Chapter 4 - The Missing Minutes.
The old security system was hidden inside a narrow utility closet behind the downstairs wine cellar.
Nathan had installed it six years earlier, before Amelia became ill, after someone broke into the garage during a holiday weekend.
The system had been replaced later, but the original hard drive still recorded four forgotten cameras whenever motion triggered them.
Nathan connected the monitor while Isabella sat wrapped in a blanket beside him.
Camille remained upstairs.
That worried him more than if she had followed.
The screen flickered to life.
Four grainy views appeared.
One watched the west hallway.
One watched the rear staircase.
One faced the pantry corridor.
The fourth covered the entrance to Camille's office.
Nathan searched the previous three days.
At first, there was nothing unusual.
Isabella walking toward the kitchen.
Camille carrying coffee upstairs.
A delivery driver leaving flowers.
Then Nathan reached Tuesday afternoon.
At 3:42, Isabella appeared near the pantry.
Camille followed seconds later.
Isabella stopped.
Even without sound, Nathan could see the child's shoulders pulling inward.
Camille pointed toward the pantry door.
Isabella shook her head.
Camille grabbed her wrist.
Nathan's breath stopped.
The video jumped.
The timestamp changed from 3:42 to 4:19.
Thirty-seven minutes were missing.
At 4:19, the pantry door opened.
Isabella stumbled out alone.
She wiped her face with both hands and slid down the wall.
Nathan gripped the desk.
"She deleted it," Isabella whispered.
Nathan looked at the timeline.
"She deleted part of it."
He checked Wednesday.
Another gap appeared.
Then Thursday.
Another.
Every gap began seconds after Camille entered the camera's view with Isabella nearby.
Nathan opened the system log.
A manual deletion command had been entered from a local terminal.
The user field displayed an account name he did not recognize.
CVALE_ADMIN.
Nathan stared at it.
Camille Vale had been Camille's name before their marriage.
She had not forgotten the old system.
She had found it.
"Dad?"
Nathan turned.
Isabella was watching the door.
"What is it?"
"She knows we're down here."
"How?"
Isabella pointed to the ceiling.
A faint blue light blinked above the wine rack.
Nathan had never installed a camera there.
He stood.
The device was new, no larger than a coin.
Camille had placed her own camera inside the cellar.
Nathan pulled its power cable.
At that exact moment, the lights went out.
Isabella screamed.
Nathan reached for her in the darkness.
"I'm here."
He used his phone flashlight and led her toward the door.
The electronic lock would not open.
Nathan tried again.
Nothing.
Someone had disabled power to the cellar door from the main control panel.
"Camille!" he shouted.
No answer came.
Isabella began breathing too fast.
Nathan knelt and held her face gently.
"Look at the light on my phone."
She did.
"You're not alone."
Nathan called the house manager, but the call failed.
No signal reached the cellar.
Then he remembered the mechanical emergency release behind a wooden panel.
He tore at the molding until his fingers found the lever.
The lock clicked.
Nathan pulled the door open.
The hallway beyond was empty.
He ran upstairs with Isabella behind him.
Camille's office door stood wide open.
The desk drawers had been emptied.
Her laptop was gone.
So were the financial folders Isabella had mentioned.
Nathan rushed to the driveway.
Camille's white SUV was still there.
For one hopeful second, he thought she had not left.
Then he noticed the gate camera.
A black sedan had exited six minutes earlier.
Camille had not run because she was afraid.
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She had run because there was something in that office more dangerous than the missing video.
And Isabella had seen enough of it to make Camille panic.
