Chapter 3
The BOTTLE video was worse because it was quieter.
Gloria stood at the kitchen counter while nobody else was present.
Vivienne’s prepared bottle sat beside her.
My mother-in-law emptied it.
Prepared another.
Then moved the original bottle into a different refrigerator compartment.
No poison.
No dangerous substance.
Nothing dramatic.
That almost made it more disturbing.
She was manufacturing confusion.
Vivienne whispered:
“I spent twenty minutes looking for that.”
Gloria looked away.
“You were tired.”
“You moved it.”
“You needed to see how tired you were.”
I stared at her.
There it was.
Cruelty converted into diagnosis.
Create the problem.
Then use the victim’s reaction as proof.
Vivienne sat down with Noah against her chest.
Camille stayed beside her.
I continued through Gloria’s messages.
Most were deleted.
One thread remained.
E.
The same contact from the live call.
I opened it.
E: SHE STILL TRUSTS HIM MORE THAN YOU.
Gloria: AFTER THE BABY, SHE DOESN’T THINK CLEARLY.
E: THEN MAKE DANTE SEE IT.
Gloria: I AM.
My hands went cold.
Further down:
E: ONCE HE BELIEVES VIVIENNE IS UNSAFE, SHE COMES HOME.
Vivienne read over my shoulder.
“Home?”
Gloria finally looked up.
“You belong with your family.”
Vivienne laughed.
It sounded broken.
“I am with my family.”
Gloria’s expression hardened.
“With Bellaro?”
There it was.
Not motherhood.
Not concern.
Territory.
My wife had married out of the Mercer family.
Apparently Gloria had never accepted the transfer of loyalty.
I looked at her.
“Who is E?”
No answer.
Vivienne knew.
I saw it.
“Vivienne?”
She whispered:
“Uncle Elias.”
Elias Mercer.
Gloria’s younger brother.
A man who had spent twenty years pretending retirement while still influencing half the old Mercer captains.
I knew him.
Polite.
Soft-spoken.
Always asking about Noah.
I suddenly understood why.
May you like
He was not checking on a newborn.
He was checking on leverage.
