Chapter 2 - The Camera in Lily’s Room
Alessia did not go home immediately.
She drove for nearly an hour without telling her driver where she wanted to go.
Finally, she asked him to stop 2 blocks from Lily’s school.
She walked the rest of the way alone.
At 5:20 p.m., after most students had left, Lily’s teacher, Mrs. Harper, agreed to speak with her.
“I’m glad you came.”
Those words frightened Alessia more than anything else.
Mrs. Harper closed the classroom door.
“Lily has changed.”
“How?”
“She startles easily. She asks permission to do things she never needed permission for before. Last week she spilled water and started crying before anyone even reacted.”
Alessia folded her hands tightly.
“Did she tell you why?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“Gently.”
“And?”
Mrs. Harper hesitated.
“She said she gets in trouble for making messes.”
“At home?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
Alessia swallowed.
“Anything else?”
Mrs. Harper nodded slowly.
“She drew something.”
She walked to a filing cabinet and removed a sheet of construction paper.
The drawing showed a large house.
4 stick figures stood inside.
One was labeled MOMMY.
One was LILY.
One was GARRETT.
One was GRANDMA E.
Garrett and Evelyn had been drawn beside a black rectangle.
Alessia pointed to it.
“What is that?”
“I asked her.”
“What did she say?”
Mrs. Harper looked directly into Alessia’s eyes.
“She said, ‘That’s the room where I have to tell the truth.’”
Alessia’s hands went cold.
“What room?”
“She wouldn’t answer.”
The Moretti mansion had 23 rooms.
Several were unused.
One entire west corridor had belonged to Alessia’s grandfather and had been renovated after Garrett moved in.
Garrett now used part of it as his private office suite.
There was also an old wine-storage room.
A security room.
And a locked records room.
Alessia folded the drawing carefully.
“Thank you.”
Mrs. Harper touched her arm.
“Mrs. Moretti, I don’t want to overstep.”
“Please do.”
“Lily is frightened of someone.”
Alessia nodded.
“I know.”
It was the first time she admitted it aloud.
She returned to the mansion just after 7.
Garrett was in the ballroom overseeing gala preparations.
Evelyn sat near the fountain with an event planner, discussing flower arrangements as though the mansion belonged to her.
Evelyn Hale had moved into the east guest wing 8 months after Alessia married Garrett.
The original arrangement was supposed to last 3 weeks while Evelyn recovered from hip surgery.
She never left.
Alessia had tolerated it because Garrett claimed his mother was lonely.
Now she wondered how many decisions had been disguised as temporary until they became permanent.
Evelyn noticed her.
“There she is.”
Alessia smiled.
“Busy day?”
“Disastrous. Your florist has no sense of proportion.”
“My florist?”
Evelyn waved toward a row of white arrangements.
“They look cheap.”
Alessia looked at the 20,000 dollars worth of imported flowers.
“I’ll survive.”
Evelyn smiled thinly.
“You always do.”
Garrett approached.
He kissed Alessia on the cheek.
“How was work?”
“Boring.”
“Foundation?”
“Mostly.”
His gaze lingered on her face.
Alessia forced herself not to look away.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He smiled.
“You seem tense.”
“I’m tired.”
“Maybe you’re working too much.”
The words sounded different now.
Working too much.
Tired.
Unstable.
Overwhelmed.
She remembered the trust amendment.
Declared psychologically incapable.
Alessia smiled.
“Maybe.”
Garrett relaxed.
That told her more than any accusation could have.
At 9:30, Lily was asleep.
Or pretending to be.
Alessia waited until Garrett entered the shower.
Then she went into Lily’s bedroom and closed the door.
She searched the dresser first.
Nothing.
The nightstand.
Nothing.
The toy chest.
Nothing.
Then she saw a tiny green reflection near the top of the bookshelf.
She moved a stuffed rabbit.
Behind it sat a small black device.
A camera.
Alessia froze.
The device was aimed directly at Lily’s bed.
She did not touch it.
She photographed it from several angles.
Then she left the room exactly as she had found it.
Garrett was still showering.
Alessia went downstairs and found Rosa in the kitchen.
The housekeeper was washing a glass.
“Rosa.”
She turned.
“Yes?”
Alessia shut the kitchen door.
“I need you to tell me the truth.”
Rosa’s face changed immediately.
“About what?”
“Lily.”
The glass in Rosa’s hand trembled.
That was enough.
Alessia stepped closer.
“What has Garrett done?”
Rosa put down the glass.
“I don’t know everything.”
“But you know something.”
Rosa looked toward the door.
“He gets angry.”
“At Lily?”
“At everyone.”
“Has he touched her?”
Rosa’s eyes filled.
“I saw him grab her arm once.”
Alessia’s stomach twisted.
“When?”
“3 weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“The night you were in Boston.”
Alessia remembered.
Garrett had answered her phone because she was in a meeting.
He told her Rosa had called about a broken dishwasher.
Rosa whispered, “He knew I called you.”
Alessia stared at her.
“What happened?”
“He told me if I frightened you with lies, he would report my nephew to immigration authorities.”
Alessia’s jaw tightened.
“Your nephew is a citizen.”
“I know. Garrett knew too. It didn’t matter. He wanted me frightened.”
“Why Lily?”
Rosa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Then she looked toward the ceiling.
“There’s another camera.”
Alessia went still.
“Where?”
“Not in Lily’s room.”
Rosa’s voice dropped.
“In Mr. Garrett’s study.”
“What does it record?”
“Everything.”
Alessia stared at her.
May you like
“How do you know?”
“Because I installed it.”
