Chapter 2 - four days without adrian
The first day Adrian was in Chicago, Vanessa barely spoke to Noah.
Margaret almost preferred it.
Silence seemed safer than anger.
She kept the boy close.
They built towers from wooden blocks in the library.
They watched rain slide down the giant windows.
At noon, Margaret made tomato soup and grilled cheese.
Noah ate happily.
Vanessa entered halfway through lunch.
"What is that?"
"His lunch, ma'am."
"He is supposed to be eating vegetables."
"There are tomatoes in the soup."
Vanessa stared at her.
"Do you think I am stupid?"
"No."
"Then don't answer me like I am."
Margaret lowered her eyes.
Noah stopped eating.
Vanessa noticed.
"Finish your food."
The boy looked at Margaret.
Vanessa's voice sharpened.
"Do not look at her when I am speaking."
Noah's lower lip trembled.
Margaret intervened.
"He is tired."
Vanessa smiled without warmth.
"Then perhaps he should nap."
"I can take him."
"No."
Vanessa lifted Noah from the chair.
He immediately began crying.
"Margaret."
"Yes?"
"Take the afternoon off."
Margaret froze.
"I don't need the afternoon off."
"I wasn't asking."
"I would rather stay."
Vanessa stepped close enough for only Margaret to hear.
"Leave."
Margaret looked at Noah.
The child reached toward her.
"Mar-gret."
Vanessa turned away.
Margaret had no legal right to remain inside the home after being ordered out.
She left.
But instead of going home, she sat in a cafe across the street for three hours.
At four thirty she returned.
Vanessa seemed surprised.
"I told you to take the afternoon off."
"The afternoon is nearly finished."
She found Noah asleep in his bed.
His cheeks were wet.
Margaret touched his hair.
He woke instantly.
"Mar-gret."
"I'm here."
He wrapped his arms around her neck.
She whispered, "Did Mommy hurt you?"
He buried his face against her shoulder.
Margaret closed her eyes.
She needed evidence.
Something undeniable.
But she also knew that waiting for evidence could mean waiting until something worse happened.
That evening Adrian called.
The video screen showed him inside a hotel room.
"There's my little man."
Noah smiled.
"Daddy."
Margaret remained outside the camera frame.
Vanessa held the phone.
They looked like a happy family.
For seven minutes, everything was normal.
Then Adrian said, "I might be able to come back a day early."
Vanessa's expression changed so quickly that only Margaret noticed.
"Why?"
Adrian laughed.
"That's a strange reaction."
"I mean, aren't the meetings important?"
"They are, but Noah is more important."
Noah clapped.
Vanessa smiled.
"Of course."
After the call ended, she set the phone on the counter.
Hard.
Margaret watched her.
Vanessa looked back.
"You really do enjoy observing me."
"I'm preparing dinner."
"No. You watch."
Margaret continued chopping vegetables.
Vanessa approached.
"I know what you are doing."
"I don't know what you mean."
"You think Adrian trusts you."
"He employs me."
"Exactly."
Vanessa's voice became quiet.
"And employees can be replaced."
Margaret finally looked up.
"Are you threatening me?"
Vanessa smiled.
"I'm reminding you of reality."
The next morning, Margaret discovered something stranger.
A black technician's case was sitting beneath the security cabinet in the utility room.
The penthouse camera system had been installed long before Margaret arrived.
Sixteen cameras covered common areas.
No cameras were inside bedrooms or bathrooms.
Adrian had once explained that the system recorded continuously to encrypted cloud storage.
Margaret found Vanessa speaking to a technician.
"I want the hallway camera removed."
The technician shook his head.
"Mr. Cole requested that camera."
"I am Mrs. Cole."
"Yes, but the account authorization is in his name."
Vanessa stared at him.
"So I cannot remove a camera in my own home?"
"I can disable local recording if Mr. Cole approves."
"No."
The technician closed his case.
"Then I'm sorry."
When he left, Vanessa saw Margaret standing at the end of the hall.
Something passed between them.
Margaret suddenly understood why Vanessa had called the technician while Adrian was away.
She wanted the camera gone.
But why?
That afternoon, Margaret quietly photographed the security camera with her phone.
She also photographed the serial number on the control panel.
She sent both pictures to her daughter, Ellen.
Along with one message.
Keep these.
Ellen replied immediately.
Mom, is something wrong?
Margaret stared at the question for a long time.
Then typed.
I don't know yet.
She regretted the answer as soon as she sent it.
Because deep inside, she did know.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
That night Noah woke screaming.
Margaret hurried from her room.
Vanessa was already standing in the hallway.
"What are you doing?" Vanessa demanded.
"He is crying."
"He needs to learn to calm himself."
"He's terrified."
"He is spoiled."
Noah screamed again.
Margaret moved toward his door.
Vanessa blocked her.
"Go back to your room."
"No."
The word surprised both women.
Vanessa stared.
Margaret repeated it.
"No."
For the first time, Vanessa stepped aside.
Margaret entered Noah's bedroom.
She found him standing inside his crib.
He reached for her.
She lifted him.
"It's okay."
He pointed toward the closet.
"Lady."
Margaret looked.
The closet door was partly open.
"No lady there."
Noah shook his head desperately.
"Lady. Mommy lady."
Margaret carried him closer.
Inside the closet, everything appeared normal.
Clothes.
Shoes.
Storage boxes.
Then Margaret saw something lying behind a box.
A photograph.
She picked it up.
It showed Vanessa standing beside a woman Margaret had never seen before.
Behind them was Adrian.
The picture appeared several years old.
Margaret turned it over.
Three names were handwritten on the back.
Adrian.
Vanessa.
Claire.
Below the names was a date.
Six years earlier.
Margaret slipped the photograph into her pocket.
From the hallway, Vanessa called.
"What are you doing in there?"
May you like
Margaret looked toward the door.
And for the first time, she wondered whether Noah was the only person in the penthouse Vanessa was afraid might expose her.
