Chapter 2 - Six Seconds Underwater
Danielle never remembered deciding to jump into the pool.
One moment she was running.
The next, cold water swallowed her.
“Mia!”
Her daughter’s eyes were wide with panic.
The yellow vest had partially collapsed around her chest. Mia’s tiny hands slapped at the water while her legs kicked uselessly below the surface.
Danielle reached her.
“I’ve got you. Mommy’s got you.”
Mia grabbed her neck.
“Mommy!”
Danielle lifted her above the water and kicked toward the steps.
Behind them, Evelyn finally moved.
She rushed to the edge.
“Give her to me!”
Danielle ignored her.
Cooper paced along the pool, barking.
“Call 911!” Danielle shouted.
Evelyn froze.
“Danielle, she’s breathing.”
“CALL 911!”
Something in Danielle’s voice changed Evelyn’s mind.
She reached for her phone.
Mia coughed against Danielle’s shoulder.
“I don’t like swimming.”
“I know, baby.”
“It went soft.”
“What?”
“My yellow thing.”
Danielle looked at the vest.
The front panel had lost most of its firmness.
Her heart stopped for half a beat.
She carried Mia onto the deck.
Cooper rushed forward, whining.
“It’s okay,” Danielle told him.
It wasn’t.
Evelyn approached.
“I don’t understand. It was fine when I put it on her.”
Danielle looked up.
Water streamed from her hair.
“You put this on her?”
“Of course I did.”
“And you checked it?”
Evelyn blinked.
“Yes.”
Cooper growled.
Evelyn looked at him.
“What is his problem?”
Danielle didn’t answer.
She was staring at the vest.
A terrible thought had entered her mind, but it felt too ugly to say aloud.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Evelyn knelt beside Mia.
“Oh, sweetheart, Grandma is so sorry.”
Mia leaned away.
The movement was tiny.
Danielle noticed.
So did Evelyn.
“Mia?” Evelyn said.
The child buried her face against Danielle.
Evelyn’s mouth tightened.
Only for a second.
Then she stood.
Paramedics arrived eight minutes later.
Mia was alert, crying, oxygen level normal, but the crew recommended evaluation because she had swallowed water.
At Northern Westchester Hospital, Danielle sat beside Mia while a pediatrician listened to her lungs.
“You did the right thing bringing her in,” the doctor said.
“Is she okay?”
“So far, yes.”
“So far?”
“We’ll watch her for a few hours. Most kids in her situation do perfectly well.”
Mia was given apple juice and a stuffed turtle by a nurse.
Cooper had remained at the mansion because hospital rules didn’t allow him inside.
Evelyn sat across the room.
Her expression was devastated.
Too devastated, Danielle thought.
Or maybe Danielle was becoming paranoid.
The hospital door opened.
Lucas Carter stepped inside.
He had driven from Manhattan in less than an hour.
Danielle’s husband was thirty-four, tall, dark-haired, and usually calm in a way that irritated her during arguments.
Today he looked terrified.
“Mia.”
He crossed the room.
Mia reached for him.
“Daddy.”
Lucas hugged her carefully.
“What happened?”
Danielle looked toward Evelyn.
Evelyn answered first.
“The vest failed.”
Lucas frowned.
“What do you mean failed?”
“It lost air. I don’t know how.”
Danielle said nothing.
Lucas looked at her.
“Dani?”
She hated when he called her that while she was angry.
“Your mother put the vest on her.”
Evelyn’s head snapped toward Danielle.
“I already told you that.”
“And Cooper came upstairs like the house was on fire.”
Lucas looked between them.
“What?”
“He woke me up. He pulled my blanket off.”
“So?”
“So he’s never done that.”
“Danielle—”
“And when I got outside, Mia was going under.”
Evelyn stood.
“Are you suggesting something?”
“I’m describing what happened.”
“You’re looking at me like I did something.”
Lucas exhaled.
“Mom.”
“No. If she has something to say, she can say it.”
Danielle met Evelyn’s eyes.
She wanted to say it.
She wanted to say, You hurt my daughter.
But accusation without proof could destroy everything before she understood what had happened.
Instead she asked, “Where is the vest?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“By the pool.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The door opened again.
A nurse entered.
“Mrs. Carter?”
Danielle turned.
“There’s a police officer outside. The paramedics made a routine report because a child was involved.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
Again, only for a second.
Danielle caught it.
Fear.
Not concern.
Fear.
Danielle looked back at her mother-in-law.
“The vest stays exactly where it is.”
Evelyn said nothing.
May you like
And Danielle knew, with sudden absolute certainty, that when they returned home, it would not be there.
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