Chapter 10 - Chloe Presses Play
Chloe's tablet changed the case.
Until then, we had documents.
Bruises.
A notebook.
School records.
Suspicious financial activity.
But Melissa could still claim everything had an explanation.
The recordings did not.
The police copied the tablet before anyone played the files for us.
There were thirty-seven videos.
Most were ordinary.
Chloe dancing.
Chloe filming her toys.
Ethan making pancakes one morning while Melissa was apparently away.
Then came a video dated October 18.
The camera pointed at the floor.
Chloe had clearly left the tablet recording inside a backpack.
Melissa's voice came through.
“He cannot still be here when he turns eighteen.”
Daniel answered.
“Stop talking like that.”
“Why? It's true.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Get him declared unstable before the trust changes.”
My stomach dropped.
Daniel's voice:
“Laura's attorney will challenge it.”
Melissa laughed.
“Samuel Price is eighty years old.”
Then:
“And Frank barely knows what's happening.”
I almost smiled.
Not because it was amusing.
Because underestimating me was the first mistake Melissa had made that benefited Ethan.
Daniel said, “Dad will ask questions if Ethan disappears.”
“Then tell him the boy attacked Chloe.”
Silence.
Daniel replied, “I'm not doing that.”
Melissa's voice hardened.
“You already signed the intake.”
Daniel said nothing.
She continued.
“You already certified the psych report.”
Still silence.
“You already took money from the trust.”
Daniel finally said, “That money went into the house.”
“And whose name is on the house?”
Silence.
“Yours.”
The room where we listened became deathly quiet.
Detective Mills paused the recording.
I looked at Samuel.
He looked furious.
“Trust money financed the house?”
“Potentially.”
The recording resumed.
Daniel said:
“I can pay it back.”
Melissa laughed again.
“With what? You lost the contract.”
Then the sentence that destroyed any possibility of misunderstanding.
“Once Ethan is classified as requiring long-term care, you control the distributions. We stabilize the mortgage, pay off the cards, and nobody loses anything.”
Daniel answered.
“Except Ethan.”
There was a pause.
Melissa said:
“He'll be taken care of.”
My son whispered:
“He'll hate me.”
Melissa replied:
“He already does.”
I couldn't breathe.
Ethan was sitting beside me.
I wanted to stop the recording.
He shook his head.
“Keep going.”
“Ethan—”
“I need to hear it.”
So we did.
Daniel asked what would happen if Ethan told someone about the basement.
Melissa said:
“That's why you document him as a liar.”
Daniel said:
“What if Chloe talks?”
Melissa laughed.
“Chloe is nine.”
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Then Chloe's small voice came from the next file.
She was speaking directly into the tablet.
“If Grandpa ever gets this, Ethan isn't bad.”
I covered my mouth.
Chloe continued.
“Mom says he is, but he isn't.”
She turned the camera.
Ethan was asleep on the floor outside Chloe's bedroom.
A blanket covered him.
The timestamp showed 2:11 a.m.
Chloe whispered:
“Mom locked his basement door and he got scared, so I let him out.”
The camera moved closer.
A bruise covered Ethan's cheek.
“Ethan told me not to tell because Dad gets sad when Mom is mad.”
The file ended.
My grandson started crying.
“I forgot that.”
I touched his shoulder.
“You don't have to watch more.”
“Yes.”
Next video.
Melissa shouting.
“You want to eat? Then earn it.”
The camera pointed through stair railings.
Ethan stood in the kitchen.
“I did everything.”
“No, you didn't.”
“I cleaned the bathroom.”
“You rolled your eyes.”
“I didn't.”
“Don't lie.”
A slap.
Not visible.
But unmistakable.
Then Daniel's voice.
“Melissa.”
“What?”
“Not the face.”
I closed my eyes.
Ethan whispered, “Keep playing.”
I couldn't.
Detective Mills stopped it.
“We have enough.”
“No.”
Ethan looked at him.
“I want everyone to hear.”
Mills nodded slowly.
“They will.”
Chloe's final important recording was from the morning before Thanksgiving.
Melissa and Daniel were arguing.
Melissa said:
“Tomorrow needs to be the last incident.”
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked.
“Something serious enough that nobody questions the transport.”
Daniel said, “Don't hurt him.”
Melissa replied:
“Then make sure he behaves.”
My skin turned cold.
Thanksgiving had not simply gone too far.
She had been waiting for an incident.
The turkey.
The cold.
Perhaps it was supposed to become evidence that Ethan was disobedient.
Maybe she expected him to pound on the windows.
Scream.
Break something.
Give them one final story.
Instead, he stood beside the mailbox and froze.
And I arrived.
Detective Mills turned off the tablet.
“That recording will likely change the criminal investigation.”
Ethan stared at the dark screen.
“What happens to Chloe?”
Rachel answered.
“We're seeking an emergency court order.”
“When?”
“Today.”
Ethan nodded.
Then Mills' phone rang.
He listened.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“Do not let her leave.”
He hung up.
“What happened?” I asked.
He looked at Rachel.
Then at us.
“Melissa went to Chloe's school.”
My heart slammed.
“Why?”
“She demanded to take Chloe home.”
Rachel stood.
“Is the school holding her?”
“For now.”
Mills grabbed his coat.
Then his phone rang again.
He answered.
His face went pale.
“What do you mean she's gone?”
My stomach dropped.
He looked directly at me.
“Melissa took Chloe out a side entrance.”
Ethan stood.
“No.”
Mills was already moving.
“We're contacting patrol.”
Ethan grabbed my arm.
“Grandpa.”
“I’m here.”
His voice shook.
“She knows Chloe recorded everything.”
May you like
And for the first time since Thanksgiving, I saw Ethan afraid not for himself—
but for his little sister.
