Chapter 3: The Girl in the Mirror
Marcus waited until Danielle went downstairs before examining the photograph again.
He carried it into his home office, shut the door, and placed it beneath the desk lamp.
The image was clearer under the bright light.
Jordan stood outside Kiara's bedroom, wearing the same gray hoodie he'd worn the previous evening. His right hand rested against the wall. His head was turned slightly toward the door.
In the mirror behind him, a second figure stood near the staircase.
The person appeared to be holding a phone.
Marcus leaned closer.
The figure wore a dark sweatshirt and what looked like white sneakers.
He couldn't make out a face.
He photographed the picture from several angles, then placed it in a folder with the screenshots from Jordan's phone.
He had no intention of accusing anyone without proof.
But he wasn't going to ignore the possibility that someone in his own house was manufacturing a story about his son.
A knock sounded at the office door.
“Come in.””
Kiara entered, clutching a glass of water.
She stopped when she saw the photograph.
“Where did you get that?””
“Your mother gave it to me.””
Kiara's fingers tightened around the glass.
“Oh.””
Marcus gestured toward the chair across from his desk.
“Sit down, Kiara.””
“I have homework.””
“This will only take a minute.””
She remained standing.
Marcus turned the photograph toward her.
“Do you know who took this?””
“No.””
“Have you seen it before?””
Kiara hesitated.
“Mom showed it to me this morning.””
“Did she tell you who sent it?””
“She said someone was worried about me.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
Marcus studied her.
“Kiara, I want you to understand something. I'm not trying to catch you in a lie. I'm trying to figure out why someone is photographing my son in the hallway and sending threatening messages to his phone.””
Kiara looked at the image.
Then her gaze shifted to the mirror.
“Maybe he was waiting outside my room.””
“Did you see him there?””
“No.””
“Did you hear him?””
“No.””
“Then what makes you think he was waiting for you?””
Her face flushed.
“Because I know what I saw!””
“What did you see?””
Kiara set the glass on the desk.
“He looked at me when I came downstairs yesterday. Then he looked away when I noticed. It happens all the time.””
Marcus nodded slowly.
“Looking at you may make you uncomfortable. If it does, we can establish boundaries. But that's different from saying he was waiting outside your room or threatening you.””
Kiara folded her arms.
“Why are you making this so difficult?””
“Because your mother is demanding that I remove Jordan from the house. That's a serious decision, and I need to understand what happened.””
She looked toward the door.
“I don't want to talk about this anymore.””
Marcus let her leave.
He sat alone for several minutes, staring at the photograph.
Then he heard the front door open.
Danielle's voice floated up from the entryway.
“Marcus? I'm taking Kiara to the mall.””
He checked the time.
It was barely noon.
A moment later, he heard footsteps retreating down the stairs.
Marcus waited until the front door closed before going to the hallway.
He stood where Jordan had supposedly been photographed and looked at the mirror.
From that position, the reflection showed the staircase, the upstairs landing, and part of the bedroom corridor.
Anyone standing near the bottom of the stairs could see someone outside Kiara's room.
But the figure in the photograph had been standing farther back, near the hallway corner.
Marcus walked to that spot.
A small decorative table stood against the wall. On it sat a ceramic bowl filled with spare keys, loose change, and old receipts.
Beneath the table, he noticed a thin black object.
He crouched.
It was a phone charger.
He recognized the white charging cable wrapped around it.
It belonged to Kiara's old phone.
She had replaced the device several months earlier after complaining that its battery barely lasted an hour. Marcus remembered helping her transfer her photographs and school files to the new phone.
She had told him she was going to recycle the old one.
Apparently, she hadn't.
Marcus picked up the charger, then stopped himself.
A charger wasn't evidence of anything.
He returned it to its place and went back to his office.
His next step was to check the household's shared security system.
He had installed cameras at the front door, driveway, and rear entrance after someone had stolen packages from the porch the previous winter. The cameras didn't cover private rooms or bedroom corridors, but the front entrance footage might establish who had entered or left the house the previous evening.
He opened the security app on his computer.
The footage loaded.
At 9:48 p.m., Jordan entered the living room carrying a glass of water.
At 9:51 p.m., he went upstairs.
At 10:06 p.m., Danielle crossed the hallway carrying a laundry basket.
At 10:14 p.m., Kiara came downstairs, looked toward the kitchen, and returned upstairs.
At 10:17 p.m., Jordan appeared on the upper landing.
Marcus leaned toward the screen.
His son paused near the top step, looked toward Kiara's bedroom, and then walked down the stairs.
The camera couldn't show what happened in the hallway beyond the landing.
At 10:21 p.m., Jordan returned downstairs and walked into the kitchen.
At 10:24 p.m., he went back upstairs.
Nothing in the footage proved he had done anything wrong.
Then, at 10:39 p.m., another figure appeared.
Danielle.
She came down the stairs carrying something small in her hand. She looked toward the front door, then toward the kitchen.
At 10:42 p.m., she returned upstairs.
Marcus replayed the clip.
Danielle had been carrying a phone.
He paused the footage and enlarged the image.
The device appeared to have a dark case with a pale stripe along its edge.
He couldn't tell whether it belonged to her.
Still, the timing troubled him.
He had been told Jordan returned to Kiara's bedroom area at 10:42 p.m. Yet the security footage showed Jordan in the kitchen at 10:21, then upstairs again at 10:24.
There was no footage proving he had returned to Kiara's door at 10:42.
Someone had written that time on the photograph.
Someone had wanted him to believe it.
Marcus saved a copy of the footage.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID displayed Jordan's name.
Marcus answered immediately.
“What's wrong?””
“Dad, are you home?””
“Yes. Where are you?””
“Upstairs. I found something.””
Marcus stood.
“What?””
Jordan's voice dropped to a whisper.
“I checked my messages again. Remember the unknown number that threatened me?””
“Yes.””
“I searched it online. It's not registered to anybody I know. But the second number sent me a picture this morning.””
“What picture?””
“It's a screenshot.””
“Of what?””
Jordan went quiet.
“Dad, it's from the family group chat.””
Marcus frowned.
“What family group chat?””
“The one you, Danielle, Kiara, and I are in. The one you made when we all moved in together.””
Marcus remembered it. They used it for grocery lists, household reminders, and messages about dinner.
“What does the screenshot show?””
Jordan swallowed.
“A message from Danielle. It was sent last night, at 10:39.””
Marcus's pulse quickened.
“What did it say?””
Jordan took a shaky breath.
“I'm going to send it to you.””
Marcus's phone vibrated.
He opened the image.
The message was short.
He's outside her room again. If Marcus asks, say you saw him there at 10:42.
Beneath it was a reply.
Not from Kiara.
Not from Jordan.
From a contact saved under a name Marcus had never seen before.
Don't worry. I'll make sure he gets caught.
Marcus stared at the screen.
Then he read the sender's name.
*Danielle Brooks.*
For several seconds, he couldn't move.
He checked the screenshot's timestamp. It showed the message had been sent at 10:39 p.m. the previous night.
The same minute Danielle appeared on the security footage, carrying a phone.
His hands began to shake, but he forced himself to breathe.
A screenshot could be fabricated. A name could be copied. He needed to establish whether the message was genuine before confronting anyone.
“Jordan,” he said, keeping his voice steady, “where did this picture come from?””
“The unknown number sent it. They said I should stop defending myself and start looking at the people who want me gone.””
“Have you told anyone else?””
“No.””
“Good. Don't forward it to anybody. Save the original message, and don't delete anything.””
“Dad, does this mean Danielle is doing this?””
“I don't know yet.””
“But you saw it.””
“Yes. And I'm going to find out what it means.””
Jordan's voice broke.
“What if nobody believes me?””
Marcus closed his eyes briefly.
“I'm looking at the evidence, son. That's what matters.””
He ended the call only after Jordan promised to stay in his room.
Then Marcus printed the screenshot and placed it beside the photograph.
The pieces seemed to fit, but one question remained: who had sent Danielle the message, and why?
Marcus opened the security footage again.
He watched Danielle enter the hallway at 10:39 p.m.
She glanced toward the front door.
Then she looked directly at the camera.
For the first time, Marcus noticed that she was smiling.
Not a nervous smile.
Not a smile meant for someone else.
A small, deliberate smile.
As if she knew she was being watched and didn't care.
His phone vibrated again.
Another message from the unknown number had arrived.
Now you know your wife lied. But you still don't know why.
A second message followed immediately.
Check the old phone in Kiara's room.
Marcus stared at the screen.
The old phone.
The charger beneath the hallway table.
The photograph.
The threats.
He stood, walked to the staircase, and called out.
“Kiara?””
No answer.
He climbed the stairs and knocked on her bedroom door.
“Kiara, I need to speak with you.””
Silence.
He tried the handle.
The door was locked.
“Kiara, open the door.””
From inside came the sound of something hitting the floor.
Then her voice, barely audible.
“Marcus, please don't tell Mom.””
He froze.
“Tell her what?””
The lock clicked.
The door opened a few inches.
Kiara's face appeared in the gap, pale and wet with tears.
In her hand was an old black phone.
And on its screen was a photograph of Jordan standing outside her bedroom.
But this photograph was different.
It had been taken from inside Kiara's room.
And the person holding the camera had been standing directly behind the door.
Kiara looked up at Marcus.
“I didn't mean for any of this to happen,” she whispered.
Then she stepped aside, revealing a second message on the phone's screen.
May you like
One that had been sent from her own number.
If Jordan doesn't leave by Friday, we'll make sure he never comes back.
