Chapter 2 - Six Missing Minutes
Ethan stared at Daniel as if he had spoken in another language.
“Disabled by who?”
Daniel glanced at Claire.
That was enough.
Claire let out a quiet breath. “This is absurd.”
Ethan handed Sophie to Mara, then stepped closer to Daniel. “Answer me.”
“The system shows an administrator shutdown at 7:42 p.m.,” Daniel said. “The nursery, east hallway, and upstairs landing all went offline for six minutes.”
Ethan looked at his watch. 8:11.
“What happened at 7:42?”
Mara’s face tightened. “That’s when she came upstairs.”
Claire laughed once, without humor. “You’re going to take the word of a nanny who has been trying to turn you against me for months?”
“I barely speak to Mr. Cole unless it’s about Sophie,” Mara said.
“Exactly. Very clever.”
Ethan raised a hand. “Stop.”
The room obeyed.
He turned to Daniel. “There are backups.”
Daniel hesitated. “Usually.”
“Usually?”
“The local server was wiped.”
The words landed hard.
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Remote cloud?”
Daniel looked down. “The account password was changed this afternoon.”
Claire crossed her arms. “This is becoming embarrassing.”
“For who?” Ethan asked.
She stepped closer and lowered her voice. “For you. These people are your donors, your investors, your board members. Do you really want to make a scene because a frightened employee misunderstood a stressful moment?”
Ethan looked past her at the guests.
His chairman, Harold Price, stared at the floor. His attorney, Leonard Shaw, had gone completely still near the bar.
Not one of them looked surprised enough.
That bothered Ethan.
Mara touched his sleeve. “There may be another recording.”
Claire’s head snapped toward her.
Mara swallowed. “Mrs. Cole’s old monitor.”
Ethan felt something tighten in his chest.
His late wife, Rachel, had installed a separate baby monitor in the nursery when Sophie was born. It was cheap, portable, and not connected to the mansion’s security network. Ethan had forgotten it existed.
“Where is it?”
“In the linen cabinet,” Mara said. “I turned it on this morning because the main app kept freezing.”
Claire’s face had lost color.
Ethan noticed.
So did Mara.
Daniel started toward the stairs.
“No,” Claire said.
Everyone looked at her.
She recovered quickly. “I mean… if there was a device recording privately in the house, that raises legal issues.”
Ethan stared at her. “You’re worried about legal issues now?”
She said nothing.
He walked toward the staircase.
May you like
Halfway there, Leonard Shaw stepped in front of him.
“Ethan,” the attorney said quietly, “before you see whatever is on that device, there’s something you need to know about Rachel’s will.”
