Letty watched in dismay as Tanya dragged Maya by the arm. “Nooo!” the child yelled, “Ellie, I need Ellie,” then darted away to grab the stuffed elephant. Next they were in Tanya’s building’s dimly lit garage, where the film quality was poorer than usual, but where Maya’s voice echoed loudly. “I don’t wanna go see Daddy. I don’t like Daddy.” But Letty had to chuckle when Tanya’s voice snapped, “I don’t like him either. But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

The nanny cam’s view of the Mercedes’s back seat was limited, but Letty could see Maya’s legs as she struggled against being buckled into her car seat, and she soon heard the rhythmic kicking of Maya’s feet against the back of her mother’s seat.

“Stop that!” Tanya hollered at one point, turning around to ineffectively slap at her daughter’s feet.

“I’m hungry,” Maya whined, after they’d been in the car less than five minutes. The next moment, a plastic baggie of snacks and then a pink plastic sippy cup flew past the camera lens. Goldfish and apple juice, Letty guessed, her niece’s most favored car snacks.

For the next fifteen minutes, the nanny cam recorded traffic sounds, and Maya sounds, as she chomped on the Goldfish and sucked at the plastic straw in her cup.

Finally, the car’s engine idled. Letty had to believe they were parked at the curb in front of Evan’s building. Someone tapped on the car window, and Letty heard it slide it down. “I’m waiting for my little girl’s father. He’s supposed to be right down.”

“Mommy. I need to pee-pee,” Maya whined.

“I know, sweet girl. Can you please hold it? Daddy will be here any minute now.”

Minutes ticked past. Letty could picture her sister fuming, as she heard Tanya cursing her ex under her breath. “Come on, dammit. I don’t have all day to sit here in the cold and wait for you.”

After another few minutes, the nanny cam picked up the sound of Tanya’s voice, obviously calling her ex. “Goddammit, Evan! I’m tired of your games. If you’re not down here in two minutes, we’re leaving. I’ve got a life too, you know.”

Finally, the sound of a car door opening. Evan’s face came into camera view as he stuck his head in the car and began unbuckling Maya’s seat belt. “About damn time,” Tanya griped. “That cop was about to give me a ticket for being in a no-parking zone.”

“I don’t wanna go to Daddy’s house,” Maya wailed.

“Maya, hush,” Tanya said.

Evan started to lift the child from the seat. “Jesus, Tanya. She’s covered in crumbs. And she’s wet her damn pants again. You did this on purpose, you bitch.”