Chapter 1 - the phone that should not have been recording)
Daniel moved so quickly toward Emily that his chair fell backward.
"Give me the phone."
Emily stepped away.
"No."
"Emily."
For years, his voice had possessed an almost magical ability to make her question herself.
One clipped word from Daniel and she would wonder whether she had overreacted.
Whether she had misunderstood.
Whether perhaps Margaret had not meant an insult the way it sounded.
Whether Daniel really had been working late.
Whether she really had signed that refinancing form.
Whether she really had agreed to cancel the contractor.
Whether she really had misplaced the key to Robert's study.
Tonight the magic was gone.
Emily held the phone against her chest.
"You were recording me before your mother hit me."
Daniel glanced at his relatives.
"I record family dinners sometimes."
Rachel laughed once.
Nobody else did.
"You record family dinners?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"For memories."
"Forty-three minutes of memories?"
Margaret pushed her chair aside.
"Give him the phone, Emily. This childish behavior is exactly why nobody can stand living with you."
Emily turned.
Nobody could stand living with her.
Interesting choice of words.
The luxurious dining room suddenly seemed less like a home and more like a stage.
The candles.
The perfectly placed plates.
The tree glowing through the arched opening to the living room.
The relatives Daniel had insisted they invite.
The legal envelope Robert had brought downstairs.
Margaret's handbag placed unusually close beside her chair.
The folder Daniel had carried into the dining room and hidden beneath the sideboard.
Emily had noticed all of it.
She just had not connected it.
Until now.
"What were you hoping I'd do?" she asked.
Daniel said nothing.
Emily looked at Margaret.
"You wanted me to hit you."
Margaret stared back at her.
"Don't flatter yourself."
"You slapped me. You dumped soup on me. You ordered me out. Daniel filmed everything."
Daniel stepped closer.
"You sound paranoid."
Robert's fist hit the table.
"Enough."
Everyone froze.
Robert rarely raised his voice.
That fact made the room obey him faster than Margaret's shouting ever could.
He looked at his son.
"Sit down."
Daniel remained standing.
Robert's gaze sharpened.
"Now."
Daniel slowly lowered himself into the chair.
Margaret looked at her husband.
"Robert, this has nothing to do with you."
"It has everything to do with me."
"No, it doesn't."
Robert picked up the sealed envelope.
"I spent the past three weeks making sure it did."
Margaret's fingers tightened around the back of her chair.
Emily noticed.
So did Rachel.
"What is that?" Emily asked.
Robert did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked toward Claire Whitmore, Daniel's aunt, who was sitting near the Christmas tree.
"Claire, close the dining room doors."
Margaret laughed.
"This is ridiculous."
Claire hesitated.
Robert repeated, "Please."
Claire closed them.
The click of the latch sounded disturbingly final.
Robert turned back toward Emily.
"Before I open this, I need you to answer one question."
Emily still held Daniel's phone.
"What?"
"Did you sign any papers concerning this house during the past twelve months?"
Margaret interrupted.
"Robert."
He ignored her.
Emily frowned.
"I signed refinancing paperwork in March."
Daniel rubbed a hand over his face.
Robert asked, "Anything else?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
Margaret stepped forward.
"She doesn't remember half the things she signs."
Emily looked at her.
Margaret had said it too quickly.
Robert heard it as well.
"What was that?"
Margaret lifted her chin.
"I said Emily is careless."
Robert's face became unreadable.
Emily looked at Daniel.
"What did I sign?"
"Nothing unusual."
"Show me."
"Emily, this isn't the time."
She almost laughed.
His mother had slapped her in front of sixteen people.
Soup was dripping down the back of her dress.
His phone contained forty-three minutes of secret video.
His father was holding a mysterious legal envelope.
But apparently this was not the time.
Emily unlocked Daniel's phone.
He lunged.
Robert stepped between them.
"Touch her and you'll leave this house before she does."
Daniel stopped.
For the first time that evening, genuine surprise appeared on his face.
"Dad."
Robert did not move.
Emily opened the camera application.
One video.
Forty-three minutes.
She tapped the screen.
Dinner appeared.
Everyone laughing.
Daniel setting the phone against the centerpiece.
Then leaving the room for several minutes.
Emily dragged the timeline backward.
She found the moment Daniel returned.
Margaret leaned toward him.
The phone's microphone had captured their voices.
Quietly, almost lost under Christmas music, Margaret said, "Make sure you get her reaction."
Daniel whispered, "I know."
Emily stopped the video.
Nobody spoke.
She played it again.
Margaret's face drained of color.
Rachel whispered, "Holy hell."
Daniel stood.
"You don't understand the context."
Emily raised her eyes.
"What context makes that sentence better?"
"It wasn't about this."
"What was it about?"
Daniel had no answer.
Emily looked at the folder beneath the sideboard.
Then at the envelope in Robert's hand.
"What exactly were you planning tonight?"
Margaret recovered first.
She reached for her handbag.
"We planned nothing. This dinner is over."
Robert blocked her path.
"No."
Margaret's eyes narrowed.
"Get out of my way."
Robert looked at the handbag.
Then toward Emily.
"Ask her what's inside."
Emily almost didn't.
Something in Robert's tone frightened her.
But she asked anyway.
"Margaret, what's in your bag?"
Margaret clutched it tighter.
"None of your business."
Robert gave a humorless smile.
"That's what I thought."
He reached inside his jacket and removed a small brass key.
Then he placed it beside Emily's dinner plate.
She recognized it immediately.
It belonged to the locked drawer in Daniel's upstairs office.
A drawer Daniel had told her contained confidential company records.
"Before anyone signs anything tonight," Robert said, "Emily needs to see what's upstairs."
Daniel's face changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
Emily looked at him.
May you like
And in that instant she knew.
Whatever was waiting in that drawer had something to do with her.
