The search bar was still open.
“How to tell if someone installed hidden cameras in your house.”
My stomach dropped so hard I actually grabbed the edge of the table.
Under that were more searches.
“Can wireless cameras work without blinking lights.”
“Can somebody watch your phone remotely.”
“How to know if a tracker is hidden under your car.”
I heard the shower running upstairs and just sat there staring at the screen feeling sick for completely different reasons than I had the night before.
Then I noticed the oldest search open in another tab.
It was from almost eight months earlier.
The same week my wife suddenly started checking locks every night.
The same week our neighbor Kevin offered to help fix the basement flooding after a storm.
I started thinking about all the weird little things I’d ignored since then. Kevin suddenly showing up whenever I was working late. Him knowing details about conversations we swore happened privately. My wife refusing to go into the basement alone anymore.
Then I remembered something else.
Three months ago I found one of those tiny USB wall chargers plugged into the basement outlet near the workbench. I figured it belonged to my son.
It disappeared the next day.
The shower upstairs shut off.
I closed the laptop right before my wife walked back into the dining room. The second she saw my face, she froze.
I asked her one question.
“Why are you afraid of the basement?”
She started crying immediately.
Not hesitant crying either. Relief crying.
Like she was exhausted from carrying it alone.
Then she told me she found a hidden camera behind the storage shelves almost a year ago after Kevin spent a weekend “helping” down there.
She said she panicked and destroyed it before showing me because she thought I’d confront him and make things worse before we had proof.
I actually felt nauseous hearing it.
Because Kevin had been in our house for years.
Cookouts. Football Sundays. Spare garage key.
My wife finally looked at me and whispered, “I didn’t know how to tell you somebody your family trusted might be watching us.”