Chapter 2 - The First Recording
Daniel closed the front door behind him.
Nobody spoke.
Rachel held up the recorder.
"You know what this is."
Daniel stared at it.
"I know what it looks like."
"That wasn't my question."
Sophie stood behind Rachel, silent.
Lily had climbed onto the sofa and was holding one of the cream cushions against her chest.
Margaret said, "Daniel, tell her."
Rachel looked at her husband.
"Tell me what?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Months ago, before we got married, I asked Mom to tell me if she saw anything concerning."
Rachel laughed once.
"You asked your mother to spy on me?"
"No."
Margaret said, "You asked me to watch."
Daniel turned.
"I did not ask you to record anyone."
"But you wanted to know."
"I wanted an opinion."
"About me," Rachel said.
Daniel looked at her.
"About whether the girls were adjusting."
"You mean whether Sophie was a problem."
"No."
Sophie flinched anyway.
Rachel saw it.
Daniel did too.
He lowered his voice.
"Sophie, that's not what I meant."
Sophie did not answer.
Rachel pointed at the hallway.
"Margaret, leave."
"This is my son's house."
"It's my home."
Margaret looked at Daniel.
Daniel hesitated.
Half a second.
Too long.
Rachel felt something inside her go cold.
Then Daniel said, "Mom. Go."
Margaret's face hardened.
She picked up her purse.
At the door, she looked at Rachel.
"Listen to all of it before you decide I'm the villain."
Then she left.
Daniel locked the door.
Rachel moved the children upstairs.
She settled Sophie on her bed with Lily nearby because Lily had begun crying when Margaret left.
Neither girl wanted to be separated.
That was the cruelest part.
Adults had spent months telling them they were sisters.
Margaret had spent those same months teaching them to compete.
Rachel returned downstairs.
Daniel had connected the recorder to his laptop.
There were one hundred and forty-three audio files.
Rachel sat.
"Play the oldest."
Daniel clicked.
Static.
Then Sophie's voice.
"I don't want peas."
Rachel's own voice followed.
"You don't have to eat peas. Eat the chicken and carrots."
Nothing sinister.
Next file.
Lily crying.
Rachel: "Sophie, please don't take the block. She had it first."
Next.
Margaret's voice.
Close to the microphone.
"Sophie, if Lily takes Bunny, what do you do?"
Silence.
Margaret again.
"You share."
Sophie whispered, "Bunny isn't a sharing toy."
"Then Daniel will think you don't love Lily."
Rachel stopped breathing.
Daniel reached for the trackpad.
"Play it."
The file continued.
Sophie sounded smaller.
"Can I share another toy?"
Margaret said, "You can stop being difficult."
A chair scraped.
Then Lily's toddler voice.
"Bunny."
Margaret laughed softly.
"That's right. Ask Sophie for Bunny."
Rachel stared at Daniel.
He looked sick.
Next recording.
Margaret again.
This time speaking to Lily.
"If Sophie takes it back, sit down and cry."
Rachel's skin went cold.
Daniel whispered, "Jesus."
Margaret had not merely watched conflict.
She had manufactured it.
Rachel clicked through more files.
Different days.
Same pattern.
Margaret moving toys.
Margaret telling Lily that Rachel loved Sophie more.
Margaret telling Sophie that Daniel would choose Lily because "real daughters come first."
Then a file recorded six weeks earlier.
Daniel's voice.
Rachel stopped.
The recording had captured him speaking to Margaret in the kitchen.
"If Rachel ever treats Lily like she's second, I need to know."
Margaret answered, "Then let me handle it."
Daniel: "No drama. No tests."
Margaret: "You want the truth or not?"
Daniel sighed.
"I can't lose another family."
The file ended.
Rachel looked at him.
"You knew she was testing us."
"No."
"You heard her say it."
"I thought she meant watching."
Rachel stood.
Daniel followed.
"Rachel."
"How many reports did she give you?"
He did not answer.
"Daniel."
"Several."
"How many?"
"Maybe ten."
Rachel stared.
"Did you ever ask where the details came from?"
"No."
"Did you ever ask why your mother knew conversations she wasn't in the room for?"
Daniel looked down.
That answer was no too.
Then his laptop chimed.
New email.
The subject line made both of them freeze.
ANOTHER INCIDENT YOU SHOULD SEE.
Sender:
Daniel's face drained.
Rachel whispered, "What is that?"
He closed his eyes.
"I've been getting them for months."
He opened the message.
Attached was an audio clip.
Rachel recognized her own voice immediately.
"Sophie, stop it right now."
It sounded harsh.
Cruel without context.
But Rachel remembered the day.
Sophie had been running toward the street.
The clip ended before Rachel yelled, "There's a car!"
Rachel stared at Daniel.
"You've been receiving edited recordings of me."
"Yes."
"And you never told me."
Daniel looked ashamed.
"No."
Rachel clicked the message metadata.
The file name began with the same device ID printed on the recorder.
BUNNY-04.
She looked at him.
"How many?"
Daniel whispered, "Six."
Then another message appeared.
Not email.
A calendar alert on Daniel's laptop.
PRIVATE CONSULTATION - FAMILY LAW - 4:00 PM TOMORROW.
Rachel's chest tightened.
Daniel reached for the computer.
She moved it away.
"You called a divorce lawyer."
He did not deny it.
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