Chapter 2 - The Phone Was Still Recording
Daniel ordered everyone away from Emily while Sarah called for an ambulance.
Emily was twenty-two, but in that moment she looked like the little girl Daniel remembered carrying after nightmares. Her breathing was shallow. Her eyes struggled to focus.
“Dad,” she whispered. “Don’t let Victor leave.”
“I won’t.”
Victor stood near the staircase with both hands visible.
“I didn’t do this.”
Daniel nearly crossed the room.
Then the phone from the equipment case vibrated.
A recording application was still running.
The screen displayed four live audio channels labeled BALLROOM, EAST HALL, STUDY, and GUEST WING.
Daniel stared.
Someone had wired the mansion.
He tapped the most recent file.
Margaret’s voice came through first.
“Emily cannot find out before Daniel arrives.”
Then another voice answered.
A man.
“If she already saw the ledger, we move tonight.”
Daniel’s anger changed shape.
This was no longer only about what happened to Emily.
Someone had been monitoring the entire event.
Police arrived while paramedics examined Emily.
She had been sedated with something, but doctors would need testing to determine what.
Victor repeated that he had found Emily on the floor.
Margaret insisted Victor was lying.
Daniel refused to decide based on either person’s fear.
He handed the phone to police.
“Preserve everything.”
One officer examined the equipment case.
“This is professional surveillance gear.”
The serial numbers had been scratched away.
Then Emily reached weakly for Daniel.
“The case wasn’t Victor’s.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“Whose was it?”
Emily swallowed.
“I saw Grandma opening it.”
Margaret went pale.
Daniel slowly turned toward his mother.
Margaret whispered:
“Emily doesn’t understand what she saw.”
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Then you’re going to help me understand.”
Before Margaret could answer, an officer found a hidden compartment beneath the radio equipment.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Emily entering the mansion earlier that afternoon.
Someone had written a time beneath it.
4:17 P.M.
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Below that were two words:
TARGET ARRIVED.
