Chapter 3 - The Secret Inside Serena's Phone)
Eli ran.
She reached the staircase just before Gareth opened the office door.
By the time he entered the hallway, she was halfway to the second floor.
She did not look back.
She slipped into her room, climbed into bed, and pulled the blanket over herself.
Thirty seconds later, footsteps stopped outside her door.
The handle did not move.
Gareth remained there long enough for Eli to hear her own heartbeat.
Then he walked away.
At breakfast, he behaved normally.
That terrified her.
He poured coffee for Domenico.
Asked Josie whether she wanted strawberries.
Complained about a contractor.
Eli watched him smile and wondered how many different versions of her father existed.
Domenico noticed.
"Everything okay?"
"Fine."
Gareth looked at her over his coffee.
Eli lowered her eyes.
After breakfast she followed Domenico into the hall.
"Uncle Dom?"
He turned.
She had called him that since childhood.
"What is it?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Always."
"Did Aunt Serena keep backups of her phone?"
Domenico stopped.
"Why?"
"I was just wondering."
"Most things were connected to her cloud account."
"Can you still access it?"
His expression grew thoughtful.
"Some of it. Why?"
Before Eli could answer, Gareth appeared from the dining room.
"She's obsessed with that old phone."
Eli's shoulders tightened.
Gareth placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Domenico has enough to worry about."
Domenico looked from one to the other.
"Eli can ask me anything she wants."
Gareth smiled.
"Of course."
Eli waited.
She had the sudden certainty that if she told Domenico everything while Gareth was standing there, something bad would happen before anyone could understand what she meant.
So she lied.
"I wanted pictures for Josie."
Domenico's face softened.
"I'll find some."
"Thanks."
Gareth squeezed her shoulder.
Not hard enough to cause pain.
Hard enough to communicate.
That afternoon, Domenico drove into Manhattan for meetings.
Gareth left the villa an hour later.
Eli waited until she saw his car disappear beyond the gates.
Then she went to Josie's room.
"Where's the phone?"
Josie looked confused.
"Daddy has it."
"No. My dad took it last night."
Josie sat up.
"What?"
"I saw him."
Together they searched the places Gareth commonly used.
His guest suite.
The downstairs study.
The small office beside the gym.
Nothing.
Then Josie said, "Pool house."
"Why?"
"He goes there when he's angry."
Eli stared at her.
"How do you know?"
Josie looked away.
The pool house stood fifty yards beyond the main terrace.
It contained changing rooms, a wet bar, storage cabinets, and a small mechanical space.
Eli entered first.
Josie followed.
The building was empty.
They searched drawers.
Cabinets.
Shelves.
Finally Josie pointed toward a narrow cupboard beneath the counter.
A black phone sat behind several folded towels.
Serena's phone.
Eli grabbed it.
The battery was almost dead.
They rushed back to the villa and connected it to a charger.
Something had changed.
The photo album from the marina was gone.
Eli searched again.
Gone.
Several videos were missing too.
"He deleted them," she whispered.
Josie looked frightened.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Eli checked the deleted folder.
Empty.
Gareth had erased those files too.
But he had made a mistake.
The phone's older cloud account had automatically synchronized years earlier.
Eli discovered that the password field still remembered an account login.
She tried Serena's birthday.
Wrong.
Josie's birthday.
Wrong.
Then Josie whispered, "Daddy's birthday."
The account opened.
Hundreds of cloud thumbnails appeared.
Some loaded.
Some failed.
Then the marina album returned.
Eli exhaled.
"There."
She opened the photograph with the red dock light.
This time she zoomed farther.
At first she saw nothing.
Then she noticed a reflection in the dark glass of the marina office behind Serena.
Two men stood inside.
One was Gareth.
The other was Conrad Lane, Pierce Development's longtime chief financial officer.
Gareth was holding a white envelope.
Conrad was pointing toward the dock.
Josie leaned closer.
"That's the bad man."
"Gareth?"
"No."
Josie pointed at Conrad.
Eli frowned.
"You know him?"
"He came after Mommy went in the water."
Eli stared.
"What do you mean?"
Josie squeezed her hands together.
"The night Mommy fell."
"You were there?"
Josie nodded.
Everyone knew Josie had been at the family's lake house the night Serena died.
She had been four.
The official story said she had been asleep upstairs.
"Did you see what happened?"
Josie's eyes filled with tears.
"I woke up."
Eli put the phone down.
"You don't have to tell me."
"Gareth said Mommy was swimming."
"Was she?"
Josie shook her head.
"Mommy hated swimming at night."
That was true.
Eli remembered Serena refusing to enter dark water.
"Then what happened?"
Josie's breathing became shallow.
"I heard Mommy yelling."
"At who?"
"I don't know."
"Did you see her?"
Josie nodded.
"She was by the boat."
"With Gareth?"
Josie's face crumpled.
"I don't remember."
A door slammed downstairs.
Both girls jumped.
A car engine had stopped outside.
Eli ran to the window.
Gareth was back.
Too early.
She grabbed Serena's phone.
"Hide."
Josie crawled beneath the bed.
Eli moved toward the hallway.
Then she stopped.
If Gareth searched her room, he would find the phone.
She needed somewhere else.
Her eyes moved to an old stuffed rabbit on Josie's chair.
The seam along its back had torn.
Eli pushed the phone inside the stuffing.
Footsteps climbed the stairs.
Josie crawled out.
Eli whispered, "Don't say anything."
Gareth entered without knocking.
His eyes moved around the room.
"What are you two doing?"
"Playing."
"Where's the phone?"
Eli forced herself to look confused.
"What phone?"
Gareth closed the door.
He no longer smiled.
"The one you stole from the pool house."
Neither girl spoke.
Gareth took a step forward.
"Do you know what happens to children who accuse adults of things they don't understand?"
Eli's throat went dry.
"You deleted Aunt Serena's pictures."
"They were private."
"Why were you on the phone saying the backup could get you in trouble?"
Gareth's face became completely still.
Josie grabbed Eli's hand.
Gareth looked at her.
Then he smiled again.
"You misunderstood."
"I didn't."
He crossed the room.
Eli backed away.
Gareth lowered his voice.
"You've always been dramatic like your mother."
"Don't talk about Mom."
"Your mother is the reason I barely see you."
"No. You are."
For a moment Eli thought he might strike her.
Instead Gareth looked at Josie.
"Go downstairs."
Josie did not move.
"I said go."
Eli stepped in front of her.
"She stays."
Gareth stared at his daughter.
Then he leaned closer.
"You should be very careful who you decide to protect."
He left.
The door closed.
Josie began crying.
Eli pulled the rabbit from the chair.
She removed Serena's phone.
May you like
Then she made a decision neither Gareth nor Domenico would discover until the day beside the pool.
She started recording everything.
