Chapter 4 - THE VIDEO NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO SEE
Natalie arrived at the estate with an attorney and a security escort. She looked exhausted, her hands clasped so tightly that her fingers had turned white.
“I never wanted to hurt Mrs. Whitmore,” she said as soon as she entered the study. “Victoria said the camera was for her protection. She claimed Emily was planning to take confidential documents and run.”
Daniel remained standing. “You installed a camera in my bedroom.”
“I was told it would only record the hallway.”
“Did you believe that?”
Natalie lowered her eyes. “No.”
Emily sat beside the desk, quiet but attentive. Daniel wanted to demand every detail at once, but he forced himself to slow down. If he frightened Natalie into silence, he might never learn who was controlling the scheme.
“Tell me about the video,” he said.
Natalie explained that Victoria had contacted her months earlier, claiming she possessed evidence that Richard Whitmore’s death had not been an accident. Victoria wanted access to archived company records. Natalie refused at first, until Victoria sent a short clip showing Richard arguing with someone in a parking garage the night before the crash.
“She said your mother knew the truth,” Natalie added. “She said if I didn’t help, she’d release the clip and accuse Margaret of covering up a murder.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened. “Did you see the full video?”
“No. She kept it on a private drive. But she sent me a still image of the man arguing with your father.”
“Who was it?”
Natalie looked toward Emily, then back at Daniel. “Your father’s business partner. Jonathan Pierce.”
Daniel knew the name. Pierce had left the company after Richard’s death, citing health reasons. He now ran a private investment firm and sat on several charitable boards. Daniel had seen him at public events for years.
“Why would Victoria be connected to him?”
“I don’t know. But she said the Hayes family had been cheated out of a property deal, and Jonathan had the original documents.”
Samuel, the family attorney, arrived with a secure laptop. Natalie gave him the encrypted drive she had received from Victoria. It took an hour to recover the files. There were two videos, a ledger, and a scanned letter signed by Richard.
The first video showed Richard in the parking garage, speaking angrily to Jonathan Pierce. The audio was poor, but one line came through clearly.
“You promised the transfer would be legal.”
Jonathan replied, “It was legal until you changed the beneficiary.”
The footage ended as a car entered the garage.
The second video showed the highway minutes after Richard’s crash. A black sedan followed his vehicle at a distance. When Richard’s car swerved, the sedan slowed instead of stopping. Its license plate was partially visible.
Samuel froze the image and enhanced it. The plate belonged to a company vehicle registered to Pierce’s investment firm.
Daniel stared at the screen. “This could mean Pierce was there. It doesn’t prove he caused the crash.”
“No,” Samuel agreed. “But it’s enough to justify a formal investigation.”
Emily looked at the timestamp. “Why would Victoria wait seven years to use this?”
“Because the property trust may have matured,” Samuel said. “If the original agreement was never completed, she may believe she can still claim the land.”
Daniel scanned the ledger. One recurring payment had been made to a company called Northbridge Family Services. The payments began after Richard’s death and continued for three years, then stopped abruptly.
“What is Northbridge?” Daniel asked.
Samuel searched the corporate database. “A private family-placement agency. It handles guardianship and adoption arrangements.”
Emily’s expression changed. “Why would your father’s company pay an adoption agency?”
No one answered.
Daniel called Victoria’s room. The guards reported that she was gone. A service door had been opened with a staff key, and the exterior cameras had been disabled for exactly four minutes.
Margaret stood in the doorway, trembling. “I didn’t help her escape.”
Daniel looked at her. “Did you know she was leaving?”
“No.”
“Did you know about Northbridge?”
Margaret pressed a hand to her mouth. “Your father paid them to arrange a private placement for a baby. He said it was a family matter. I never saw the child.”
Emily felt a chill. “What baby?”
Margaret looked at Daniel, tears gathering in her eyes. “The baby your father said had died.”
Daniel could barely speak. His father had been dead for years, but the secrets he left behind were still reaching into their home, threatening his wife and daughter.
Before he could ask another question, a message arrived from an unknown number. It contained a photograph of Lily leaving school that afternoon, taken from across the street.
Beneath it were six words:
*Stop looking into the past, or Lily disappears.*
Daniel’s fear turned instantly into resolve.
He ordered security to bring Lily home and placed the school under protection. Then he opened the message’s metadata. The image had been uploaded through a network owned by Jonathan Pierce.
May you like
Victoria was not acting alone.
And someone who knew where Lily went to school had just made the most dangerous threat of all.
