Chapter 3

Reading the wall of arrogant texts on my phone, I found the whole thing darkly hilarious.

I didn't lose my temper. I simply copy-pasted the exact same reply every time:

"We're still out of town. Leo isn't with me. Call the officer handling the case and tell him where you are."

No matter what crazy fit she threw, I stuck to that single response.

That first evening, I went back through my camera alerts.

In a clip from that afternoon, Martha walked past my door with a bag over her shoulder and Leo by the hand. I sent that clip to the officer, too.

The next update I got was that police hadn't been able to reach Whitney or track down Martha. My camera showed them leaving, but it didn't show where they went.

Whitney, I warned you over and over. You chose to plug your ears.

A month flew by in the blink of an eye, and our vacation came to an end.

My family of four arrived back at our apartment building.

The moment the elevator doors opened on our floor, a hand whipped across the air.

Whitney had slapped me. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair was a mess.

"You bastard, Sean! Where did you hide Leo?!"

My cheek went completely numb, throbbing with a fiery sting.

I tasted copper at the corner of my lip and glared at Whitney, my eyes cold as ice.

Whitney threw herself onto the floor, pointing at me and wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Everyone, come look! This family hid my son and won't give him back, and now he's trying to dodge child support!"

"I'm a single mother. I went away to earn a living and came home to find my boy gone!"

The gathered neighbors and building management immediately looked at us with suspicion and condemnation.

A few busybody middle-aged women started whispering and pointing.

"This family usually looks so decent. How could they do something so vile?"

"I heard Sean hasn't been able to have kids. He probably got desperate, saw how cute her kid was, and took him!"

"The father refuses to step up and won't even pay child support. How utterly shameless!"

My mother trembled with fury, pointing right back at Whitney.

"Stop spitting poison! Our entire family has been on an island cruise for a whole month! We just got off the plane—none of us has seen your son!"

Whitney scrambled up from the floor and shrieked in my face.

"You're still lying to my face?!"

She whipped out her phone and held it high above her head.

"Look, everyone! Here's the proof! Sean is Leo's father, and he's trying to wiggle out of it!"

It was a video from the smart doorbell camera installed on her own door.

The screen showed Leo crying in front of my door on the morning she left.

Then, Leo seemed to hear something. He stopped crying, got up, and walked toward the camera's blind spot.

That blind spot happened to be right in front of my door.

Because of the camera angle, Martha's doorway was completely cut off.

Seeing everyone watch the video, Whitney held her chin high.

"See that?! My son walked straight toward his door! He must have used treats to lure my boy inside!"

"I texted him every single day this past month, and he kept spinning lies about being out of town."

"He was just stalling for time so he could smuggle my son away!"

Her twisted logic actually swayed several clueless neighbors, who nodded along in agreement.

"She's right, the boy clearly walked toward his apartment! What is there to deny?"

"This family is terrifying. Hiding a child for a whole month and keeping him from his own mother!"

"How are the rest of us supposed to feel safe with people like that in our building?"