Chapter 3 - The Camera Went Dark
I left Emma with my sister, Rachel, and walked into the hospital conference room with Lena.
Claire followed.
“No,” I said.
She stopped.
“You don’t get to sit in.”
“I’m your wife.”
“You pushed my daughter.”
“I did not.”
“Then you should be excited about the cameras.”
That silenced her.
The Sterling estate had fourteen exterior cameras and nine interior security cameras covering public rooms.
The staircase was directly in view of two.
I called Owen Price, head of security.
“Send me the gala footage.”
A pause.
“Sir…”
“What?”
“We had a system interruption.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“When?”
“From 8:14 to 8:22.”
Emma fell at 8:18.
Lena closed her eyes.
I said, “That isn’t an interruption. That’s eight minutes.”
“I’m checking the logs.”
“Don’t check them. Send them.”
Claire stood across the hall pretending not to listen.
Owen lowered his voice.
“Mr. Sterling, someone used an administrator credential.”
“Whose?”
Another pause.
“Yours.”
“Freeze every log,” I said. “No deletions. No remote access.”
“Yes, sir.”
Then Owen added, “There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The cameras came back online on their own.”
“At 8:22?”
“Yes.”
“What happened then?”
“I pulled the first frame after reboot.”
My phone buzzed.
A still image appeared.
Claire stood near the staircase.
Beside her was board member Richard Vale.
He wasn’t looking at Emma.
He was looking directly at the camera.
And in his right hand was a small black remote.
Lena whispered, “That’s a network override fob.”
I looked toward Claire.
She was gone.
I rushed into the hall.
The elevator doors were closing.
“Claire!”
She looked at me through the narrowing gap.
Her expression had changed completely.
No tears.
No fear.
Just calculation.
Then my phone rang.
Owen again.
“Sir, someone is inside your home office.”
I stopped.
“Who?”
“The motion sensor triggered thirty seconds ago.”
I checked the hospital room.
May you like
Emma was safe.
Then Owen said, “Whoever it is just opened the safe.”
