Chapter 4 - His Own Password
Ethan built security systems for a living, so seeing his own administrator credentials used to erase the video felt brutally personal.
"That's impossible," he said.
His head of security, Mason Cole, looked miserable. "Your account was used at 6:14 this evening. Correct password. Correct two-factor token."
"My phone was in my pocket."
Mason hesitated.
"There is another registered token."
Ethan stared at him.
"Whose?"
"A backup device added three months ago."
"I didn't add one."
Mason pulled up the registration log.
DEVICE NAME: N-MERCER-IPAD.
Nora's tablet.
Nora stepped closer. "Ethan gave me access."
"No, I didn't."
"You don't remember half the things you do anymore. That's the problem."
The sentence was too polished. Nora had not been reacting to his illnesses. She had been building a story around them.
Detective Chen took statements until after midnight. Without laboratory confirmation, she could not arrest Nora based only on Lily's account and a suspicious cup.
Before she stepped into the car, she looked at Lily through the open doorway.
Not angry.
Not sad.
Warning.
Lily immediately hid behind Ethan.
"She does that look when she wants me to forget," she whispered.
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"Forget what?"
Lily pressed her lips together.
"Stuff."
He crouched.
"You never have to protect me from the truth."
She looked toward the driveway to make sure Nora was gone.
Then she whispered, "She gave you tea before."
"When?"
"The night you fell in the bathroom."
Ethan remembered waking on cold tile with a split eyebrow and no memory of how he'd gotten there.
"What did you see?"
"I saw her carry your cup away after you fell."
Lily swallowed.
"And Uncle Grant told her, 'Next time, finish it.'"
At 3:07 a.m., his phone received an automated alert from Mercer Systems.
An emergency board meeting had been scheduled for nine.
May you like
The subject line was only four words.
REMOVAL OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
