PROLOGUE
“Dani. Her name was Dani.”
“And why did you hire her, uh... to look after your son while you took a little trip to Rome, is that right?”
“It was for a very important job, okay? I had signed a contract—and the biggest one of my entire career—for a house there. It was on a hill, the view was breathtaking. There was no getting away from it.”
“Architect, right?”
“Indeed, yes.”
“And your husband, he—”
“I’m not married.”
“Oh. My apologies. So, your son’s father, uh... what’s his name again?”
“Otis.”
“Right, Otis. You couldn’t leave him with his father?”
“Not really, no.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s dead. A long time ago.”
“Ah... My... condolences. And... family, on your side?”
“No.”
“Okay, I see... So, lemme go back to basics, okay? So you thought it was a good idea to leave your six-year-old son with a complete stranger you met on a website, is that right?”
“Wait, why do you seem to be accusing me? We are the victims in this story.”
“We’re not accusing you of anything at all, ma’am; we’re just trying to understand how a loving mother—as you seem to be—could have judged... what’s the term again? Oh yes, accommodating to leave her little boy in the hands of some random girl she met on Internet...”
“Dani wasn’t a ‘random’ girl as you say.”
“Okay, so you’d say that you already knew her when you met her online?”
“Your question makes neither head nor tail, Detective, I hope you realize that?”
“What I realize above all is that nothing in this whole story seems to make any sense to me, if you need my opinion...”
“So, may I know what the hell am I doing here?”
“I don’t know... Do you think you have nothing to reproach yourself for that would justify the fact that you are sitting on that chair?”
“What do you expect me to tell you, that I regret what I did? Because you’ve got to be dreaming, dear detectives...”
“So you don’t question yourself? For a single second?”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know, ask your son who is probably traumatized for life...”
“Now, Detective, I advise you not going into that field, okay? Everything I’ve ever done in my life has always been in the interest of my son and that will never change.”
“When I see what happened, and what initially led to it, I personally find it a little hard to believe you...”
“The website was reliable, OK? Many students’ moms had recommended it to me, plus the company is very well known. They do background checks on all their employees before hiring them, whether they are up to date on their vaccinations, whether they have a stable living situation, a bank account, social security, family, friends... The whole lot. I assure you, it’s safer than a daycare.”
“I guess we have no choice but to trust you... But you could have chosen a male babysitter, no?”
“The only one that was apparently still available boasted in his file that he was addicted to video games and, not only was this reason enough for me personally not to choose him, but Otis never been a big fan of that, either.”
“Why you—”
“And plus, it’s a bit weird too, a male babysitter!”
“Okay, we’ll believe you, but let’s not get sidetracked, okay? Why didn’t you want such a profile?”
“Because I once knew a man like that, who always remained glued to his console without counting the days that passed, nor seeing a woman anywhere other than on not very recommendable sites on Internet, and if I always did everything, it was with the aim that Otis never had to be like him. Never.”
“What’s the connection? Were they... related, or something?”
“Uh... yes, he’s his father.”
“He ‘is’? I thought he was dead?”
“To Otis, he is—and as long as I’m alive, I’ll make sure he stays that way. But to tell the truth, he’s serving a twenty-year prison sentence.”
“For what ?”
“Rape. Because, you know, gentlemen, the first thing that bastard thought of doing when he went out for some fresh air for once in his fucking life, was to chase a poor jogger in the park, her ears immersed in music, and... rape her.”
“I think I heard about that case before, when I first started my service about seven years ago... Apparently he had not only beaten and tortured her, but the jogger had also gotten pregnant, or so it was said...”
“Yeah... It is the night Otis was conceived.”
Full of grief, full of sadness.
She would never have suspected that a simple protective act aimed at sparing her son would invite her entire past to the table to make her relive the circumstances of his conception—and the most painful time of her entire life.
A past full of barely healed wounds, a past that she thought she had already managed to escape.
But, fortunately for her, the two police detectives in suits and ties facing her seemed to have understood the extent of her grief and were quite willing to close this chapter and move on. That wasn’t even what interested them in all this, in fact.
“There are apparently cameras all over your house?”
“You could say so, yes. At first, there were only some in the kitchen and Otis’ room. But after, uh... the first incident, I ordered others to pepper all over the house, but I have never been delivered until now.”
“Lots of burglaries in your neighborhood?”
“No, our street has always been quiet—one of our neighbors is a cop.”
“So why so many security measures?”
“For Otis. He’s a sleepwalker, my angel baby. And besides... I wanted to stay informed of everything that was going on. To be warned if she ever did it again. If Dani ever did it again.”
“But she destroyed them all before her... loss, right?”
“Yes, when she discovered them, I suppose. But, as I told the other agents, I hadn’t made any image backups to a hard drive, my phone or anywhere; I was watching everything in real time.”
“So tell us everything! From A to Z. What happened in your house, Mrs. Riley ?”
