Chapter 2 - Four Missing Minutes
Sarah stepped away from the computer.
The security-room door opened.
A tall man in a dark suit entered.
She recognized him immediately.
Graham Wells.
Ethan’s head of household security.
He had worked at the estate for almost seven years.
Graham stopped when he saw Sarah.
“What are you doing in here?”
Sarah forced herself to remain calm.
“Checking the drawing-room footage.”
His expression didn’t change.
“Staff aren’t authorized to review security recordings.”
“The camera went offline.”
“I know.”
Sarah looked at him carefully.
“You know?”
“We had a temporary system interruption this afternoon.”
“Only one camera?”
Graham’s jaw tightened.
“Apparently.”
“For exactly four minutes?”
He stepped toward the cabinet and closed it.
“Go back to your duties, Sarah.”
She didn’t move.
“This cable was unplugged.”
“Was it?”
“You’re head of security.”
“Yes.”
“So who unplugged it?”
“I’ll investigate.”
“You didn’t notice until now?”
His eyes hardened.
“You’re overstepping.”
“Baby Leo could have been hurt.”
“Dr. Harris said he’s fine.”
Sarah stared at him.
“How do you know what Dr. Harris said?”
That stopped him.
Only for a second.
But Sarah saw it.
Graham straightened.
“Mr. Cole informed me.”
Ethan’s last name was Cole, and normally no one on staff questioned that explanation.
But Sarah knew Ethan had been upstairs with Leo almost continuously.
“When?”
Graham’s patience vanished.
“This conversation is finished.”
Sarah walked toward the door.
As she passed him, Graham said quietly, “You should be careful about accusing people when you don’t understand what you’re seeing.”
Sarah stopped.
She turned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means wealthy households run on discretion.”
“And babies survive because adults pay attention.”
His face went cold.
“Good night, Sarah.”
She left.
But she didn’t go far.
Sarah walked into the darkened pantry beside the security corridor and waited.
Less than two minutes later, Graham emerged.
He looked left.
Then right.
Then took out his phone.
Sarah held her breath.
“I found her in the security room,” he whispered.
A pause.
“No. She didn’t see anything. The feed was already gone.”
Sarah’s pulse jumped.
Another pause.
“Then you need to stop coming here until this settles down.”
Sarah felt a chill.
She moved closer to the pantry door.
Graham lowered his voice even further.
“I said I handled it, Victoria.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
There it was.
Proof.
Not recorded.
Not documented.
But proof enough for her.
Graham was helping Victoria.
Sarah waited until his footsteps disappeared.
Then she slipped upstairs.
Ethan’s bedroom door was partly open.
She knocked.
“Come in.”
Ethan sat in an armchair beside Leo’s bassinet.
His tie was gone.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up.
He looked more like a frightened father than the powerful executive who could silence a boardroom with a glance.
Sarah entered.
“I need to tell you something.”
He immediately sat straighter.
“Leo?”
“He’s okay.”
Ethan relaxed slightly.
“It’s Victoria.”
Sarah explained everything.
The missing footage.
The unplugged cable.
Graham entering the room.
And the phone call.
Ethan said nothing for several seconds.
Then he stood.
“You heard him say her name?”
“Yes.”
“Exactly?”
“He said, ‘I said I handled it, Victoria.’”
Ethan’s expression changed.
Sarah had never seen that face before.
Controlled.
Cold.
Dangerously calm.
“Stay with Leo.”
“Where are you going?”
“To speak with Graham.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
Ethan stopped.
“If he’s helping her, confronting him now tells them exactly what we know.”
“We?”
Sarah almost smiled despite herself.
That one word meant something.
Ethan believed her now.
At least enough to investigate.
“You think we should wait?”
“I think we should stop letting Victoria control what evidence exists.”
Ethan studied her.
“You’ve thought about this.”
“I’ve spent years working in houses where wealthy people think staff don’t notice anything.”
A faint smile touched Ethan’s mouth.
“And do they?”
“We notice everything.”
He looked down at Leo.
“Then what did you notice about my wife?”
Sarah’s smile disappeared.
“Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
The question seemed unrelated.
Until it didn’t.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because Victoria brought her up today.”
Sarah hesitated.
“Mrs. Cole didn’t trust many people near Leo when she was pregnant.”
“She died before he was born.”
“I know.”
Sarah’s voice softened.
Rebecca had been seven months pregnant when she suffered a sudden medical crisis. Doctors had saved Leo through an emergency delivery.
Rebecca had not survived.
Ethan looked toward the dark window.
“What are you saying?”
“Nothing specific.”
“Sarah.”
She chose her words carefully.
“A few weeks before Mrs. Cole died, she asked me whether the security cameras stored backup copies.”
Ethan slowly looked at her.
“What?”
“She asked whether recordings could be erased.”
“Why?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought she was worried about reporters or privacy. You were negotiating the Logan merger. Paparazzi were outside the gate every other day.”
Ethan rubbed his jaw.
“What else?”
Sarah searched her memory.
“One afternoon, I found her in the library crying.”
Ethan closed his eyes briefly.
“She told me she was scared.”
“Of what?”
“She didn’t say.”
“Did Victoria know Rebecca?”
Sarah hesitated.
She had hoped Ethan would never ask.
“Yes.”
His head snapped up.
“How?”
“They met several times.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It happened here.”
Ethan stared at her.
“When?”
“During the last two months of Mrs. Cole’s pregnancy.”
“You’re telling me Victoria was inside my house before Rebecca died?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Mrs. Cole told me Victoria was advising her on a charity fundraiser.”
Ethan looked stunned.
“Victoria told me she never met Rebecca.”
Sarah’s skin prickled.
“Then she lied.”
Ethan walked to his desk and picked up his phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“My attorney.”
“Tonight?”
“My family attorney handled Rebecca’s estate.”
Sarah saw the suspicion forming.
“What are you looking for?”
“I don’t know yet.”
His phone rang.
No answer.
Ethan ended the call.
Then he looked at Sarah.
“Tomorrow morning, I want you to behave normally.”
“You want Victoria back here?”
“I’m not inviting her.”
“She’ll come.”
“I know.”
Sarah looked at Leo.
“And Graham?”
“He stays too.”
“You’re keeping a man who may have disabled a camera?”
“If I fire him tonight, whatever he’s hiding disappears with him.”
Sarah understood.
A trap.
Ethan was thinking like a CEO now.
But this wasn’t a corporate rival.
This was someone who had been close enough to his child to lean over his crib.
“You need someone watching Leo every second.”
Ethan nodded.
“That someone is you.”
Sarah looked at him.
He continued.
“From this moment on, Victoria is never alone with my son.”
Sarah gave one firm nod.
“Understood.”
“And Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“If anything feels wrong, I don’t care who objects. Take him.”
“I will.”
At 8:30 the next morning, Victoria arrived without calling.
She entered wearing cream-colored trousers and oversized sunglasses.
To anyone watching, she looked composed.
Sarah noticed her hands.
They were shaking.
Victoria smiled when she saw Ethan at breakfast.
“Good morning.”
Ethan stood and kissed her cheek.
Sarah nearly dropped the coffee pot.
He was pretending.
Perfectly.
Victoria relaxed.
“I was worried you’d still be upset.”
“We all had an emotional day.”
Victoria looked toward Sarah.
“I agree.”
Sarah kept her eyes lowered.
Leo sat in his high chair tapping a spoon.
Victoria approached.
“Hello, little man.”
Sarah immediately stepped closer.
Victoria noticed.
So did Ethan.
He said nothing.
Victoria touched Leo’s hand.
Sarah watched her every movement.
Finally, Victoria straightened.
“Ethan, perhaps Sarah could give us some privacy.”
Ethan buttered his toast.
“She stays.”
Victoria paused.
“Why?”
“Because she’s serving breakfast.”
“We can serve ourselves.”
“I prefer not to.”
A faint flush appeared along Victoria’s neck.
Then Graham entered.
“Mr. Cole, you asked for the overnight security summary.”
“Yes.”
He handed Ethan a folder.
Their eyes met.
For one charged second, no one spoke.
Ethan opened the file calmly.
“Any system failures yesterday?”
Graham hesitated.
“One.”
“What caused it?”
“A loose connection.”
Sarah looked at him.
Ethan continued eating.
“Interesting.”
Victoria lifted her coffee.
Ethan looked at Graham.
“Replace the entire camera in the drawing room.”
“No need, sir. The system is working now.”
“Replace it anyway.”
Graham nodded.
“And install two.”
Victoria’s cup stopped halfway to her mouth.
“Two?”
Ethan smiled.
“For redundancy.”
Victoria placed the cup down.
“That seems excessive.”
“My son lives here.”
No one argued.
At eleven, Ethan left for what he told Victoria was a board meeting.
In reality, he drove only five miles away and switched cars with his attorney.
Sarah remained inside the estate.
Victoria stayed too.
For two hours, nothing happened.
Then Victoria received a text.
Sarah saw her read it.
Her face went pale.
She immediately walked toward the upstairs hall.
Sarah followed from a distance.
Victoria entered Rebecca’s old dressing room.
A room that had remained mostly untouched for a year.
Sarah waited outside.
A drawer opened.
Then another.
Furniture scraped.
Sarah took out her phone and quietly activated the camera.
She pushed the door open.
Victoria was kneeling beside Rebecca’s old vanity.
A wooden panel had been removed from the back.
Victoria spun around.
“What are you doing?”
Sarah held up her phone.
“Recording.”
Victoria’s face changed.
She lunged.
Sarah stepped backward.
“What are you looking for?”
“Give me the phone!”
Victoria grabbed for it.
Sarah pulled away.
Something slipped from Victoria’s hand and hit the carpet.
A small brass key.
Both women stared at it.
Victoria moved first.
Sarah blocked her.
“Whose key?”
“Move.”
“Why were you searching Rebecca’s room?”
Victoria shoved her.
Sarah hit the wall.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“I’d like to know that too.”
Victoria froze.
Ethan stood behind her.
He had never gone to the board meeting.
And beside him stood a silver-haired man carrying a leather case.
Victoria’s face drained of color.
Ethan stepped into the room.
“Victoria, you remember my attorney, Daniel Price.”
Daniel looked at the key on the floor.
Then at the open compartment inside Rebecca’s vanity.
His expression became grim.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
Daniel pointed toward the hidden compartment.
“There was supposed to be an envelope in there.”
Ethan looked at him.
“What envelope?”
May you like
Daniel’s answer changed everything.
“One Rebecca instructed me to retrieve if she ever died unexpectedly.”
