Chapter 7 - The Security Chief’s Debt
Marcus did not deny making the call.
Victor stood with him inside the library while Lily watched Ethan near the fireplace. Two guards waited outside. The medical transport workers had been detained at the gate until the authorities arrived.
“Explain,” Victor said.
Marcus looked at Ethan before answering.
“Not in front of the boy.”
“He has heard enough lies.”
“This isn’t about Serena.”
“Your last call was to her attorney.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“Conrad owns my debt.”
“What debt?”
“My daughter’s treatment.”
Victor stared at him.
Marcus had a daughter named Sophie who lived with her mother in Chicago. Victor knew she had been ill, but Marcus had repeatedly refused financial assistance.
“Conrad paid the hospital?” Victor asked.
“He bought the debt from the private lender. Then he threatened to stop every payment unless I gave him access to the security network.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“You erased footage for Serena.”
“I disabled cameras when she asked. I never knew she planned to take Ethan.”
Lily stepped forward.
“You watched her isolate him.”
“I was told it was a custody investigation.”
“You believed that?”
“No,” Marcus admitted. “I chose not to ask.”
Victor walked toward him.
Marcus did not step back.
“You locked yourself in the control room during the blackout,” Victor said.
“Yes.”
“Who took Lily’s phone?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who opened the west gate for the medical van?”
“I did.”
Victor’s anger remained controlled, but Lily saw the pain beneath it. Marcus had protected the Hale family for years. Betrayal from a stranger would have been easier.
“Your access ends now,” Victor said.
Marcus removed his security badge and placed it on the table.
Before leaving, he looked toward Ethan.
“The interior doors log every movement, even when cameras are disabled.”
Victor paused.
“Where are the logs?”
“Local backup beneath the control room.”
“Can Conrad access them?”
“No.”
“Can Serena?”
Marcus shook his head.
Victor ordered one guard to retrieve the backup.
The other remained beside Marcus.
Lily turned toward the library desk.
“The documents are hidden here.”
She removed the loose panel and reached into the compartment.
It was empty.
The forged transfer order, Serena’s false passport and Celeste’s files were gone.
Lily stared at the hollow space.
“I placed them here less than twenty minutes ago.”
Victor looked around the room.
“Who knew?”
“No one.”
Ethan raised his hand.
“The man in the wall.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“What man?” Victor asked.
Ethan pointed at the fireplace.
“When Lily put the papers there, someone looked through the wall.”
Victor moved to the hidden passage.
The narrow door behind the portrait remained open.
Dust on the floor showed several footprints.
One set belonged to Lily.
One belonged to Ethan.
The third was made by a man’s shoe.
Victor followed the prints into the dark passage. They continued toward the west corridor but disappeared near a metal service ladder.
A scrap of gray fabric had caught on a nail.
It matched Conrad’s suit.
Victor returned to the library.
“Conrad is inside the house.”
Lily looked toward the doors.
“He came through the basement with Serena.”
Marcus lifted his head.
“There is an old tunnel beneath the south garden. It connects to the road outside the estate wall.”
“Why was I never told?” Victor demanded.
“It was sealed before I took the position.”
“Apparently not.”
The guard returned with the door-access backup.
Marcus connected it to the library computer.
A map of the mansion appeared.
During the blackout, three doors had opened.
The west staircase.
The south tunnel.
And the nursery.
Victor looked across the room.
Ethan was safe beside Lily.
Then who had entered his nursery?
A live motion indicator suddenly flashed on the screen.
Someone was still inside the room.
Victor ran.
He reached the nursery and forced open the door.
No person waited inside.
The blue blanket had been pulled from the bed.
The false sleeping image still played on the monitor.
May you like
On the wall above Ethan’s pillow, someone had written a message in red lipstick.
THE MAID WILL BURY YOUR SON THE WAY SHE BURIED YOUR WIFE.
