Chapter 2 - The Girl Who Watched Too Closely)
Eli Vale was eleven years old and already understood that adults lied most convincingly when they used calm voices.
Her parents had divorced when she was seven.
Her mother, Rachel, lived in Boston.
Gareth lived wherever his business or social life demanded.
During the school year, Eli spent most of her time with Rachel.
During summers, Gareth suddenly became interested in fatherhood.
That year, he brought her to Villa Aurelia.
Eli had always liked Domenico.
He remembered birthdays.
He listened when children spoke.
He never treated questions as interruptions.
More importantly, Josie adored her.
The girls were five years apart, but grief had made Josie older in strange ways, while loneliness had made Eli unusually protective.
On Eli's second afternoon at the villa, they built a blanket fort in the library.
Josie insisted Serena used to build better ones.
Eli pretended to be offended.
"Impossible."
"Mommy made tunnels."
"I can make tunnels."
"With windows."
"That's not a fort. That's architecture."
Josie giggled.
It was the first time that week Domenico heard the sound from the hallway.
He stopped before entering.
He watched the girls through the open door.
Josie was smiling.
Eli had a blanket over her head.
For a moment the house felt alive again.
Then Gareth appeared at the opposite end of the hall.
His expression changed when he saw them.
Domenico noticed.
"What?"
Gareth shook his head.
"Nothing."
There was that word again.
Nothing.
It was becoming a frequent guest at Villa Aurelia.
That evening, Eli found Josie in the laundry room.
She was sitting on the floor between two linen baskets.
"Why are you hiding?"
"I'm not."
Eli crouched.
"You're literally behind towels."
Josie looked down.
Eli noticed a faint red mark around her wrist.
"What happened?"
Josie pulled her sleeve lower.
"Door."
"A door did that?"
Josie nodded.
Eli did not believe her.
Neither did she push.
Instead she sat beside her.
After several minutes, Josie whispered, "Do you remember Aunt Serena's old phone?"
Eli blinked.
"Her black one?"
Josie nodded.
Serena had used the device before replacing it shortly before her death.
"I think so."
"I found it."
"Where?"
Josie pressed a finger to her lips.
Then she reached behind a linen basket and removed an old black smartphone wrapped in a kitchen towel.
Eli stared.
"Why is it here?"
"It was in Mommy's greenhouse box."
"What box?"
"The blue box."
Eli turned the phone over.
The screen was cracked near one corner.
"Does it work?"
Josie nodded.
"I charged it."
"Do you know the password?"
"Mommy's birthday."
Eli smiled faintly.
"That seems unsafe."
Josie did not understand.
Eli unlocked the phone.
There were no active messages.
No recent calls.
Most applications no longer worked.
But the photo library remained.
Thousands of images.
Serena gardening.
Domenico sleeping on a plane.
Baby Josie covered in chocolate.
Josie sitting on Gareth's shoulders at a family picnic.
Eli herself missing two front teeth.
For almost half an hour the girls forgot the world outside the laundry room.
Then Josie touched one album.
JOSIE AND DOMENICO.
Eli opened it.
There were hundreds of photographs Serena had taken of father and daughter.
Domenico carrying Josie through an airport.
Domenico asleep with an infant curled on his chest.
Josie wearing his shoes.
Domenico pushing her on a swing.
At the bottom were photographs from the week Serena died.
Eli noticed Josie's smile disappear.
"You okay?"
Josie pointed.
One photograph showed Domenico and Josie beside the marina.
Serena had taken it from several feet away.
In the background, behind Domenico, a red light glowed near the dock.
Josie's breathing changed.
"That's it."
"What?"
"The red light."
Eli zoomed in.
It was probably a small dock warning lamp.
Nothing unusual.
But Josie backed away from the phone.
"He was there."
"Who?"
Josie would not answer.
A shadow appeared beneath the laundry room door.
The handle moved.
Gareth entered.
Both girls froze.
He looked at them.
Then at the phone.
For the smallest fraction of a second, his entire face lost color.
"Where did you get that?"
Josie pushed herself against the washing machine.
Eli stood.
"We found it."
"I asked where."
"In the house."
Gareth held out his hand.
"Give it to me."
"It was Aunt Serena's."
"Exactly. It belongs to Domenico."
"We were going to give it to him."
"No, you're giving it to me."
Eli hesitated.
Gareth's voice softened.
"Eli."
That tone frightened her more than shouting.
She handed him the phone.
He examined the screen.
The marina photograph was still open.
His eyes moved from the image to Josie.
"What were you looking at?"
"Pictures," Eli said.
Gareth ignored her.
He crouched in front of Josie.
"What did you tell her?"
Josie's lower lip trembled.
"Nothing."
He smiled.
"Good girl."
Domenico entered moments later.
"What is everyone doing in here?"
Gareth immediately stood.
"Your daughter found Serena's old phone."
Domenico's expression shifted.
He took it.
For several seconds he stared at the device without speaking.
"Where?"
Josie pointed toward the east wing.
"Greenhouse."
"I thought we searched everything."
Gareth shrugged.
"Apparently not."
Domenico opened the photo library.
Gareth moved toward the door.
"Probably nothing important."
Eli looked at him.
Nothing.
Again.
Later that night, Eli awoke to footsteps outside her bedroom.
She opened the door a few inches.
Gareth was walking toward Domenico's office.
He was carrying Serena's phone.
Eli waited until he disappeared.
Then she ran downstairs.
By the time she reached the study, the door was locked.
A light shone beneath it.
She heard drawers opening.
Then Gareth's voice.
He was speaking quietly on another phone.
"I found it."
Silence.
"No. She hasn't remembered everything."
Another pause.
"No, Domenico doesn't know."
Eli moved closer.
Gareth said one final sentence.
"If the backup is still on this phone, we're all in trouble."
Eli stepped backward.
A floorboard creaked.
May you like
The office went silent.
The doorknob began to turn.
