Chapter 4 - The Camera Behind the MirrorGideon Price had protected the Stallone family for eleven years.
He had taken bullets for them.
Tracked threats.
Escorted children.
Controlled every security system on the property.
Stallone trusted him more than most relatives.
Now Gideon stood inside Noah's bedroom.
Alone.
The live feed showed him walking slowly toward the bed.
Noah sat frozen.
“Daddy?” the boy whispered.
Gideon looked around.
Then he reached behind the mirror.
Stallone watched from the remote monitor.
His stomach twisted.
The mirror moved.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a small black device.
Gideon took it.
Stallone's voice came through the intercom.
“Put it down.”
Gideon froze.
He looked toward the ceiling camera.
“Sir.”
“You have ten seconds.”
Gideon slowly placed the device on the table.
“Why is there a hidden camera in my son's room?”
“I didn't install it.”
“You removed it.”
Gideon said nothing.
“Answer me.”
“I was ordered to maintain it.”
“By Julian?”
A pause.
“No.”
Stallone stared at the screen.
“By my mother?”
Gideon closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The word landed like a gunshot.
Stallone headed toward Noah's room.
When he entered, Noah rushed into his arms.
Gideon stepped back.
“I can explain.”
“You'll explain in a cell if necessary.”
Gideon looked devastated.
“I never wanted this.”
“That sentence is becoming popular in my house.”
Gideon swallowed.
“I was told the camera was for Noah's safety.”
“To watch him.”
“To monitor him.”
“To control him.”
“No.”
“Then why delete the footage?”
Gideon hesitated.
“Because there were things on it that I was told you could never see.”
Stallone felt the room go silent.
“What things?”
Gideon looked at Noah.
“I can't say in front of him.”
Stallone carried his son to the adjoining room.
When he returned, Gideon was waiting.
“Talk.”
Gideon lowered his voice.
“Your wife discovered something before she died.”
“What?”
“She found financial transfers.”
“From where?”
“From your family's private trust.”
Stallone frowned.
“I control that trust.”
“Not completely.”
Gideon explained.
Years earlier, Stallone's father had created a hidden emergency fund.
Only three people knew how to access it.
Helen.
Julian.
And Stallone's wife.
The fund had been quietly drained over five years.
Millions.
The person receiving the money was hidden behind shell companies.
Stallone felt sick.
“My wife found this?”
“Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“She confronted your mother.”
Stallone's jaw tightened.
“When?”
“Three days before the accident.”
The same date as the photograph.
“Did they fight?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after?”
Gideon looked away.
“Your wife told me she was afraid.”
Stallone's breathing slowed.
“You never told me.”
“I was told to keep silent.”
“By Helen?”
“Yes.”
Stallone stepped closer.
“Was the accident an accident?”
Gideon didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Then Noah appeared in the doorway.
“Daddy.”
Stallone turned.
The boy was holding a toy truck.
He looked terrified.
“I remembered.”
Stallone crouched.
“What?”
“The blue door.”
Gideon went pale.
Noah continued.
“Mama took me there.”
Stallone's heart stopped.
“When?”
“Before she went away.”
“What did she show you?”
Noah looked at Gideon.
Then whispered:
“A box.”
Stallone looked at Gideon.
“Is there a blue door in this house?”
Gideon nodded.
“The old service corridor.”
They found it behind a paneled wall on the second floor.
The door was painted a faded blue.
A brass lock held it closed.
Stallone tried the handle.
Locked.
He looked at Gideon.
“Open it.”
Gideon shook his head.
“Sir…”
“Open it.”
Gideon used a key.
The door opened.
Inside was a narrow room covered in dust.
A single wooden cabinet stood against the far wall.
Stallone crossed the room.
He opened it.
Inside was a small metal box.
Exactly like the one in Julian's hidden house.
Stallone lifted it out.
There was one object inside.
A cassette tape.
Written across its label were five words.
FOR MY HUSBAND, IF I DIE.
Stallone stared.
His wife's voice had disappeared from his life years ago.
Now, suddenly, she was waiting for him inside a locked room.
He found an old cassette player.
His hands shook as he pressed play.
Static.
Then breathing.
Then her voice.
“Stallone, if you're hearing this, don't trust…”
The tape crackled.
Her voice returned.
“…the person who tucks Noah into bed.”
Stallone slowly turned.
Everyone in the room looked at each other.
Because only one person had been doing that for months.
Helen.
His mother.
But then the recording continued.
“Not Helen.”
Stallone froze.
His wife's voice whispered:
“She is being watched too.”
The cassette player clicked.
May you like
The tape stopped.
Behind them, someone locked the blue door from the outside.
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