Chapter 18 - Inside the Roof
Daniel had hidden a microSD card inside the birdhouse roof months earlier.
Not for Ethan.
For himself.
“I forgot about it after the crash,” Daniel said.
“What is on it?” Naomi asked.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Original security exports from my office. Uncompressed. They show Mark cloning my access badge and Trent using my computer.”
Ramirez stood. “Then we secure the house now.”
They were too late.
A silent alarm triggered before police arrived.
Security cameras showed a masked man entering the garage through a side window.
Trent.
He pulled down the birdhouse.
He broke it open.
Nothing.
Ethan watched the live feed from Ramirez's tablet.
Trent tore through the workbench drawers.
He shouted something at the empty garage.
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“Where is the card?”
Ethan frowned. “I don't know.”
Then Lily said, “I do.”
Everyone turned.
She held up her purple backpack.
“When we were at the bus station, part of the birdhouse roof was stuck to Ethan's sleeve. A little card fell out in the car.”
Ethan stared at her. “You took it?”
“I thought it was for pictures.”
Claire opened the backpack.
Inside the front pocket, under crayons and a crushed granola bar, was the microSD card.
Naomi laughed from pure disbelief.
Ramirez didn't.
“Get that copied now.”
They inserted it into a secure laptop.
Files appeared.
Video of Trent entering Daniel's office.
Video of Mark passing him an access badge.
Video of Amanda signing a document while Trent pointed to the line.
Then one final clip.
Daniel had forgotten it existed.
Amanda stood alone in the office three weeks earlier.
She was crying.
She held Daniel's first will.
Then Trent entered.
“You sign tonight,” he said.
Amanda shook her head. “No more.”
“You already moved the college money.”
“I'll pay it back.”
“With what?”
“My share of the house if Daniel leaves me.”
Trent laughed.
“You think you're getting a share?”
He took out his phone and showed her something.
Amanda's face collapsed.
“What is that?” Daniel whispered.
The camera angle couldn't see the screen.
But it captured Trent's next words.
“Proof you were drunk the night Lily fell down the stairs when she was two. You want Daniel to see it?”
Amanda covered her mouth.
Ethan looked at Lily.
She had a small scar near her hairline.
No one had ever explained it.
Trent leaned closer to Amanda in the video.
“You do what I say, or you lose everything.”
The clip ended.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Amanda had harmed Ethan.
Amanda had stolen money.
Amanda had lied.
But Trent had also been blackmailing her for years.
Before anyone could speak, Ramirez's radio exploded with voices.
“Suspect exiting rear! He's armed!”
May you like
Gunshots cracked through the live feed.
Then the garage camera went black.
