Chapter 2 – The Trap Was Never the Fall
By the time the caretaker looked back at the bottom of the staircase, the frightened young woman was gone.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
The tears had disappeared from her face.
Olivia Hayes still cradled her eight-month pregnant belly, but her breathing had become slow and controlled.
She ended the phone call.
Then carefully slipped the phone back into the hidden pocket sewn inside her maternity dress.
Across the landing, Vanessa Monroe continued sobbing into the caretaker's shoulder.
"I didn't mean to push her!"
"She attacked me!"
"She tried to make me lose my baby!"
The caretaker, Martha, gently rubbed Vanessa's back.
"There, there. Everything will be sorted out."
Olivia quietly looked up.
"No."
Her voice echoed through the foyer.
"It already has."
Every head turned toward her.
Vanessa frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Olivia slowly reached into her handbag.
She removed a small black case.
Inside sat a tiny wireless microphone.
Martha stared.
"What is that?"
"The reason Detective Gabriel Ruiz has been listening to this house for the past three weeks."
Silence crashed over the room.
Vanessa's face drained of color.
"What?"
Olivia smiled sadly.
"My doctor documented four 'accidents' during this pregnancy."
"The loose brake line."
"The sleeping pills hidden in my vitamins."
"The gas leak."
"And the oil spilled on the nursery floor."
She paused.
"Detective Ruiz believed they weren't accidents."
"So did I."
Vanessa shook her head furiously.
"You're lying."
Olivia pressed one button on the recorder.
Vanessa's own voice filled the foyer.
"One more fall and she'll lose the baby."
Another recording.
"Make it look accidental."
Another.
"When she's gone, Ethan and the inheritance are finally mine."
The caretaker slowly released Vanessa's arms.
May you like
For the first time...
She stepped away from her.
