Chapter 21 - The CameraDavid was sitting in his truck outside a grocery store when his phone suddenly vibrated.
SECURITY ALERT — MOTION DETECTED.
He frowned.
The new security system had been installed months ago, and most alerts were harmless.
A delivery driver.
A stray cat.
A neighbor walking past the house.
But something made him open the camera app immediately.
The screen loaded.
His living room appeared.
David relaxed.
Leah was there.
She was standing beside the couch, holding Maya against her chest.
His daughter was wearing a tiny pink blanket.
David smiled.
Then another figure entered the frame.
His smile disappeared.
His mother.
She was standing behind Leah.
And in her hands was a baseball bat.
David stopped breathing.
“No…”
On the screen, Leah turned.
She saw the woman behind her.
Her face went completely white.
David watched helplessly as Leah stepped backward.
His mother raised the bat.
“Leah!”
David shouted at the phone as if she could hear him.
The bat came down.
Leah twisted her body, protecting Maya.
The bat struck her shoulder.
She screamed.
Maya began crying.
David's hands started shaking.
His mother raised the bat again.
This time, David didn't think.
He threw the phone onto the passenger seat and started the engine.
He called 911.
“My wife is inside my house. My mother has a baseball bat. She's attacking my wife while she's holding our baby!”
The dispatcher asked for the address.
David shouted it.
Then he looked at the camera again.
Leah was crawling toward the nursery.
His mother was following.
The bat rose again.
David slammed his foot onto the accelerator.
“Hold on, Leah.”
May you like
His voice broke.
“I'm coming.”
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