Chapter 1 - The Camera Above SerenaMarissa heard her daughter before she saw her.
The scream cut through the noise of the crowded shopping mall—through music spilling from clothing stores, conversation from the food court, and the mechanical hum of the escalators.
Then came crying.
Not ordinary crying.
Hazel crying.
“Hazel!”
Marissa spun around.
Her shopping bag fell from her hand.
At the bottom of the downward-moving escalator, seven-year-old Hazel was curled against the metal landing plate, sobbing hard enough to shake.
People stepped backward in alarm.
Marissa ran.
She dropped to her knees and pulled Hazel against her chest.
“Baby, look at me. Look at Mommy.”
Hazel wrapped both arms around her neck.
“It hurts.”
“Where?”
“My arm. My knee.”
Marissa checked her quickly.
No obvious severe injury.
No blood.
But Hazel was terrified.
Her entire body trembled.
“I’ve got you.”
Marissa looked upward.
Serena stood on the second floor.
Hazel’s stepmother.
Evan’s wife.
Perfect dress.
High heels.
Both hands suddenly covering her mouth.
Her eyes widened theatrically.
“Oh my God!” Serena shouted down. “Hazel!”
But she did not move.
She did not run down the escalator.
She did not take the stairs.
She simply stood there.
Watching.
Something about that made Marissa cold.
People around them were asking whether someone should call security.
A woman crouched nearby.
“I saw the little girl falling. Is she okay?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Marissa held Hazel tighter.
Then she looked up again.
Serena had begun moving toward the escalator.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
Their eyes met.
Marissa had known Serena for three years.
She knew the polished voice Serena used at school functions.
The soft laugh.
The carefully practiced concern.
She also knew Serena had spent the last year trying to convince Evan that Marissa was overprotective, emotional, and difficult.
Marissa had always thought it was petty rivalry.
Until now.
Serena reached the lower level.
“What happened?” she cried.
Marissa stared at her.
“What happened?”
“She must have slipped.”
Hazel stiffened against Marissa’s body.
Marissa felt it.
Serena reached toward Hazel.
Hazel buried her face against her mother’s shoulder.
That reaction was small.
But Marissa noticed.
Serena stopped.
“I was right behind her,” Serena said. “She just lost her balance.”
Marissa’s eyes narrowed.
“You were behind her?”
“Yes.”
Hazel sobbed harder.
Marissa looked at her daughter.
“Hazel?”
Serena spoke quickly.
“Don’t pressure her right now. She’s frightened.”
Marissa’s head lifted.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
A security officer approached.
“Ma’am, we’ve called EMS.”
“Thank you.”
Serena crossed her arms.
“That’s unnecessary. She’s clearly okay.”
Marissa looked at her.
Hazel was shaking.
“Clearly?”
“I mean she’s conscious.”
The security officer glanced between the women.
Marissa looked back toward the top of the escalator.
That was when she saw it.
Mounted above the second-floor entrance.
A black security camera.
Pointed directly toward the escalator.
Marissa’s breathing slowed.
Serena followed her gaze.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then the expression in Serena’s eyes changed.
Her hands were still near her mouth.
Her face still performed horror.
But her eyes froze.
Marissa saw it.
And Serena knew she had seen it.
Neither woman spoke.
Marissa turned toward the security officer.
“What’s your name?”
“David Morales.”
“Mr. Morales, I need you to preserve the footage from that camera.”
Serena laughed nervously.
“Marissa, seriously?”
Marissa did not look at her.
“Please make sure nobody overwrites it.”
Morales straightened.
“Do you believe something happened?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
Marissa finally turned toward Serena.
“I don’t know yet.”
Serena’s face tightened.
“Hazel fell.”
“Then the video will show that.”
A beat.
Serena smiled.
It was small.
Controlled.
“Of course.”
But her eyes did not smile.
Paramedics arrived.
They examined Hazel and recommended that she be taken to a nearby emergency department for imaging because of the fall.
Marissa agreed.
Serena immediately took out her phone.
“I’ll call Evan.”
Marissa stood carefully while holding Hazel.
“No.”
Serena blinked.
“He’s her father.”
“I’ll call him.”
“Marissa—”
“I said I’ll call him.”
For once, Serena obeyed.
As Marissa carried Hazel toward the mall exit, her daughter whispered into her shoulder.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Hazel’s voice was barely audible.
“I didn’t fall.”
Marissa stopped walking.
Every muscle in her body went still.
Hazel’s fingers tightened around her coat.
Marissa lowered her voice.
“What happened?”
Hazel began crying again.
“She pushed me.”
Marissa closed her eyes.
Only for a second.
When she opened them, Serena was standing twenty feet away.
Watching.
Marissa looked upward once more.
At the camera.
May you like
Then back at Serena.
For the first time, Serena looked afraid.
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