Chapter 7 - Someone Enters the Basement Server Room
Police moved first.
Ryan stayed with Claire and Noah.
The basement server room was empty when officers reached it.
But one rack had been opened.
A hard drive was missing.
Security logs showed access through a maintenance credential belonging
to an employee named Peter Shaw.
Peter had retired eighteen months earlier.
He was seventy-three.
And according to public records, he had died six months ago.
Someone was using a dead man’s credentials.
The pattern reminded Vanessa of Thomas.
Her brother had often kept old credentials active because he distrusted
centralized systems.
That negligence survived him.
Investigators traced the new camera uploads to an encrypted cloud
account.
Payment came from Harbor Ridge Holdings.
The same company named in Evelyn’s red ledger.
Ryan stared at the report.
“Harbor Ridge still exists?”
Barely.
It was registered in Delaware and owned through several layers of
holding companies.
The current beneficial owner was unclear.
Bennett Marine had paid Harbor Ridge consulting fees for years.
Michael had approved some.
Thomas had approved older ones.
Then forensic accountants found something more troubling.
Claire’s name appeared in recent Harbor Ridge records.
She stared.
“I’ve never heard of that company.”
A consulting agreement claimed Claire received $240,000 for “residential
information services.”
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
It was forged.
Ryan understood immediately.
Someone had prepared to make Claire look like the person selling private
household recordings.
Vanessa whispered:
“They were going to blame her.”
Claire looked at the cameras again.
First Vanessa had looked guilty.
Then Michael.
Now Claire herself had been positioned as a future suspect.
Whoever built the system did not merely collect secrets.
They created people to blame.
Then Michael sent Claire a photograph.
The red ledger lay open on a motel bed.
Beside it was a handwritten note.
MEET ME BEFORE THEY FIND ME.
The address was thirty miles away.
Police were already moving.
May you like
But when they reached the motel, Michael was gone.
Blood was on the bathroom floor.
