Chapter 8 - The House Camera Went Dark
Dante found Bianca in the bridal suite with her mother and two wedding planners.
The room was filled with white flowers, unopened champagne, and garment bags bearing the names of European designers.
Bianca stood before a mirror while a stylist adjusted the neckline of her rehearsal dress.
Everyone stopped when Dante entered.
“Leave us,” he said.
Bianca’s mother frowned.
“The dinner begins in twenty minutes.”
“It will begin without us.”
The room emptied.
Bianca waited until the door closed.
“What did you mean about the plane manifest?”
Dante placed his phone on the table.
The photograph remained on the screen.
Marco Bell’s crossed-out name appeared beneath Camila’s.
Bianca looked at it for several seconds.
“I’ve never seen that.”
“Someone removed him from the flight.”
“Maybe he canceled.”
“He told me he had never planned to travel with them.”
“Then ask him.”
“He left the estate with two suitcases.”
Bianca’s expression shifted.
“That sounds like guilt.”
“Whose guilt?”
“Marco’s.”
“You trusted him enough to prepare Sophia’s school transfer.”
“I trusted your employee because you trusted him.”
Dante stepped closer.
“Who sent you the messages from Elena?”
“Marco.”
“Who provided the guardianship report?”
“Marco.”
“Who recommended Charles Rook?”
“Marco.”
Bianca lifted her chin.
“You are not going to make me responsible for the actions of a man you employed for fifteen years.”
“No. I’m going to ask why every action benefited you.”
Her voice sharpened.
“I have spent six months holding this family together.”
“You removed Elena.”
“She was unstable.”
“You moved Sophia’s room.”
“She needed supervision.”
“You prepared to send her away without telling me.”
“She needed structure.”
“You asked me to sign authority over her trust.”
“Our attorneys prepared those papers.”
“The attorney Marco selected.”
Bianca turned toward the window.
“You are frightened, and you are looking for someone to blame.”
Dante watched her reflection.
“Were you planning to marry me tomorrow?”
She faced him.
“What kind of question is that?”
“One you should answer.”
“Yes.”
“Were you planning to remain married to me?”
The silence lasted too long.
Dante picked up his phone.
“I asked digital security to restore deleted footage from the house.”
Bianca’s face remained still.
“What footage?”
“The service hallway camera went dark for forty-seven minutes last night.”
“Then there is nothing to restore.”
“The backup system records thermal movement even when the main camera fails.”
A knock sounded at the door.
The head of digital security entered carrying a tablet.
“We recovered partial data,” he said.
Dante held out his hand.
The footage showed Sophia walking through the service hallway with the silver recorder.
She paused outside the old wine cellar.
Marco emerged from the security office, took the recorder from her, and guided her away.
Twenty minutes later, Marco returned alone.
He entered the wine cellar with the recorder.
At 11:42 p.m., he came out and walked toward Dante’s office.
“What is inside the cellar?” Dante asked.
The security director looked uneasy.
“There is an access room behind the wine racks.”
Dante turned toward Bianca.
“You told me Sophia overheard you in my office.”
“She did.”
“The recorder was inside the cellar.”
“I don’t know why.”
“Who was meeting you?”
“No one.”
Dante ordered the security director to open the cellar.
They descended together.
Bianca followed several steps behind.
The wine cellar lights activated automatically.
At the rear wall, Dante found a hidden door standing slightly open.
Beyond it was a narrow operations room containing monitors, communication equipment, and filing cabinets.
One monitor displayed a map.
A red marker moved along a highway north of the city.
Dante recognized Miriam Cole’s vehicle.
“They’re tracking Elena,” he said.
The security director unplugged the system.
Another monitor showed a live image from the Vale lake house.
Bianca stepped toward it.
The front gate was open.
A black vehicle had arrived.
A man in a gray coat entered the house using a key.
Dante enlarged the image.
The man turned toward the camera.
Charles Rook, the attorney who had prepared the wedding documents.
“What is Rook doing at the lake house?” Dante asked.
Bianca said nothing.
Dante opened the nearest filing cabinet.
Inside were reports on Elena, Miriam, Sophia’s teachers, board members, and Dante himself.
One folder contained photographs of Dante leaving a grief counselor’s office.
Another contained copies of medication prescribed after Adrian’s death.
A label on the folder read:
INCAPACITY CASE.
Dante looked at Bianca.
“You were going to have me removed from the board.”
Her eyes filled with something that looked like hurt.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
She stepped closer.
“Vale Holdings is failing.”
“It is not.”
“It will. Your brother built the company around old loyalties and dying properties. The board knows it. Marco knows it. Even Adrian knew it.”
“Adrian discovered someone stealing from the company.”
“He discovered someone trying to save it.”
“With Sophia’s money?”
“With money that would have disappeared under your management.”
Dante’s voice turned cold.
“Where is Sophia?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Marco taking her?”
“I said I don’t know.”
The security director removed a small drive from the main computer.
“There’s an active message queue,” he said. “Someone sent instructions twelve minutes ago.”
“To whom?”
“Charles Rook.”
The message appeared on the screen.
Destroy the original clause before Elena reaches the lake house.
Dante turned toward Bianca.
The bridal suite, the flowers, and the waiting guests suddenly seemed like pieces of a stage built around a lie.
“Call Rook,” he said.
Bianca did not move.
Dante picked up her phone.
It required facial recognition.
He held it toward her.
“Open it.”
She stared at him.
“Open the phone, Bianca.”
Her phone unlocked.
Dante searched the recent messages.
One conversation was saved under the name Florist.
The latest message read:
Marco failed. Rook is handling the lake house.
The previous message was worse.
Once the ceremony is complete, begin the incapacity filing.
Dante looked at the woman he had planned to marry.
“Were you ever going to let me leave the honeymoon?”
Bianca’s confidence vanished.
Before she could answer, every monitor in the hidden room went black.
The security director checked the equipment.
“The system was wiped remotely.”
“Can you trace it?”
“I can try.”
One screen flickered back to life.
A final message appeared.
Dante, if you are reading this, you are already too late.
May you like
Then the live camera at the lake house showed Charles Rook pouring liquid across the floor of Adrian’s records room.
He struck a match.
