
The folder opened.
Tessa felt cold.
Inside were four video files.
The earliest had been recorded eleven months earlier.
Two months before Elise died.
Tessa clicked it.
The image was dark.
Then Elise Mercer appeared on the screen.
Tessa had seen hundreds of photographs of her.
None felt like this.
Elise was alive.
Moving.
Breathing.
Afraid.
She sat in the same living room where Tessa was watching the recording.
Her hair was tied loosely behind her head.
Noah was asleep in her arms.
Elise looked directly into the camera.
"If Grant sees this, then I waited too long."
Tessa leaned closer.
Elise continued.
"I don't know who I can trust anymore."
A sound came from somewhere off camera.
Elise looked toward the hallway.
Then back at the lens.
"Vivienne knows about the trust."
Tessa stopped breathing.
Elise looked down at Noah.
"I made changes after he was born."
She kissed the baby's forehead.
"No one knows everything except my attorney."
Elise's voice lowered.
"If something happens to me, the money does not go to Grant."
Tessa frowned.
"It goes to Noah."
Another sound in the hallway.
Elise stood abruptly.
The recording ended.
Tessa stared at the black screen.
Noah babbled behind her.
She clicked the second file.
Elise appeared again.
This time she was in Grant's study.
Her eyes were red from crying.
"I found transfers from the foundation account."
Tessa leaned closer.
"Small ones at first. Then larger."
Elise held papers toward the camera, but the text could not be read clearly.
"The authorization is mine, but I didn't sign it."
She swallowed.
"Vivienne had access to the old signature files when she handled the charity auction."
Tessa's heart pounded.
Elise looked exhausted.
"I confronted her."
The recording paused for a second.
Then Elise whispered, "She told me Grant would never believe me."
Tessa looked toward the front door.
It remained locked.
She clicked the third file.
This one was only forty seconds long.
Elise stood in the entryway late at night.
Someone was outside the frame.
A woman's voice could be heard.
Vivienne.
"You think having a baby makes you untouchable?"
Elise answered.
"No. But it gives me something worth protecting."
"You always were dramatic."
"I know about the transfers."
Silence.
Then Vivienne laughed.
"You know almost nothing."
The video shook.
Someone had touched the camera.
The recording ended.
Tessa stared.
She clicked the final file.
Nothing happened.
File corrupted.
She tried again.
Corrupted.
Tessa removed the card.
Her hands were shaking badly now.
She needed to call Grant.
Immediately.
Her phone rang before she could reach it.
Unknown number.
Tessa hesitated.
Then answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
A man's voice spoke.
"You shouldn't have opened the card."
Tessa froze.
"Who is this?"
The call ended.
She looked toward the front windows.
No one was visible.
Noah began crying.
Tessa rushed to him.
"It's okay."
She lifted him.
Her own voice sounded unsteady.
The doorbell rang.
Tessa turned.
Through the glass beside the front door, she saw a delivery driver.
She did not move.
The bell rang again.
The driver held up a small package.
Tessa approached carefully.
"Leave it."
The man nodded and placed the box outside.
She waited until his vehicle disappeared before opening the door.
The package was addressed to Grant.
No return name.
Inside was a child's blue blanket.
Tessa recognized it from photographs.
Noah had been wrapped in it at the hospital.
Beneath the blanket was a photograph.
Elise standing beside her car.
Vivienne several feet behind her.
On the back, someone had written:
She was not alone that night.
Tessa's blood ran cold.
She took her phone out.
This time she called Grant.
He did not answer.
She called again.
Nothing.
A third time.
Voicemail.
Tessa looked at Noah.
Then at the memory card in her hand.
She needed to get out of the house.
She packed Noah's diaper bag.
She took the blanket.
The photograph.
The card.
She reached the entryway.
Then she heard a key enter the front door.
Tessa stopped.
The lock turned.
Vivienne stepped inside.
This time, she was not smiling.
"Give me the card."
Tessa backed away.
"No."
Vivienne closed the door.
"I am not asking twice."
"I sent Grant copies."
It was a lie.
Vivienne studied her face.
Then smiled.
"No, you didn't."
Tessa's stomach tightened.
Vivienne stepped closer.
"Your phone hasn't successfully uploaded anything since eight forty."
Tessa stared at her.
Vivienne raised one eyebrow.
"You really thought I came here unprepared?"
Tessa looked down at her phone.
No service.
The Wi-Fi symbol was gone.
Vivienne had disabled both somehow.
"How are you doing this?"
"Give me the card."
"No."
Vivienne's expression hardened.
Noah began crying.
Tessa held him close.
Vivienne looked at the child.
Her eyes became flat.
"Put him down."
Tessa backed toward the sofa.
"No."
"Tessa."
"No."
Vivienne moved forward.
Tessa reached for the front door.
Vivienne grabbed her wrist.
Tessa pulled free.
Noah screamed.
The tension that had been building since morning finally broke.
Vivienne's mask disappeared.
"Do you have any idea what that little boy is worth?"
Tessa stared at her.
The words hung between them.
Vivienne realized what she had said.
Too late.
Tessa whispered, "So this is about Noah."
Vivienne's face changed again.
Not shame.
Not regret.
Decision.
She looked toward the camera.
Then toward the decorative vase.
May you like
And Tessa finally understood that Vivienne had not come back merely to retrieve a memory card.
She had come back because she had decided Tessa could no longer be allowed to leave.
