Chapter 4 - The Hand on His Back
Anna could not look away from the photograph.
It was grainy and dark, but there was no misunderstanding it.
Leo’s small body leaned forward.
Vanessa’s arm was extended.
Her palm was on him.
Richard enlarged the image until the pixels blurred.
“Timestamp?” he asked.
“Seven seventeen forty-nine,” Nolan said. “The fall would have started a second or two later.”
Anna’s voice came out thin. “Call the police.”
Richard already had his phone in his hand.
Then Nolan said, “Wait.”
Everyone froze.
“There’s another problem.”
“What?”
“That thumbnail was deleted from the cloud queue at 7:24.”
Richard frowned. “Then how are you seeing it?”
“Deletion lag. The backup node hadn’t synced yet.”
“Who deleted it?”
“I’m checking access logs.”
Anna’s heart beat faster.
Vanessa knew the cameras. She had grown up in the estate. She knew Nolan. But she should not have had administrator access.
Nolan went silent.
Then he said, “Richard, the deletion came from your account.”
The room seemed to lose all sound.
“That’s impossible.”
“I’m looking at the authentication record.”
“I was driving home.”
“I know.”
Anna looked at Richard.
Someone had used his credentials.
Someone who had expected the timestamp to point straight at him.
“Change every password now,” Richard said. “Lock all remote users out.”
“Already doing it.”
“And send that image to Detective Alvarez. Full metadata.”
Anna looked at him sharply. “You know a detective?”
“My father’s company had an embezzlement case last year. Alvarez handled part of it.”
Leo stirred.
His eyes opened halfway.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
He reached for her.
Anna climbed onto the edge of the bed and let him curl against her.
Richard crouched beside them.
“Leo,” he said gently, “did Aunt Vanessa touch you on the stairs?”
Anna’s chest tightened. “Richard, don’t push him.”
“I won’t.”
Leo looked at his father, then at Anna.
His lower lip trembled.
“Vessa mad.”
“Why was she mad?” Richard asked.
Leo touched Anna’s necklace.
“Mommy paper.”
Anna went still.
“What paper?”
Leo pointed toward her purse.
Anna opened it.
Inside were her wallet, keys, wipes, a toy car—and the cream envelope her attorney had given her that afternoon.
The envelope containing a copy of Edward Mercer’s amended trust.
The document Vanessa was never supposed to know Anna had received.
May you like
Anna opened it.
The papers were gone.
