What My Daughter Had Been Doing
Callie held the USB tightly. “I started recording because things kept moving in our house.”
I stopped breathing.
She continued. “Mom kept saying she must be forgetting things, but I knew she wasn’t.”
I turned toward her. She had noticed. All those months when I thought I had hidden my fear from her, she had been watching everything.
“One night I heard Dad come inside while Mom was working late. I hid in my closet with my old tablet.”
Derek shook his head. “This is ridiculous.”
Callie looked directly at him. “No, Dad. I saw you.”
Silence filled the room. Then Callie said the sentence that changed the entire hearing.
“I heard you tell Sienna that if Mom looked confused enough, people would believe she couldn’t take care of me.”
Derek’s attorney leaned toward him. For the first time that morning, the attorney looked worried.
Judge Whitaker turned toward the court clerk. “Can we review what’s on that drive?”
The clerk nodded. Derek immediately objected, but the judge stopped him.
“We will determine what is appropriate to consider. You will remain seated.”
Callie handed over the USB. My hands had started shaking again. This time, not from fear. From the terrible possibility that my daughter had discovered the truth before I did.
