Chapter 2 - THE CAMERA UNDER THE DESKBy sunset, nobody was allowed to leave the Moretti estate.
Cars were stopped at the gates.
Phones were collected.
House staff were separated.
Security guards searched every bedroom, every closet, every service corridor.
Alejandro watched from his study.
His throat still hurt.
His chest felt like a fire had been trapped inside it.
But his mind was clear.
He was alive.
That was the problem.
Because the man who had planned his death now knew the plan had failed.
Alejandro's security chief, Victor Hale, entered the study carrying the memory card.
“We recovered this from the camera.”
Alejandro looked at it.
“Can you read it?”
Victor nodded.
“We're decrypting it.”
“How long?”
“Ten minutes.”
Alejandro stared at the blank monitor.
“Five.”
Victor left.
Emma sat outside the doorway with Clara.
She had refused to leave her daughter after hearing what happened.
Clara's face was pale.
“Sir,” she said carefully.
Alejandro looked at her.
“I know who you are.”
Clara lowered her eyes.
“My daughter shouldn't have been upstairs.”
“No.”
Alejandro's gaze moved to Emma.
“But if she hadn't been…”
He stopped.
He didn't finish the sentence.
Clara understood anyway.
“You saved his life.”
Clara pulled Emma closer.
Alejandro noticed the child's backpack.
“Why was there only one injector?”
Clara froze.
“I ordered two.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“From where?”
“A pharmacy near Brooklyn.”
Alejandro's expression hardened.
“Did you receive them?”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
“And you didn't follow up?”
“I called. They said the shipment was delayed.”
Alejandro said nothing.
A strange thought entered his mind.
He had spent years believing danger always came from guns.
Now one of the closest calls of his life had involved a missing children's medication.
He looked at Emma again.
“What would have happened if she hadn't heard the glass?”
Clara's lips trembled.
“I don't know.”
Alejandro did.
He would have died.
The door opened.
Victor returned.
“We have video.”
Everyone became silent.
The file was only seventeen minutes long.
Alejandro sat before the screen.
The recording began at 2:51 p.m.
The camera showed his empty study.
At 2:53, a figure entered.
Completely dressed in black.
Cap.
Mask.
Gloves.
The person placed something beside the wine bottle.
Then removed the study's original camera connection.
At 2:54, the screen went black.
Alejandro leaned forward.
“Pause.”
Victor paused the video.
The masked figure stood beside the desk.
Alejandro enlarged the image.
There was something on the figure's wrist.
A silver bracelet.
With a tiny red stone.
Alejandro recognized it.
His blood cooled.
Only one person in the entire house wore that bracelet.
His older sister.
Valentina Moretti.
Victor looked at him.
“You know who that is?”
Alejandro didn't answer.
“Boss?”
“Play it.”
The figure continued.
At 3:06, the person left.
At 3:12, Alejandro entered.
At 3:17, the attack began.
Then Emma appeared on screen.
The video showed the child entering the study.
She saved Alejandro.
Then the screen stopped.
Victor stared at his boss.
“Should I bring Valentina in?”
Alejandro stood.
“No.”
Victor looked confused.
“Why not?”
“Because if she did this, she wants us to think she's the first suspect.”
He pointed at the screen.
“The bracelet was visible.”
Victor frowned.
“Maybe she was careless.”
“Valentina has survived three assassination attempts.”
Alejandro's voice was cold.
“She isn't careless.”
He stood beside the monitor.
“There is another person.”
“What person?”
“The one who placed this camera.”
Victor looked at the footage again.
“The camera was hidden months ago.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Exactly.”
He turned toward the door.
“Find out who installed it.”
Victor's expression tightened.
“We checked the house renovation records.”
“And?”
“The study was never renovated.”
Alejandro went still.
Victor continued.
“That means whoever installed it had access without going through construction.”
Alejandro's eyes narrowed.
“House staff.”
Victor nodded.
“Or family.”
Outside, Clara suddenly grabbed Emma's hand.
The little girl was staring down the hallway.
“Mommy.”
Clara knelt.
“What?”
Emma pointed.
“There.”
At the far end of the corridor, a man in a black suit stood watching them.
Clara recognized him.
Thomas Reed.
Alejandro's personal driver.
The man looked at Emma for several seconds.
Then he turned and disappeared.
Clara frowned.
Emma whispered something.
“What did you say?”
“He was in the room.”
Clara's face changed.
“What?”
May you like
Emma pointed toward the study.
“The man with the camera.”
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