Chapter 2 - THE TABLET
At 6:43 the next morning, Alejandro Rivers was sitting beside Sophie’s hospital bed when his mother called.
“Where are you?”
Her voice sounded strange.
Not frightened.
Controlled.
That frightened him more.
“At Children’s Medical. Sophie has pneumonia.”
Silence.
Then:
“I’m coming.”
“Mom—”
She had already hung up.
Teresa Rivers was sixty-three years old, five feet three inches tall, and possessed the terrifying calm of a woman who had spent thirty-five years raising children while working night shifts as a hospital records clerk.
She had survived her husband’s death.
She had survived losing Marissa.
And after Marissa died, Teresa had made Alejandro promise one thing.
Never let Sophie feel unwanted.
Forty minutes later, she entered the hospital room carrying Sophie’s pink backpack.
The moment Sophie saw her, she started crying.
“Grandma.”
Teresa crossed the room and wrapped both arms around her.
“My baby.”
Alejandro looked away.
He couldn’t watch.
Too much guilt had accumulated inside him.
Valerie had not come to the hospital.
She had texted twice.
I think you’re overreacting.
Then:
Call me when everyone calms down.
Alejandro had not responded.
Teresa sat beside Sophie.
“Your daddy told me you’ve been feeling bad.”
Sophie nodded.
“Did Valerie give you your medicine?”
Another nod.
“Did she give you anything else?”
Sophie’s eyes moved toward Alejandro.
He crouched beside her.
“You are not in trouble.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“She gave me milk.”
“We know.”
“And sometimes tea.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.”
Teresa’s expression changed.
“What did it taste like?”
Sophie thought.
“Bitter.”
Alejandro felt sick.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sophie looked ashamed.
“She said you were tired.”
His heart cracked.
“She said if I kept complaining, you might send me somewhere else because grown-ups don’t like sick children.”
Alejandro closed his eyes.
Teresa did not.
“Did she ever tell you not to tell your father?”
Sophie nodded.
Then whispered:
“She said Daddy finally had a wife and I shouldn't ruin it.”
Alejandro stood abruptly and walked toward the window.
He wanted to break something.
Instead, Teresa remained focused.
“What about the pin?”
Sophie froze.
Alejandro turned.
“What pin?”
Teresa looked at him.
“You said you found one in her pillow.”
Sophie pulled the blanket tighter.
“Sweetheart?”
Alejandro asked.
“There were more.”
The room went still.
“Where?”
“Sometimes in my blanket.”
Alejandro stared.
“I thought they got there because Grandma sews.”
Teresa’s face drained.
“I haven't sewn in that house for months.”
Sophie began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Teresa took her hands.
“Never apologize for telling the truth.”
Then Sophie said something unexpected.
“My tablet knows.”
Alejandro frowned.
“What?”
“My tablet.”
She pointed toward the backpack.
“I recorded Valerie.”
Teresa and Alejandro looked at each other.
The tablet had belonged to Marissa.
After her mother died, Sophie used it for games, drawing, and recording little videos.
Teresa removed it from the backpack.
The battery was almost dead.
“Password?”
“Mommy’s birthday.”
Alejandro entered it.
The screen opened.
There were hundreds of photographs.
Sophie with Marissa.
Sophie at kindergarten.
Sophie holding a birthday cake.
Then folders.
Games.
Drawings.
Voice recordings.
Teresa opened the most recent folder.
Seventeen files.
All created within the previous five weeks.
The first was forty-three seconds long.
Alejandro pressed play.
At first, only rustling.
Then Valerie’s voice.
“You’re going to drink it.”
Sophie:
“It tastes bad.”
“It doesn't matter.”
“I want Daddy.”
“Daddy is working because adults have responsibilities.”
“I don't want it.”
A sharp sound.
Then Sophie cried.
Valerie’s voice became colder.
“If you spit it out again, I will make another glass.”
The recording ended.
Alejandro stopped breathing.
Teresa opened another.
Valerie:
“You really think he loves you more than me?”
Sophie’s tiny voice:
“He’s my dad.”
“No. He is your uncle.”
Silence.
Then:
“And someday he is going to have his own children.”
Sophie began crying.
Valerie continued.
“What do you think happens to you then?”
Alejandro turned away.
“Stop.”
Teresa looked at him.
“There are fifteen more.”
“I said stop.”
“No.”
His mother’s voice hardened.
“You brought this woman into Sophie’s home.”
The words hit.
“You need to hear what happened when you weren’t there.”
Alejandro looked at Sophie.
She was asleep now, exhausted from medication.
He sat down.
“Play them.”
They listened.
Not all seventeen.
After seven, Alejandro couldn’t.
The recordings documented threats.
Insults.
Valerie repeatedly telling Sophie she was a burden.
Valerie ordering her to pretend she had taken medicine.
Valerie telling her never to mention the bitter drinks.
Then came file eleven.
Valerie was on the phone.
Her voice sounded different.
Relaxed.
“Not yet.”
Unknown voice.
Too faint.
Valerie again:
“He’s completely distracted with the company.”
Pause.
“Yes, the girl keeps getting sick.”
Another pause.
Then Valerie laughed.
“No. Alejandro thinks she just has a weak immune system.”
Teresa stopped the recording.
Neither spoke.
Then she said:
“We need the house.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“The police need the house.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“The police need evidence.”
Teresa picked up her purse.
May you like
“And before Valerie realizes Sophie recorded her, we need to find out exactly what she was giving my granddaughter.”
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