Chapter 9 - The Parking Garage

Caleb called 911 before Nora's phone disconnected.

Police found her car in a grocery parking garage twelve minutes later.

Caleb arrived and nearly crossed the tape.

Detective Ortiz stopped him.

"You contaminate this scene, you help whoever did it."

He stared at the empty car.

"This is because of me."

"No. This is because somebody is afraid of what she has."

Nora had said it contained copies.

Then he remembered something Nora told Sophie every night.

If we ever lose Bunny, we have a backup Bunny.

Nora backed up everything.

Nathan searched the USB metadata.

A hidden text file contained a cloud address and a password clue.

SOPHIE'S FIRST WORD.

"Dada," Caleb said.

One file uploaded that morning:

IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME.

"If you're hearing this, they found out I copied the family-office archive."

"I did not start investigating because of the nursery schedules. I started because Julia Whitcomb asked me to."

Nora had never told him she knew Julia.

"I worked nights at St. Thomas before I became a nanny. Julia came in twice under another name. She was scared someone in the family was monitoring her medical records."

"Why was she at the hospital?"

"She believed she had been drugged."

"She gave me an envelope and told me if she died, I should wait until Sophie was born and watch the people around her."

The recording shook slightly.

"I thought she was paranoid."

"I was wrong."

Then she named a storage locker.

Caleb and police obtained a warrant.

Inside they found Julia's envelope.

A copy of the trust before the suspicious amendment.

And a small hardware key used to access Whitcomb vehicle diagnostics.

Malcolm is trying to force the Armitage merger. If I disappear, follow the vehicle logs.

Detective Ortiz looked at the hardware key.

"This could access the car."

Nathan asked, "Could it disable steering assist?"

A forensic engineer answered later that night.

"Yes."

Then police found one more item in the locker.

A photograph of Owen Price.

On the back was an address in rural Tennessee.

Caleb said, "We find him."

She answered and went still.

"What?"

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