Chapter 9 - The Garage Video
Brooke broke first.
“There was an accident,” she whispered.
Ryan said, “Shut up.”
I looked at him. “Let her talk.”
Brooke’s hands shook. “Three weeks ago. In the garage.”
My mind raced.
Three weeks ago I had found a deep scrape along the passenger side of my SUV. Ryan told me a valet had done it.
“That accident?”
Brooke nodded.
“No,” she said. “Not the car.”
The room changed.
“What happened?”
Diane started crying again.
Grant shouted, “Nobody says another word.”
The security officer reached for his radio.
Brooke looked at me. “Dad met a man in the garage. They argued. The man fell.”
My blood ran cold.
“Fell where?”
“Against the concrete barrier.”
“Was he hurt?”
“I don’t know. He got up. There was blood on his forehead.”
Grant said, “It was nothing.”
Brooke turned on him. “You made me erase the clip.”
“You’re confused.”
“I’m not confused!”
Her voice cracked so loudly that even Ryan flinched.
“You told me he was blackmailing you. You said if the building kept the footage, he would destroy us.”
Martin asked, “Who was the man?”
Brooke shook her head. “I never knew his name.”
Grant started toward the foyer.
The security officer blocked him.
“Sir, remain here.”
“You have no authority to detain me.”
“Then you may leave, but the lobby cameras and access logs are being preserved.”
Grant froze.
I went back to the console and searched the garage archive.
The clip was gone.
But deletion logs were not.
Deleted by user: RYANM.
Ryan stared at the screen.
“Brooke did it,” he said.
Brooke’s face collapsed.
“You told me to use your login.”
“Don’t drag me into your mistake.”
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
Ryan lunged forward.
The officer stepped between them.
And my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man’s voice said, “Mrs. Mercer?”
“Yes?”
“You don’t know me. My name is Victor Lane.”
Grant went still.
The voice continued.
May you like
“I think your father-in-law tried to kill me.”
The House He Thought Was His
