Chapter 4 - Eleven Missing Minutes
Maya did not sleep.
At two in the morning, she sat at the kitchen table while security copied every access log from the house systems.
Julian entered alone.
“You said Eleanor borrowed your card.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She said the wine cellar reader wasn’t accepting hers.”
“And you gave it to her?”
“She is your wife. I didn’t think I was allowed to tell her no.”
Julian flinched.
Maya did not soften it.
“That’s how this house works, Mr. Mercer. Everyone knows who gets believed.”
He sat across from her.
“Call me Julian.”
“No.”
The answer surprised him.
“You are my employer. Tonight your wife pushed your son down the stairs, and for one second you still wondered if I stole a legal file. I think boundaries are useful.”
Julian looked away.
“I deserved that.”
“Yes.”
Leo appeared in the doorway wearing a sweatshirt over his bruised shoulder.
“I found something.”
He placed a tablet on the table.
His room had a smart lock. The app recorded every entry.
Eleanor had entered at 6:42 p.m., forty minutes before Julian came home.
She stayed seven minutes.
Then another name appeared.
Miles Grant.
Julian stared at the screen. “Miles was in this house?”
“I never invited him,” Leo said.
Security checked the driveway cameras.
At 6:31, a black sedan entered through the service gate using a temporary contractor code.
At 7:03, it left.
The driver’s face was hidden by the visor.
But the license plate belonged to Miles Grant.
Julian called him.
No answer.
He called again.
Voicemail.
Then Maya’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photo appeared.
It showed her younger brother, Tomas, leaving his night shift at the hospital.
Under the image were six words:
STOP TALKING OR HE GETS HURT.
Maya stood so fast the chair fell backward.
Leo read the message over her shoulder.
“Dad.”
Julian took the phone.
His face hardened.
Then a second message arrived.
This one contained a photo of the missing trust amendment.
May you like
And beneath it:
YOU HAVE UNTIL SUNRISE.
