CHAPTER 2: THE BASEMENT FOOTAGE
Victoria's face turned white.
Not pale.
White.
Like every drop of blood had fled her body the instant Arthur mentioned the basement.
She forced a laugh.
"The basement? I haven't been down there in weeks."
Arthur didn't answer.
He simply watched her.
For fifteen long seconds.
Silence became a weapon.
Victoria hated silence.
It gave guilty people too much room to think.
Finally, she crossed her arms.
"This is ridiculous."
"Emily is frightened."
"She's imagining things."
Margaret's eyes flashed.
"She's six years old."
"She almost drowned."
"Children don't imagine fingerprints around their wrists."
Victoria shot her a venomous glare.
"You should remember you're only the nanny."
Margaret met her eyes without blinking.
"And you should remember I'm the one who pulled her out of that bathtub."
The room fell quiet again.
Arthur turned toward Margaret.
"Take Emily to Dr. Lawson."
"Stay with her."
"Don't let anyone question her until I arrive."
Margaret nodded immediately.
Emily wrapped her tiny arms around Arthur's neck one last time.
"Daddy..."
Arthur kissed the top of her wet hair.
"I'll be there soon."
"You promise?"
"I swear."
Only after Margaret carried Emily away did Arthur look back at Victoria.
The warmth in his eyes had disappeared completely.
"I asked a question."
Victoria swallowed.
"I told you."
"I wasn't in the basement."
Arthur stepped closer.
"You weren't?"
"No."
"So if I review the cameras..."
"You won't find anything."
Arthur reached into his jacket.
His phone buzzed again.
This time he answered.
"Yes."
He listened.
His expression never changed.
Only one muscle twitched in his jaw.
"I understand."
He ended the call.
"The security server wasn't disconnected."
Victoria stopped breathing.
Arthur continued.
"It failed for two hours."
"Three nights ago."
"Then it came back online."
Victoria blinked.
Impossible.
She had paid someone to erase everything.
Every second.
Every camera.
Every hallway.
Every entrance.
The technician had promised.
Arthur slowly walked past her toward the bathroom door.
"Come with me."
"Where?"
"The security room."
"I don't think that's necessary."
Arthur looked back.
"It wasn't a request."
The Carter mansion covered nearly six acres.
Guests admired its grand staircase.
Its ballroom.
Its indoor garden.
Few people knew the estate had another level beneath the house.
A maze of storage rooms.
Wine cellars.
Utility tunnels.
And a reinforced security center.
Arthur entered first.
Six enormous monitors covered an entire wall.
Marcus, the head of security, stood waiting.
His usually confident posture had vanished.
"Sir."
Arthur nodded once.
"The footage."
Marcus hesitated.
"There's... a problem."
Victoria felt hope.
Arthur noticed.
"What problem?"
Marcus cleared his throat.
"Someone deleted several files."
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
"When?"
"Three nights ago."
Victoria released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
Gone.
Everything was gone.
Arthur looked at Marcus.
"Can you recover them?"
Marcus exchanged an uneasy glance with another technician.
"We recovered fragments."
Fragments.
Victoria's heartbeat quickened again.
Arthur folded his arms.
"Show me."
The monitor flickered.
Static.
Then grainy black-and-white footage appeared.
Timestamp:
11:43 P.M.
The basement hallway.
Empty.
A few seconds later...
Emily appeared.
Barefoot.
Still wearing her pink pajamas.
She looked frightened.
She kept glancing behind her.
Victoria's smile disappeared.
"No..."
Emily stopped outside a heavy metal door.
She knocked once.
No answer.
Then the little girl turned.
Someone grabbed her arm from outside the camera's frame.
Emily flinched violently.
The image distorted.
Static swallowed half the screen.
Then...
A woman's silhouette appeared.
Tall.
Long blonde hair.
Victoria's breathing became shallow.
"No..."
The footage froze.
Marcus looked apologetic.
"That's all we recovered."
Arthur stared at the frozen image.
The face couldn't be seen.
Only the outline.
But the hair.
The height.
The pajamas.
Too familiar.
Victoria immediately spoke.
"It could be anyone."
Arthur remained silent.
Marcus wasn't finished.
"We found another clip."
He loaded a second recording.
Timestamp:
12:08 A.M.
Another basement camera.
Emily sat alone on the floor.
Crying.
She hugged her knees.
No adult nearby.
Arthur frowned.
"Where did the woman go?"
Marcus shook his head.
"The files between these clips are missing."
Arthur leaned closer.
"What else?"
Marcus hesitated.
"There was audio."
Victoria closed her eyes.
Please.
No.
Marcus pressed Play.
Static filled the room.
Crackling.
Buzzing.
Then a faint child's voice.
"...please..."
Another burst of interference.
"...I won't tell Daddy..."
Arthur froze.
Emily again.
"...please don't lock me..."
Victoria grabbed the edge of the desk.
The room seemed to spin.
The recording continued.
A woman's voice.
Too distorted to identify.
Only one sentence remained understandable.
"...then stay quiet forever."
The audio ended.
Nobody spoke.
Marcus looked sick.
Even the technicians avoided eye contact.
Arthur slowly turned toward Victoria.
She shook her head frantically.
"The recording is damaged."
"You can't know that's me."
Arthur asked quietly,
"Then who is it?"
"I don't know!"
"Who else has access to the basement?"
Victoria opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Arthur noticed.
"You can't answer."
"I..."
"You can't."
Because she knew.
Very few people had access.
Arthur.
Marcus.
The maintenance supervisor.
And...
Victoria.
Arthur looked at Marcus.
"Who deleted the files?"
Marcus swallowed.
"The security system keeps administrator logs."
Victoria felt her knees weaken.
"There was only one login."
Arthur's voice became deadly calm.
"Whose account?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
He looked at Victoria.
Then back to Arthur.
"It was..."
Before he could finish, every monitor inside the security room suddenly went black.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the entire mansion lost power.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Someone screamed upstairs.
Emergency alarms erupted throughout the house.
Red backup lights flashed across the walls.
Marcus shouted,
"Backup generator!"
One technician ran toward the control panel.
Another checked the servers.
Then came a voice over the security radio.
Panicked.
Broken.
"Code Black!"
"Code Black!"
Marcus grabbed the radio.
"What happened?"
The answer made every person in the room go still.
"The child..."
"Emily is gone."
Arthur's head snapped toward the radio.
"What do you mean gone?"
"Dr. Lawson's examination room is empty."
"The nanny is unconscious."
"The window has been shattered."
"And..."
The guard's voice trembled.
"We found a handwritten note."
Arthur's fingers tightened so hard around the radio that his knuckles turned white.
"What note?"
A long silence followed.
May you like
Then the guard whispered the message exactly as it had been written.
"If you want to see your daughter alive again... stop looking at the basement."
