Chapter 3 - THE LOCKED ACCOUNT
Emily had never used her access code to disable the cameras.
Only four people possessed executive permissions for the mansion’s security system: Daniel, Richard, Emily, and the chief of security.
The chief, Martin Vale, had worked for the Blackwoods for nineteen years.
Emily found him in the basement control room.
Rows of monitors displayed the grounds, hallways, service entrances, and exterior gates. Several interior feeds showed black screens.
Martin stood when she entered.
“Mrs. Blackwood.”
“I need the security records from the last month.”
His shoulders stiffened.
“I’m afraid I can’t provide them.”
“Why?”
“Mr. Blackwood restricted access.”
“Which Mr. Blackwood?”
Martin hesitated.
“That is exactly what everyone keeps saying,” Emily replied. “There are two men in this family with that name. Which one gave the order?”
“Mr. Richard Blackwood.”
“My name is on the property deed. Daniel and I own this house jointly. You work for us.”
Martin looked toward the closed door.
“Not anymore.”
The words were barely audible.
Emily stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
He opened a locked drawer and removed a printed notice.
The document stated that temporary administrative control of the estate had transferred to Blackwood Asset Preservation Limited.
Emily had never heard of the company.
The transfer had taken effect twenty days earlier.
It carried Daniel’s electronic authorization.
“This is impossible,” she said.
Martin said nothing.
“What is Blackwood Asset Preservation?”
“A private holding company.”
“Owned by whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to understand that I have a family, Mrs. Blackwood.”
Emily saw genuine fear in his face.
“Are they threatening you?”
Martin turned off one of the monitors.
“You should leave the mansion before the banquet.”
“Why?”
“Because after tomorrow night, leaving may become more difficult.”
Emily’s pulse quickened.
“What happens tomorrow night?”
Footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Martin shoved the document back into the drawer.
Richard’s personal assistant entered without knocking.
“Mrs. Blackwood,” the assistant said. “Mr. Richard is looking for you.”
Emily glanced at Martin, but his expression had closed.
When she returned upstairs, Ashley was waiting beside the entrance hall.
She wore Emily’s emerald earrings.
Again.
“I asked where you got those,” Emily said.
Ashley touched one jewel.
“They were a gift.”
“From Daniel?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
Ashley smiled slowly.
“Then ask him.”
“I have tried.”
“Perhaps he doesn’t want to answer.”
Emily took out her phone.
“I want you out of this house.”
Ashley’s smile vanished.
“You don’t have the authority.”
“I am Daniel’s wife.”
“And what are you without him?”
Emily looked at the event workers passing through the hall.
“Ashley, leave.”
Ashley stepped closer.
“Call the police if you like. Tell them your husband’s oldest friend is staying in a house controlled by his family’s company. Then explain why your own security code was used to erase footage from your bedroom.”
Emily’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“How do you know about that?”
Ashley’s eyes flashed with satisfaction.
“You are always the last person to understand what is happening around you.”
She walked away.
That afternoon, Emily drove to her father’s repair shop.
The familiar smell of metal, dust, and machine oil brought back a sense of safety she had not felt in days.
Her father, Thomas Carter, looked up from his workbench.
“You look exhausted.”
Emily tried to smile.
“I haven’t been sleeping.”
Thomas studied her carefully.
“What did they do?”
She sat across from him and told him everything: the banquet, the earrings, the note, the security records, and the property transfer.
Thomas listened without interruption.
When she finished, he removed his glasses.
“Do you believe Daniel is betraying you?”
“I don’t know.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Emily looked down.
“I believe he is hiding something.”
Thomas opened a drawer beneath the workbench and took out an old brass key.
“Your mother gave me this before she died.”
Emily frowned.
Her mother had died when she was twelve.
“What does it open?”
“I never knew.”
Thomas placed the key in her palm.
“She told me to give it to you only if the Blackwoods ever tried to take away your name, your home, or your freedom.”
Emily stared at him.
“My mother never knew the Blackwoods.”
Thomas looked toward the shop window.
“That is what I allowed you to believe.”
Before Emily could speak, a black car stopped across the street.
A man stepped out.
He wore a dark suit and watched the repair shop without attempting to conceal himself.
Thomas’s face hardened.
“You need to go.”
“Who is he?”
“Not here.”
“Dad, what did you mean about Mom?”
Thomas closed her fingers around the key.
“Go back to the mansion. Pretend you know nothing.”
“You just told me they might be stealing my home.”
“And now I am telling you the house may contain the only proof your mother left behind.”
The man across the street raised a phone to his ear.
May you like
Thomas lowered his voice.
“Find the room that doesn’t appear on the plans.”
