The First Recording
The clerk connected the drive. Several folders appeared on the courtroom monitor. One was labeled with the date from six weeks earlier.
The video began. It showed my living room. The angle was strange, low and partially blocked by the closet door.
Then Derek walked into view. Sienna was with him. I recognized the sweater she was wearing because I had seen it in pictures online.
They sat on my couch. My couch. Inside my house. While I had been working.
Their voices were clear. Sienna sounded nervous. “What if Natalie figures out you’re coming here?”
Derek laughed softly. “She already thinks she’s forgetting things.”
My hand flew to my mouth.
He continued. “I move a few things every time. Keys, papers, groceries. Nothing major. Just enough.”
Sienna laughed. “That’s terrible.”
“It’s useful.”
The courtroom became completely silent.
The recording continued. Then Derek said:
“If she looks unreliable during the custody evaluation, I have a much better chance. Once Callie’s living with me, selling the house gets easier.”
My entire body went cold. There it was. Not confusion. Not exhaustion. Not my imagination. A plan.
