Chapter 5 - The Camera Above the Flags
A knock interrupted us.
Event security director Lena Ortiz entered with a tablet.
"Admiral, the police have the assault footage," she said. "But Mr. Barker's people are asking us to delete every camera angle from the ballroom."
"On what authority?" I asked.
"They claim the footage belongs to the Barker Foundation."
Nadia snorted.
"There is no Barker Foundation. There's the Harbor House Trust. Derek changed the event branding without a board vote."
Lena showed us a frozen frame from the camera above the American flags.
Derek was stepping toward me with his hand raised.
Patricia stood beside him, smiling.
The image made my cheek ache all over again.
"Save the original footage and the system logs," Samuel told her. "The police will need authentic copies, not a video someone edited on a phone."
Lena nodded.
"Already done. There's something else."
She tapped another camera angle.
Half an hour before the program, Derek had met two men in the loading corridor.
One handed him a document envelope.
The other wore a badge identifying him as the county's property-records courier.
"Could be innocent," I said.
"Could be," Samuel answered. "Except the clerk's office says no courier was sent."
My phone rang.
An unfamiliar voice spoke before I could introduce myself.
"Admiral Barker? I'm Faye Mercer. I cared for your father his last three years."
"Faye. I remember your Christmas cards."
"I need to tell you what happened the night he signed the deed."
Samuel looked up sharply.
"What deed?" I asked.
Faye lowered her voice.
"The one Derek says gave him Harbor House. Your father couldn't even hold a spoon that night."
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A door slammed on her end of the call.
She whispered, "Someone's here," and the line went dead.
