Chapter 6 - Daddy Are We Allowed To Eat Now)
Valerie's question followed Alexander long after she spoke it.
"Daddy... are we allowed to eat now?"
He looked at the bread.
At the mold.
At the girls.
His first instinct was disbelief.
Not because he doubted them.
Because the human mind sometimes rejects a truth too terrible to absorb quickly.
Alexander walked closer.
"Sweetheart."
Valerie flinched when he reached toward her.
His hand stopped.
The flinch destroyed him.
He crouched instead.
"It's me."
Valerie stared at him.
Then she whispered,
"I know."
Alexander looked at Camila.
Her lips were pale.
Regina had both hands tucked beneath her arms.
Sophie was barefoot.
"Where are your slippers?"
"Upstairs."
"Why are you down here?"
Nobody answered.
Alexander's eyes moved to the thermostat.
Fifty-seven degrees.
"Who put you in here?"
Valerie looked toward the doorway.
Alexander understood.
Vanessa appeared seconds later.
Then came the bread on the floor.
The insult.
The bat.
The broken table.
And Sophie's warning.
"There is something upstairs you need to see."
Now, as the guests stood frozen, Alexander knelt beside his daughters.
"Show me."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"They need to go to bed."
Alexander turned.
"No."
"They're sick."
"No."
"Alexander, you're upset."
He stood.
"No."
Each answer became quieter.
More dangerous.
Vanessa looked toward the guests.
"This is a misunderstanding."
Alexander removed his phone.
"Henry."
The driver appeared in the doorway almost immediately.
Vanessa stared.
"You fired him."
Alexander looked at her.
"No. You did."
Her face changed.
Only for a second.
But Rebecca Shaw had just entered behind Henry, and she saw it.
Vanessa said,
"What is she doing here?"
Rebecca removed her wet coat.
"Protecting my client."
"I'm his wife."
Rebecca looked toward the four girls.
"That's becoming increasingly difficult to believe."
Alexander wrapped his overcoat around the children.
"Take me upstairs."
Sophie held his hand.
The four girls led him through the hallway.
Guests moved aside.
Vanessa followed.
Rebecca followed Vanessa.
Henry followed them all.
Upstairs, Valerie stopped at the bedroom.
Alexander saw the lock.
A lock on the outside.
He touched it.
Then looked at Vanessa.
"Explain."
"It's for their safety."
"From what?"
"They wander."
"All four?"
"Sometimes."
Alexander opened the door.
The bedroom was cold.
One radiator valve had been closed.
Blankets covered the beds.
He walked toward the thermostat.
The heating zone had been disabled manually.
He turned to the girls.
"How long?"
Regina answered.
"Since Tuesday."
Alexander's jaw tightened.
Sophie tugged his hand.
"Not this."
She walked toward the attic stairs.
Vanessa suddenly moved.
"No."
Rebecca stepped in front of her.
Vanessa glared.
"Get out of my way."
Rebecca's voice was calm.
"You don't want to touch anyone right now."
Alexander followed Sophie upstairs.
The attic smelled of dust and cedar.
She walked toward the floorboards.
Then stopped.
Her face fell.
"It's gone."
"What?"
"The little card."
Alexander crouched.
"What card?"
"The one from your office."
Regina explained.
"We recorded things."
Alexander stared.
"What things?"
"Vanessa."
Vanessa appeared in the doorway.
"Children invent stories."
Sophie turned.
"You found it."
"I found nothing."
"You ripped Oliver."
Alexander looked at Sophie.
"Your rabbit?"
She nodded.
"She thought the card was inside."
Alexander looked at Vanessa.
His wife folded her arms.
"This is insane."
Then Daniel called.
Alexander answered.
"I have something," Daniel said.
"What?"
"The cloud snapshots."
"You got access?"
"Rebecca sent me your original security registration documents. The vendor reset the administrator."
Alexander put the call on speaker.
Daniel continued.
"Camera 7 wasn't completely offline. Vanessa disabled the local stream, but the cloud backup continued taking images."
Vanessa went very still.
Alexander looked at her.
"What do they show?"
"I'm downloading them."
"How long?"
"Minutes."
Vanessa turned toward the stairs.
Rebecca blocked her again.
"Move."
"No."
Vanessa laughed sharply.
"You people are treating me like a criminal."
Alexander looked at the attic floor.
"Did you delete recordings my daughters made?"
"No."
Sophie said,
"Yes."
Vanessa shouted,
"Stop lying!"
All four girls jumped.
Alexander stepped between them.
"Never speak to them like that again."
Vanessa stared at him.
Then she made a calculated change.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Alexander, please."
He almost laughed.
"Don't."
"You have no idea what I've been dealing with."
"Four six-year-old children?"
"They're manipulative."
Rebecca's eyebrows lifted.
Vanessa continued.
"They hate me because I'm not Isabel."
Alexander's face hardened.
"Do not say her name."
"They've tried to destroy our marriage since the beginning."
Valerie whispered,
"No."
Vanessa pointed.
"See?"
Alexander caught her wrist before she could move closer.
He did not squeeze.
He simply stopped the gesture.
"Enough."
Daniel spoke through the phone.
"Alexander."
Everyone froze.
"I've got the first folder."
"What do you see?"
Silence.
"Daniel."
His friend sounded sick.
"Kitchen hallway. December seventh. Nine fourteen p.m."
"And?"
"Camila is sitting on the floor outside the pantry."
Alexander looked at Camila.
Daniel continued.
"There's a plate beside her."
"What kind of plate?"
"Plastic."
"Food?"
"No."
Daniel paused.
"Vanessa is standing over her."
"Doing what?"
Another pause.
"Pointing toward the dog bowl."
Alexander closed his eyes.
Vanessa whispered,
"That proves nothing."
Then Daniel said,
"There are forty-seven nights of images."
Rebecca looked at Vanessa.
The color drained from her face.
Alexander opened his eyes.
"Download everything."
"I already am."
Vanessa moved toward the stairs.
Henry stepped aside as if allowing her through.
Then Alexander said,
"Where are you going?"
She stopped.
"To get my phone."
"It's in your hand."
Vanessa looked down.
For one second she had forgotten.
Alexander knew then.
She was not trying to get a phone.
May you like
She was trying to get something else.
And whatever it was, she believed it was more dangerous than the photographs.
