Chapter 2 - The Photograph Outside the Gate
Marcus Hale had the photograph enlarged before breakfast reached Lily's room.
The image filled one of the monitors in Adrian's study, and the more Marcus sharpened it, the less accidental it looked.
Claire and Lily were centered perfectly in the frame.
The mansion gates were visible at the edge.
The angle meant the photographer had been standing across the road, partly hidden behind a row of snow-heavy pines.
Adrian stared at the image without moving.
"How long were they watched?"
Marcus folded his arms.
"At least long enough to wait for a clean shot."
"That wasn't my question."
Marcus knew the difference between Adrian being angry and Adrian becoming dangerous.
This was the second one.
"I'm pulling traffic cameras from the last seventy-two hours."
"Pull seven days."
"Already requested."
Adrian's gaze remained on Claire's face in the photograph.
She was bending slightly toward Lily while the girl held up something in one mittened hand.
A pinecone.
Claire was smiling.
Lily was laughing.
The person behind the camera had turned a harmless moment into a threat simply by proving he could see it.
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Do you want Claire told?"
Adrian finally looked at him.
"Yes."
"Everything?"
"Everything she needs to know."
Marcus gave him a flat look.
"That's not the same answer."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
He was about to respond when a soft knock came at the study door.
One of the house staff stepped inside.
"Mr. Mercer, Ms. Bennett is asking why there are two armed men outside Lily's bedroom."
Marcus closed his eyes for half a second.
"There goes the gentle version."
Ten minutes later, Claire stood in Adrian's study wearing borrowed sweatpants, her beige cardigan, and an expression that made it very clear she was no longer too tired to argue.
Lily remained upstairs with Mrs. Callahan, the housekeeper who had been with the Mercer family since before Adrian married Rebecca.
Claire looked from Adrian to Marcus.
Then she looked at the monitor.
The color drained from her face.
"When was that taken?"
"Two days ago," Marcus said.
Claire moved closer.
Her eyes fixed on the photograph.
"I remember that walk."
Adrian watched her carefully.
"Did you notice anyone?"
"No."
"Any cars parked too long?"
"No."
"Anyone asking questions about Lily?"
Claire's head snapped toward him.
"People don't generally walk up to nannies and announce that they're planning something terrible."
Marcus looked down, hiding the beginning of a smile.
Adrian did not smile.
"This is serious, Claire."
"I can see that."
She pointed at the monitor.
"What I can't see is why someone is photographing your daughter."
Silence answered her.
Claire's eyes narrowed.
"You know something."
"I know people have used my family to get my attention before."
"Before?"
Adrian's expression did not change.
"Not Lily."
"That's not what I asked."
Marcus glanced at Adrian.
Claire saw it.
That tiny look between two men who had spent years communicating without words.
Her stomach tightened.
"Who?"
Adrian's voice lowered.
"My wife."
Claire went still.
"Rebecca?"
"Years ago."
"What happened?"
"Nothing that matters now."
Claire stared at him in disbelief.
"A stranger just sent you a photograph of your six-year-old daughter and me, and you're deciding which parts of the past matter?"
"I'm deciding which parts are useful."
"That's convenient."
Adrian took one step toward her.
"You are not leaving the property until Marcus clears it."
Claire blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"Your apartment will be checked."
"My apartment?"
"Your phone, car, and usual routes will also be reviewed."
Every ounce of warmth from that morning disappeared from her face.
"You don't get to search my life because someone photographed me."
"If they photographed you because of me, I do."
"No, you absolutely do not."
Marcus shifted toward the door.
"I can come back."
"Stay," Claire said.
Marcus stopped.
Claire faced Adrian squarely.
"I work for you."
"Yes."
"You pay me to care for your daughter."
"Yes."
"You do not own my car, my apartment, my phone, or my choices."
"No."
"Then stop talking to me like you do."
For three seconds, the room was completely silent.
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"Someone has decided you are useful to get to my daughter."
"Then tell me why."
"I don't know yet."
"Then say that instead of turning me into a prisoner."
The word hit something in him.
His expression changed only slightly, but Claire noticed.
Adrian looked toward Marcus.
"Check the apartment only if Claire consents."
Marcus nodded.
Claire crossed her arms.
"And my phone?"
"Only if you consent."
"My car?"
Adrian exhaled once through his nose.
"Only if you consent."
"Good."
"But you are not taking Lily outside the property today."
Claire opened her mouth.
Adrian raised one finger.
"That is a parental decision, not a security order."
Claire closed her mouth again.
Marcus turned his head to hide another smile.
Then Adrian's phone buzzed.
All three looked at it.
The screen showed another unknown number.
No message appeared this time.
Only a photograph.
Adrian opened it.
Claire saw his face change.
"What?"
He did not answer.
She walked around the desk before he could stop her.
The photograph showed the inside of Lily's bedroom.
Claire's breath caught.
It had been taken that morning.
The reading chair was visible.
So was the rumpled blanket.
And on the carpet near the window sat Lily's stuffed rabbit.
Claire whispered, "That was after sunrise."
Marcus was already reaching for his radio.
"Lock the house down."
Adrian took the phone from the desk.
This time there was text beneath the image.
He read it once.
Then again.
Claire watched his knuckles whiten around the device.
"What does it say?"
Adrian looked at her.
For the first time since she had known him, he seemed genuinely uncertain whether the truth would protect her or frighten her more.
Claire held out her hand.
"Show me."
He did.
There were seven words beneath the photograph.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT HER WITH REBECCA.
Claire's throat went dry.
Upstairs, something heavy crashed.
Adrian was moving before the sound finished.
Claire ran after him.
Marcus shouted into his radio as all three crossed the foyer.
By the time they reached Lily's room, two guards were already outside.
Adrian shoved the door open.
Mrs. Callahan stood beside the bed, pale and shaking.
A porcelain lamp lay broken on the floor.
Lily was not in the bed.
Claire's heart stopped.
"Where is she?"
Mrs. Callahan pointed toward the bathroom with a trembling hand.
"She heard someone at the window."
Claire rushed past her.
Lily was crouched inside the empty bathtub with her stuffed rabbit pressed to her chest.
Her face was wet with tears.
"Claire."
Claire dropped to her knees.
"I'm here."
Lily threw herself into her arms.
Adrian appeared behind them.
His eyes swept the bathroom.
The window was locked.
Nothing seemed disturbed.
Marcus entered seconds later.
"No breach downstairs."
Then he looked at the frosted bathroom window.
A small circle had been wiped clean from the outside.
Someone had pressed a fingertip against the glass.
And just beneath it, written into the frost from the exterior side, were two words.
HELLO, LILY.
Adrian did not speak.
He did not need to.
Claire felt Lily trembling against her and understood something with brutal clarity.
Whoever was doing this was not merely watching from the road.
May you like
They had reached the house.
And they wanted Adrian to know it.
