Chapter 6 - The Evidence in the Cloud
The nursery camera had been Ryan’s idea.
Several months earlier, he had complained that a future nanny might steal from them. He purchased an expensive security system that automatically saved recordings to a cloud account.
Ryan assumed only he knew the password.
He was wrong.
The password was Ethan’s birthday followed by Ryan’s favorite football number. Emma guessed it on her second attempt.
From her hospital bed, she opened the recordings.
She watched Ryan pack his bag.
She watched herself ask for help.
She watched him glance down at her after she collapsed.
Then she heard his final words.
Stop being dramatic.
Emma paused the video.
Catherine stood behind her, trembling with anger.
“Save everything,” she said.
Emma downloaded the footage.
She also saved her call history, the accidental celebration video, and the message Catherine had sent Ryan from the hospital.
The time stamps told a clear story.
Ryan knew Emma was in danger.
Ryan knew she had been taken to the hospital.
Ryan chose to remain at the cabin.
On Saturday evening, he finally replied to Catherine.
Is she okay?
Catherine did not answer.
An hour later, another message appeared.
I’ll deal with it when I get home Monday.
Emma read the words until they blurred.
“He thinks he can return and explain this away,” she said.
“He has explained things away his whole life,” Catherine admitted.
She told Emma about Ryan’s childhood. Whenever he broke something, he blamed another child. Whenever he failed, he claimed a teacher disliked him. Catherine had defended him too often because she believed loyalty meant protection.
“I thought he would grow out of it,” she said. “Instead, I taught him consequences were optional.”
Emma squeezed her hand.
“You saved us.”
“And now I’m going to stop saving him.”
On Sunday morning, Emma met with an attorney recommended by the hospital social worker. The attorney reviewed the recordings and messages.
“We can request a temporary protective order and emergency custody arrangement,” she said. “This evidence is strong.”
Emma looked at Ethan sleeping beside her.
She still loved the version of Ryan she had married.
But that version had not come home.
May you like
Perhaps he had never existed.
“Do it,” Emma said.
