CHAPTER 9 Someone Was Watching
The red warning remained on the monitor.
REMOTE CONNECTION ESTABLISHED
No one spoke.
The only sounds in the underground office were the hum of the computer and the rain pounding against the mansion above.
Adrian stepped toward the keyboard.
"Disconnect it."
Natalie reached for the network cable and yanked it free.
Nothing changed.
The warning remained.
Rachel frowned.
"It isn't using the Internet."
The message flickered.
Another line appeared beneath it.
LOCAL BACKUP PROTOCOL ACTIVE
Adrian's stomach tightened.
"Someone installed an independent system."
Before anyone could react, every monitor in the room came to life at once.
One.
Two.
Three.
Until all twelve screens glowed.
Each displayed a different camera angle.
Not live security footage.
Recordings.
The mansion's foyer.
The dining room.
The garage.
Claire's dressing room.
The garden.
Dozens of dates appeared in the corners.
Every recording had been made before Claire died.
Natalie whispered,
"She recorded everything."
Then one monitor changed.
A video began playing automatically.
The date read:
Three Days Before the Crash
The camera overlooked the mansion's rear entrance.
At 11:42 p.m., Madison stepped into view.
She looked over her shoulder twice before unlocking the back door with a key.
Rachel stared.
"She had a key?"
Adrian nodded slowly.
"I gave her one."
On the screen, Madison disappeared inside.
Exactly thirty seconds later...
Another figure approached.
The gray-haired man.
He never rang the bell.
He never knocked.
Madison opened the door before he reached it.
She had been expecting him.
The video ended.
A second recording began.
Two Days Before the Crash
Claire stood in the library, speaking on the phone.
There was no audio.
Only video.
She looked frightened.
Then she noticed something.
She turned toward the bookshelf.
Walked directly to it.
Reached behind several books.
And removed...
A tiny hidden camera.
Claire stared straight into its lens.
Her expression changed.
She smiled.
Not because she was happy.
Because she finally understood.
She looked directly into the camera and mouthed six silent words.
Natalie leaned closer.
"What did she say?"
Adrian replayed the clip.
Again.
And again.
Claire's lips moved slowly enough to read.
They're watching every room.
Rachel shivered.
"They bugged the house."
The next recording started automatically.
One Day Before the Crash
Claire entered the underground office.
The very room they were standing in.
She placed the blue porcelain bird on the desk.
Carefully twisted one wing.
A tiny compartment opened inside.
She removed something no larger than a coin.
Then hid it somewhere outside the camera's view.
Not inside the bird.
Somewhere else.
She smiled faintly.
As if satisfied.
Then she looked toward the camera.
Again.
She knew it was there.
Instead of hiding...
She walked directly toward it.
Until her face filled the screen.
She whispered something.
This time...
There was audio.
Very faint.
The speakers hissed.
Then Claire's voice emerged.
"If you're seeing this before Adrian..."
"...I've already lost."
The screen suddenly filled with static.
The recording ended.
Adrian clenched his fists.
"Someone edited the footage."
"They removed the rest," Natalie said.
Before anyone could continue...
The center monitor changed again.
This wasn't old footage.
It was live.
The front gate of the mansion.
Everyone froze.
Headlights approached through the rain.
One black SUV.
Then another.
Then a third.
Four vehicles rolled slowly through the open gates.
Rachel's voice trembled.
"Who are they?"
The security booth appeared empty.
No guards.
No movement.
The first SUV stopped in the driveway.
Its doors opened.
Six men stepped out.
All wearing black raincoats.
All carrying flashlights.
One carried what looked unmistakably like a rifle case.
Natalie whispered,
"They're here."
Emma looked at the screen.
"They're late."
Adrian stared at her.
"What do you mean?"
"The pretty lady said they'd come sooner."
A cold silence settled over the room.
On the monitor, one of the men looked directly toward the hidden camera.
Then...
He smiled.
Not at the camera.
At Adrian.
As though he knew Adrian was watching.
The man slowly raised one hand.
He held up three fingers.
Folded one down.
Then another.
Leaving only one.
Natalie frowned.
"What is he doing?"
The final finger lowered.
At that exact instant...
Every light in the underground office went out.
The monitors died.
The emergency battery shut off.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A loud metallic slam echoed above them.
The hidden clock door.
Someone had closed it.
Rachel gasped.
"They've trapped us."
Adrian switched on his phone's flashlight.
The beam barely cut through the darkness.
He ran toward the staircase.
The iron door was still open.
But when he reached the top...
The grandfather clock no longer moved.
He pushed against it.
Nothing.
From the other side...
Something heavy had been placed in front of it.
They were sealed underground.
Then...
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Not above them.
Behind them.
Inside the underground office.
Adrian spun around.
His flashlight swept across the room.
Empty shelves.
The desk.
The old tape recorder.
Nothing.
Another step.
Closer.
Natalie whispered,
"Did you hear that?"
Adrian nodded.
The sound hadn't come from the hallway.
It had come from inside the hidden office itself.
Emma pointed toward the far wall.
"There."
The flashlight beam landed on a section of exposed stone.
For a moment...
Nothing happened.
Then a narrow outline appeared.
A door.
Perfectly hidden within the wall.
It slowly creaked open.
A voice emerged from the darkness beyond.
Calm.
Familiar.
And impossible.
"Adrian..."
"...you've finally found my real office."
Claire's voice.
May you like
Alive.
END OF CHAPTER 9
