Chapter 4 - The Dead Tablet’s Secrets
The hospital was a blur of sterile white walls and the constant, agonizing beep of heart monitors. Lily was admitted to the pediatric ICU to flush the toxins from her system, while Mason was kept in a regular room for observation and dehydration.
I sat in the chair between their beds, refusing to leave their sight. Officer Vance had contacted the Florida State Police, who were currently tracking down Brian and Marissa at their luxury resort in Orlando. Child Protective Services had already been notified, and a caseworker named Sarah Vance (no relation to the officer) was on her way.
By 6:00 a.m., Mason had managed to sleep for a few hours. When he woke up, he looked at the dead iPad I had brought from the house, which was now plugged into a wall charger next to his bed.
"It's turning on," Mason whispered, pointing a thin finger at the glowing Apple logo.
"Mason, why did you have the tablet in the closet?" I asked gently, leaning forward.
"Because I knew they were going to do something bad," he said, his eyes widening with an old, heavy sadness that no ten-year-old should ever possess. "Daddy forgets that I know how to use the camera. I hid it under my shirt when he pushed me in there."
The screen flickered to life, demanding a passcode. Mason typed it in quickly. He opened the voice memos and video app.
"Look at the one from last Tuesday," he said.
I took the tablet. The video file was dated three days before they left for Florida. The camera angle was low, hidden behind a stack of books on the living room shelf. On the screen, Brian and Marissa were packing suitcases. Chloe, their three-year-old, was giggling in a playpen in the corner.
"We just leave her the bottle," Marissa’s voice came through the speaker, clear and chillingly detached. “Two tablespoons will keep her down for at least forty-eight hours. By the time my dad checks on the house on Sunday, we’ll say she must have gotten into the medicine cabinet herself.”
“And what about Mason?” Brian asked, his face appearing on screen as he zipped a bag.
“Lock him in the hall closet. He’s too smart. If we leave him out, he’ll call his grandfather or the police. If he’s locked up, he can’t do anything. We’ll tell the police he was playing hide-and-seek and got trapped if things go wrong.”
Brian paused in the video, looking slightly uneasy. “Marissa, my dad’s going to notice. The trust fund... if he finds out we’re abandoning Lily, he’ll cut us off.”
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“He won’t find out until the paperwork is processed,” Marissa snapped. “Once the rehoming agency takes her, she’s legally not our problem. And your dad’s money is legally tied to the kids. If we keep Mason and get rid of Lily, we still get half the trust. Now shut up and help me load the car.”
My blood turned to pure ice. The trust fund. My late wife Evelyn’s protected trust.
