Chapter 4 - The House That Lied

Roman showed the photograph to Anika, not Elena.

“The security feed is compromised,” Anika said. “Someone is watching us in real time.”

“Kill the camera network. Leave emergency lighting alone.”

Dax spat blood onto the marble. “Your uncle owns the backups too.”

Roman leaned close. “Then you can tell the detective where she should look.”

“She's coming?” Dax asked, and for the first time sounded afraid.

Elena pulled Roman aside. “You need to hear what I heard below.”

“Tell me.”

“Men. At least six. One kept calling for somebody named Felix. Another said he couldn't feel his hands.”

Roman knew Felix Moreno. A dockworkers' organizer who had challenged Calder Shipping over unpaid wages. Felix's younger brother, Tomas, had vanished twelve days earlier.

Roman had been told Tomas ran off with a truck full of cargo.

“Victor gave me that report,” Roman said.

Elena's eyes narrowed. “And you believed him?”

At 8:39, Roman opened a brass panel inside the service closet. Behind it sat the original controls for the estate's storm-water diversion system. A handwritten maintenance log hung from a hook.

The last three signatures belonged to employees who had retired years ago.

“Forged,” Elena said. “Look at the ink. Same pen. Same slant.”

“How would you know?”

“I worked two years in a municipal drafting office before my husband died. I know what a rushed fake looks like.”

“Why did you take this job?”

“Because drafting doesn't pay the rent when the company shuts down. Because my daughter needs shoes before she needs my pride.”

Roman put the log on his phone camera and sent it to Anika.

Elena reached behind a loose conduit, feeling around until she pulled out a small grease-stained envelope.

“I hid this when they caught me.”

Inside lay a narrow strip of thermal paper marked with truck IDs and six handwritten names. Next to each name stood the same number: B-12.

Roman recognized one name. Tomas Moreno.

The final entry, printed in fresh black ink, read: CALDER, ROMAN — DELIVERY RECEIPT ACKNOWLEDGED.

“I never signed for anything,” Roman said.

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Elena turned the paper over. On the back, someone had written a single sentence in red pencil.

HE WILL BLAME YOU WHEN THE WATER RISES.