Chapter 2 - The Locked Pantry
For one full second, Nathan thought he had misunderstood.
“Hiding food?”
Emma nodded.
Victoria laughed once, sharp and dismissive. “This is ridiculous.”
Nathan ignored her.
He crouched in front of Chloe. “Sweetheart, is that true?”
Chloe did not answer. She slipped closer to Emma.
Nathan felt the rejection like a knife.
Lily spoke instead. “Only crackers.”
“And apples,” Ava added quietly.
Nathan stood. “Why?”
Victoria crossed her arms. “Because Emma has encouraged bad habits since the day she arrived.”
Emma’s jaw tightened.
Nathan looked at her. “Explain.”
Emma opened the pantry door.
A heavy electronic lock had been installed on the inside frame.
Nathan stared at it.
He had never seen it before.
“What is that?”
Victoria answered too quickly. “A security lock. We had staff theft.”
“What staff theft?”
“The cook was taking expensive food home.”
“Our cook retired.”
Victoria’s face changed by a fraction.
Nathan noticed.
Emma reached into her apron pocket and removed a small notepad. “Mr. Cole, I started keeping dates because I thought you would eventually ask.”
Victoria stepped forward. “You had no permission to document this household.”
Nathan held up a hand.
Victoria stopped.
Emma handed him the notepad.
March 4 - pantry locked at 4 p.m.
March 7 - Lily asked for dinner at 7:20. Told kitchen closed.
March 11 - Chloe woke hungry at 1:10 a.m.
March 14 - Ava hid two rolls in desk drawer.
March 18 - Victoria ordered staff not to serve snacks without written approval.
Nathan’s eyes moved down the page.
There were weeks of entries.
His voice went flat. “Why didn’t you call me?”
Emma looked hurt by the question. “I did.”
Nathan lifted his eyes.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I called your office four times.”
“I never got a message.”
“I emailed you twice.”
“I never got an email.”
Victoria suddenly turned away and reached for her phone.
Nathan noticed that too.
“Put it on the counter.”
She looked back. “Excuse me?”
“Your phone. Counter.”
“Nathan, don’t be dramatic.”
“Now.”
The girls went quiet.
Victoria placed the phone beside the flour bowl.
Nathan turned to Ava. “Show me.”
She hesitated.
“Show me where you keep the food.”
Ava led him upstairs.
The others followed.
Inside her room, she opened the bottom drawer of a white dresser. Beneath folded sweaters were granola bars, crackers, two bruised apples, and a plastic bag holding half a stale dinner roll.
Nathan felt sick.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ava looked at him with a calmness far too old for eight years.
“Because every time we told you something, Victoria already knew before you called us back.”
Nathan frowned. “What does that mean?”
Ava walked to the bookshelf and pulled out a framed photograph of her mother.
Behind it sat a tiny black device with a blinking light.
Emma gasped.
Nathan picked it up.
It was a wireless microphone.
Ava whispered, “Emma found one in Lily’s room too.”
Nathan’s blood went cold.
From the hallway came a sudden slam.
May you like
Victoria was gone.
So was her phone.
