Chapter 8 - THE NANNY IN CELL NINE
The handcuffs tightened around Lily’s wrists.
For one stunned second, she could not speak.
Mercer took the vial from her pocket using a gloved hand.
He held it where the cameras could see.
“Unlabeled controlled substance.”
“Recovered directly from the suspect.”
Lily looked toward Mara.
“She put it there.”
“Who?” Mercer asked.
“Serena.”
Mercer glanced toward Serena across the drive.
“She has not been near you.”
“She was inside the mansion.”
“Under guard.”
“She escaped under your protection.”
The officers around them became still.
Mercer stepped closer.
“Be careful.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It is advice.”
Mara moved between them.
“My client says the evidence was planted.”
“My client will not answer further questions.”
Mercer signaled an officer.
“Take her.”
Lily looked toward the nursery window.
Ethan was somewhere behind the glass.
She had promised to keep him safe.
Now she was being taken away while Serena stood free.
“Victor,” Lily called.
He was already inside the police vehicle.
He turned toward the window.
Their eyes met through the dark glass.
Lily lifted her cuffed hands slightly.
Then she mouthed two words.
Raven tattoo.
Victor’s expression changed.
The vehicle drove away.
Lily was transported separately.
No one spoke to her during the ride.
At the central station, she was photographed, fingerprinted, and placed in an interview room.
Mara arrived twenty minutes later.
She closed the door and sat across from Lily.
“Tell me exactly when you last checked your pocket.”
“In the medical room.”
“What was inside?”
“A handkerchief and Ethan’s teething ring.”
“Who came near you?”
“Serena.”
“Dominic.”
“Dr. Halpern.”
“Several guards.”
“Police officers.”
“Child services.”
“Anyone could have planted it.”
Lily looked at her.
“Serena sent a message telling me to check.”
“Do you still have the message?”
“Mercer took my phone.”
Mara’s expression hardened.
“Then we demand a forensic copy.”
“He may erase it.”
“He may.”
Lily’s fear sharpened.
“Victor saw the message about twenty-four hours.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“I was arrested immediately.”
Mara opened her case.
“The guardianship hearing has been moved to tomorrow morning.”
“Ten o’clock.”
“That is less than twenty-four hours.”
“Serena’s attorneys claim Ethan is in immediate danger.”
“They want him placed with her?”
“They want him moved to a private medical residence controlled by the Montigue Foundation.”
Lily stared at her.
“That is where they can reach him.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if Victor remains in custody?”
“The court may appoint a temporary guardian.”
“Can you stop it?”
“I can challenge it.”
“But Serena has created a convincing public story.”
“She has injuries.”
“A sworn statement.”
“A compromised security system.”
“And now the sedative was found on you.”
Lily lowered her head.
Every piece had been arranged.
Serena had not panicked when Victor came home.
She had adapted.
She turned the scene into the final step of a plan already waiting.
“What about my notes?”
“Mercer claims they demonstrate fixation.”
“The photographs?”
“He calls them surveillance.”
“The recording of Serena threatening me?”
“The device seized from the house contains no audio.”
Lily looked up.
“They took the duplicate.”
“Victor hid the real one.”
Mara’s eyes sharpened.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good.”
“Do not tell me.”
“If I am questioned, I want to answer honestly.”
Lily studied her.
“Do you trust Victor?”
“I trust evidence.”
“That sounds like him.”
Mara almost smiled.
“It is why he hired me.”
Lily leaned forward.
“Mercer has a raven tattoo near his wrist.”
“Marisol described the man moving packages as having the same tattoo.”
“Did anyone else see it?”
“Dominic.”
“Victor may have understood when I signaled him.”
Mara wrote it down.
“The raven is used by Adrian’s private security group.”
“Then Mercer works for Adrian.”
“Or wants us to believe he does.”
Lily closed her eyes.
Every answer created another possibility.
Mara touched the table lightly.
“Stay with what you know.”
“You saw Serena dragging Ethan.”
“You experienced the attack.”
“You documented six months of behavior.”
“Your testimony is still evidence.”
“Will the court believe me from a jail cell?”
“That depends on whether we can show how you arrived there.”
Mara left to file an emergency motion.
Lily was transferred to Cell Nine.
The cell held one other woman.
She was middle-aged, with tired eyes and a swollen lip.
She introduced herself as Carla.
Lily sat on the narrow bench.
Carla watched her.
“You’re the nanny.”
Lily looked up.
“It’s already on television?”
“Every screen in booking.”
“They say you tried to steal a rich man’s baby.”
Lily laughed once.
The sound held no humor.
“They say many things.”
Carla studied her.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then somebody rich wants you to look guilty.”
Lily looked at her.
Carla shrugged.
“I’ve been poor a long time.”
“I know how that works.”
Hours passed.
Lily replayed every event.
The foyer.
The necklace.
The vault.
The locker.
The chapel.
The vial.
She tried to identify the moment someone touched her skirt.
Serena had been restrained before Lily changed clothes.
Dominic had stood near her.
Dr. Halpern had examined her.
Officers had searched the mansion.
Then she remembered the smoke canister.
During the evacuation from the nursery, a guard had steadied her near the medical corridor.
He wore gloves.
She had not recognized him.
“What are you doing?” Carla asked.
“Remembering.”
Lily closed her eyes.
The guard had spoken softly.
This way, Miss Hart.
His voice was familiar.
She had heard it before.
Not in the mansion.
On one of Amelia’s recordings.
Adrian’s voice.
He had disguised himself as security during the smoke attack.
He planted the vial while directing Lily toward the safe room.
That meant Adrian had never left the estate completely.
He had moved through it wearing uniforms and using passages only family knew.
Lily stood.
“I need my lawyer.”
A guard ignored her.
“It’s urgent.”
“No calls until morning.”
“A child is in danger.”
The guard continued walking.
Carla approached the bars.
“Make them listen differently.”
Then she began shouting that Lily had collapsed.
The guard returned reluctantly.
Lily lowered herself to the floor and held her abdomen.
The injury made the performance convincing.
A nurse was called.
During the examination, Lily whispered.
“My arresting officer planted evidence.”
“The guardianship hearing is tomorrow.”
“Please contact Mara Levin.”
The nurse’s expression remained neutral.
But ten minutes later, Mara returned.
Lily told her about Adrian’s voice.
Mara requested footage from the medical corridor.
The official recording had been erased.
However, Dr. Halpern’s portable monitor automatically photographed anyone entering Ethan’s treatment area.
One image showed the guard near Lily.
His face was partly hidden.
But his left hand revealed a distinctive scar.
Adrian had received that scar during a boating accident when he was sixteen.
Mara placed the photograph on the table.
“This can challenge the vial.”
“It also proves Adrian was inside the mansion during the supposed kidnapping.”
Lily looked at the time.
Seven hours remained before the hearing.
“Where is Victor?”
“Released pending investigation.”
“Mercer lacked enough evidence to hold him.”
“Why am I still here?”
“Because the vial was found on you.”
Mara’s mouth tightened.
“And because Mercer wants you unavailable tomorrow.”
“Can I testify remotely?”
“I filed the request.”
“Judge Halvorsen denied it.”
Lily stared at her.
“Then Serena has the judge too.”
“Possibly.”
Mara closed her file.
“I am appealing.”
Before she left, Lily grabbed her hand.
“Tell Victor the original recorder sends a signal when the third file plays.”
“Tell him not to activate it near Ethan.”
Mara nodded.
That night, Lily tried to sleep.
At three in the morning, the cell door opened.
Two officers stood outside.
“Transfer.”
Mara had said nothing about a transfer.
Lily remained seated.
“Where?”
“County medical.”
“Your attorney requested evaluation.”
Lily knew Mara had done no such thing.
Carla looked at her.
“Don’t go.”
One officer stepped inside.
“You do not have a choice.”
Lily stood slowly.
As they led her through the service corridor, she noticed neither officer wore a body camera.
They passed the medical wing.
Then booking.
Then a door marked AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
A black van waited outside.
Mercer stood beside it.
He opened the rear door.
“No cameras this time.”
Lily looked at him.
“What do you want?”
“The recorder.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Victor does.”
“Then ask him.”
Mercer smiled.
“He is more difficult to persuade.”
“You are not.”
The officers pushed Lily inside.
Her wrists were secured to a metal ring.
The van began moving.
Mercer sat across from her.
“Serena believes you know the password to the final recording.”
“I don’t.”
“She believes Amelia chose you for a reason.”
“My mother once helped her.”
“What did Rachel Hart give Amelia?”
“I don’t know.”
Mercer studied her.
“You truly don’t.”
The realization seemed to worry him.
He removed his phone and sent a message.
Lily watched the reflection in the dark window.
The text was visible backward.
She could make out only part of it.
THE GIRL DOESN’T KNOW.
A reply appeared.
THEN USE HER TO BRING VICTOR.
Mercer put the phone away.
The van left the city and entered an industrial district.
Lily counted turns.
She watched passing lights.
She listened for trains.
When the van stopped, she heard the deep horn of a freight locomotive nearby.
They took her into an abandoned warehouse.
A chair waited beneath a hanging light.
Mercer secured her wrists.
Then he placed a tablet on the table.
A live video showed Ethan sleeping inside the Blackwood nursery.
Serena stood beside the crib.
She wore Amelia’s silver necklace.
“Tomorrow,” Mercer said, “the court gives her the child.”
“And by tomorrow night, Victor Blackwood will be dead.”
Lily stared at the screen.
Serena leaned toward the nursery camera.
As though she knew Lily was watching, she smiled.
Then she held up a document.
It was the completed guardianship order.
Judge Halvorsen’s signature was already at the bottom.
May you like
The hearing had not happened yet.
The decision had already been made.
