She did not answer immediately, nor did she turn to face me as I stepped cautiously into the room. That was when I noticed the window positioned above the dresser, standing wide open against the cold night air drifting inward. We never opened that window under any circumstances, especially during winter evenings when temperatures dropped sharply.
A deeper chill spread through me as another unsettling detail registered within the dim light filtering from the hallway. The baby monitor camera, normally angled directly toward Benjamin’s crib for constant observation, had been turned deliberately toward the blank wall. My pulse thundered violently inside my ears, drowning rational thought beneath instinctive fear.
“Amelia, sweetheart, please tell Mommy why you are here right now,” I asked again, struggling to steady my shaking voice.
Finally, she spoke, her words soft yet devastating in implication.
“The man said I must stay quiet because he would take Benjamin if I told,” she whispered.