Chapter 3 - The Anonymous VoiceDaniel stared at his phone.
The call lasted nine seconds.
Nine seconds that changed the atmosphere inside the house.
Nobody moved.
Olivia finally whispered,
“Who was that?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked at the number.
Blocked.
Maria felt her hands shake.
Sarah walked toward the window.
“We should call the police.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Then his phone rang again.
Same blocked number.
Everyone froze.
Daniel answered.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then the voice returned.
“You have no idea what you’re searching for.”
Daniel clenched his fist.
“What do you want?”
“You already know.”
“I don't know anything.”
A quiet laugh.
“Then ask your wife.”
The call ended.
Daniel slowly turned toward Sarah.
Sarah looked terrified.
“What?”
“What is he talking about?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Did you know about the footage?”
“No.”
“Did you know someone had accessed the system?”
“No.”
Olivia interrupted.
“Dad.”
Daniel looked at her.
“The account wasn't created today.”
She turned the monitor.
“It was created six months ago.”
Maria frowned.
“Six months?”
Olivia nodded.
“The account accessed the staircase camera eleven times.”
Sarah's face became pale.
Daniel looked at his wife.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“You live here.”
“I said I don't know.”
Daniel stared at her.
He wanted to believe her.
But something had changed.
For months, Sarah had been anxious.
She locked doors twice.
She checked windows repeatedly.
Sometimes Maria noticed her standing in the nursery late at night, watching Noah sleep.
Maria had assumed it was simply a mother worrying about her baby.
Now she wasn't sure.
Olivia opened the access history further.
“There are more entries.”
“From when?” Daniel asked.
“Before Noah was born.”
Sarah suddenly stepped forward.
“Close it.”
Olivia looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because this isn't something you should be looking at.”
Olivia frowned.
“You told me never to hide things from Dad.”
Sarah's expression tightened.
“That was different.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Sarah.”
She stared at him.
“I said close it.”
Daniel's voice became quiet.
“Why?”
Sarah didn't answer.
Maria watched them from the doorway.
Then Noah cried upstairs.
Everyone looked toward the ceiling.
Maria immediately moved.
“I’ll get him.”
Daniel stopped her.
“No.”
Maria froze.
“What?”
Daniel walked past her.
“I’ll do it.”
Maria stepped back.
Something inside her tightened.
Only hours earlier, she had believed this was simply a terrible misunderstanding.
Now she realized the accusation had opened a door.
And someone desperately wanted that door closed.
That night, Maria stayed awake in the small room she rented above the garage.
She couldn't sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Noah falling.
She remembered the exact weight of him against her chest.
The sound of Sarah screaming.
The look on Daniel's face.
Then she remembered something else.
Just before Noah slipped…
Someone had been standing behind Sarah.
A shadow.
Maria sat upright.
She had not noticed it at the time.
But now she could see it clearly in her memory.
A dark figure near the hallway.
She opened her phone.
She had taken a picture earlier that evening because Olivia had asked her to photograph a broken cabinet.
Maybe the background showed something.
Maria enlarged the photo.
Her breath stopped.
In the reflection of the glass cabinet behind Sarah…
There was a man.
Not Daniel.
Not Ethan.
Someone else.
Maria zoomed further.
She recognized the face.
Her entire body went cold.
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The man in the reflection was someone she had never seen inside the Carter house.
But he was wearing the same silver watch as Daniel.
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