Chapter 2 - THE SIX SECONDS OWEN COULDN’T UNSEE
Owen watched the footage once.
Then again.
Then a third time because his mind kept refusing what his eyes had already accepted.
Judith was holding Mia beside the mezzanine railing.
Rachel was downstairs near the sofa.
Judith looked down.
Looked directly at Rachel.
Then deliberately released the baby.
Rachel lunged.
Caught her.
The recording had no ambiguity.
No strange angle.
No missing beginning.
Judith had lied.
Owen stumbled backward from the monitor.
Rachel stood ten feet away with Mia pressed against her chest.
She had stopped crying.
That frightened him more than if she had screamed.
“Rachel…”
“Don’t.”
His hand dropped.
The same hand that had struck her.
“I thought—”
“I know exactly what you thought.”
Judith moved toward them.
“I knew Rachel would catch her.”
Owen slowly turned.
“What?”
“I wasn’t going to let Mia get hurt.”
“You let go of her.”
“Rachel was directly underneath.”
Rachel stared at Judith as though she were hearing something inhuman spoken casually.
“You used my daughter to prove something.”
Judith’s composure cracked.
“I was trying to show Owen what happens when you panic.”
Owen looked at the screen.
The footage showed Rachel saving Mia.
Not panicking.
Saving her.
He called 911.
Judith immediately protested.
“You’re calling the police on your mother?”
Owen looked at Rachel’s reddening cheek.
Then at Mia.
“No.”
His voice broke.
“I’m calling because I should’ve protected my family before I walked through that door.”
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Rachel did not answer.
Because as far as she was concerned, Owen had just become part of the danger too.
