Chapter 2: The Hidden Camera
Detective Harris returned just before sunset.
"We found something."
He placed a small memory card on the table.
"It was hidden behind the backyard floodlight."
My stomach tightened.
"What is it?"
"A security camera."
My father had installed it years earlier to monitor deliveries.
He claimed it stopped working.
He lied.
The footage showed everything.
At 6:41 a.m., Vanessa carried Lily through the backyard.
The little girl was limp, asleep in her arms.
My mother opened the dumpster lid.
Together, they lowered Lily inside.
Then my father quietly closed the lid.
Nobody looked frightened.
Nobody hesitated.
At 6:43 a.m., they walked back toward the house.
Vanessa laughed.
My mother adjusted the birthday decorations.
My father carried folding chairs onto the patio.
It looked like they had simply finished another household chore.
Detective Harris paused the video.
"They knew exactly where she was."
My hands began shaking uncontrollably.
Marcus wrapped his arm around me.
"They're finished."
The detective looked grim.
"Not yet."
He clicked to another video recorded later that morning.
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Someone else had visited the dumpster.
Someone none of us recognized.
