Chapter 1 - the fall)
Sophie left Victoria’s hands so suddenly that for one impossible second Elena could not understand what she was seeing.
The three month old baby seemed suspended above the staircase, tiny arms spreading instinctively, strawberry blonde hair catching the hard stripe of afternoon sunlight that poured through the hallway windows.
Then gravity took her.
Elena screamed.
“WATCH OUT!”
She was already moving.
Her knees slammed against the polished floor as she threw herself toward the bottom of the staircase. Sophie dropped past the railing, twisting helplessly in her light gray clothes.
Elena reached out.
The baby landed against her forearms.
The impact knocked Elena backward.
Her shoulder struck the beige sofa.
Pain exploded down her arm, but she barely noticed.
She wrapped both hands around Sophie, pulled the baby against her chest and immediately checked her face.
Sophie blinked.
A breath.
Another breath.
Then a frightened cry filled the living room.
Relief nearly collapsed Elena.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
She pressed her cheek against Sophie’s warm forehead.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
Above them, Victoria stood at the top of the stairs.
For the smallest fraction of a second, there was no fear on her beautiful face.
There was irritation.
Cold irritation.
Then her expression transformed.
Her eyes widened.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh my God!”
Victoria rushed down several steps.
“What happened?”
Elena stared at her.
Something inside Elena snapped.
“You threw her, you bitch!”
Victoria stopped.
The performance disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Her lips tightened.
“Watch your mouth, maid.”
“You threw a baby.”
“I said watch your mouth.”
“You pushed her over the railing.”
Victoria descended the remaining steps with astonishing calm.
Sophie cried harder.
Elena shifted the child protectively against her chest.
Victoria pointed toward the front door.
“You’re nothing in this house.”
Elena’s hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From fury.
“I saw exactly what you did.”
Victoria moved closer.
“You saw what I tell people you saw.”
A sound came from the upstairs hallway.
Footsteps.
Mark appeared near the landing.
He had his phone in one hand.
“What the hell is going on?”
Victoria’s entire body changed.
Her shoulders dropped.
Her mouth trembled.
She looked suddenly fragile.
“She’s lying, Mark.”
Elena stared at her in disbelief.
Victoria hurried toward her husband.
“She almost dropped Sophie. I tried to grab the baby, and now she’s blaming me.”
Mark looked at Elena.
Then Sophie.
Then Victoria.
Elena expected confusion.
Instead, Mark’s face became frighteningly still.
“Give me the baby,” he said.
Elena hesitated.
Mark noticed.
“Elena, I’m not taking her away from you. I need to see if she’s hurt.”
His voice was controlled.
Elena carefully approached.
Sophie’s crying softened when Mark touched her tiny hand.
Mark examined her head and arms without removing her from Elena’s grip.
“She needs a doctor.”
“Yes,” Elena said.
Victoria stepped closer.
“It was an accident.”
Elena spun toward her.
“You just said I did it.”
Victoria froze.
Mark slowly turned.
The silence that followed was worse than shouting.
Victoria recovered quickly.
“I’m confused. I’m terrified. I just watched our daughter almost die.”
Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
Victoria’s eyes followed it.
Mark opened the security application.
“Get out of my house right now.”
Victoria blinked.
“What?”
“I’m calling the police.”
“You’d rather believe some damn maid than your own wife?”
Victoria grabbed his wrist.
Mark pulled away.
Elena suddenly remembered the small black device mounted above the upstairs hallway.
Her breath caught.
“The camera.”
Mark looked at her.
Elena pointed.
“Check the hallway camera.”
Everyone looked upward.
The security camera sat near the ceiling, directly across from the staircase.
Victoria’s face lost its color.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
Elena saw it.
So did Mark.
Victoria whispered, “That camera hasn’t worked in months.”
Mark stared at her.
“I never told you that.”
Victoria said nothing.
Mark looked back at his phone.
His thumb moved across the screen.
Elena held Sophie tighter.
The baby had stopped crying and was staring innocently at the light from the windows, unaware that three adults around her were watching their lives divide into a before and an after.
Mark tapped the camera history.
A loading circle appeared.
Yesterday’s footage.
This morning’s footage.
Thirty minutes ago.
Mark selected the recording from the staircase.
The screen turned black.
NO VIDEO AVAILABLE.
Mark tried again.
Nothing.
Victoria inhaled.
Only Elena noticed the tiny flash of relief in her eyes.
Mark opened the camera settings.
His expression hardened.
“The recording was manually disabled twelve minutes ago.”
Victoria stepped backward.
“That proves nothing.”
Elena looked at the hallway clock.
Twelve minutes.
That was approximately when Victoria had taken Sophie upstairs.
Mark checked another setting.
His face changed again.
“What?” Elena asked.
Mark raised his eyes toward Victoria.
“The system says the recording was disabled using my administrator account.”
Victoria shook her head.
“Then Elena did it.”
“I don’t know your password,” Elena said.
“You could have watched Mark enter it.”
“I’ve never touched the security system.”
Victoria’s voice rose.
“You’re obsessed with this family. You’ve been trying to replace me since the day you arrived.”
Mark lifted his phone.
“Stop talking.”
The words were quiet.
Victoria stopped.
Outside, tires rolled quickly across the driveway.
Someone had already called emergency services.
Perhaps Mark had done it before reaching the staircase.
Perhaps his phone had been connected to the household panic system.
Elena did not care.
She could hear sirens approaching.
Victoria could hear them too.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in her eyes.
Mark stared at the blank recording screen.
“There should be a backup.”
Victoria said nothing.
“There is always a backup.”
His eyes lifted toward the upstairs camera again.
The small green status light blinked once.
Then it went dark.
Mark’s phone vibrated.
A security notification appeared.
SYSTEM STORAGE REMOVED.
Mark looked toward the basement hallway.
Someone had just disconnected the recorder.
May you like
But Elena, Mark and Victoria were all standing in the same room.
Someone else was still inside the house.
