Chapter 3 - The Cameras
At 2:14 a.m., Claire called the security company that had installed the original surveillance system.
The technician initially refused to discuss archived recordings.
Then Rebecca identified herself as counsel and informed him that evidence preservation notices were already being prepared.
His tone changed quickly.
By the time Claire’s plane landed outside Washington, they had confirmation.
There had been fourteen hidden cameras inside the La Jolla mansion.
Claire knew about six.
Eight had never appeared on her security dashboard.
One had been concealed inside the upstairs hallway smoke detector.
Another had been built into the nursery’s bookshelf.
A third had been hidden near Claire’s private desk.
The remote administrator was not Adrian.
It was Malcolm Vale.
Claire closed her eyes.
Suddenly, years of strange moments made sense.
Adrian knowing about purchases she had never mentioned.
Evelyn criticizing conversations Claire had only had privately.
Malcolm asking Noah questions about visitors.
They had not merely treated her like a dependent wife.
They had monitored her.
Rebecca touched her arm.
“Claire.”
Claire opened her eyes.
“You cannot react emotionally now.”
“I know.”
“You have something they don’t.”
Claire looked at her.
“What?”
“They don’t know we recovered the cloud backups before Malcolm started deleting them.”
For the first time that morning, Claire smiled.
Meanwhile, Adrian stood in his parents’ kitchen staring at his mother.
“You knew about cameras?”
Evelyn looked toward the doorway.
“Lower your voice.”
“In my house?”
“It was for protection.”
“Protection from whom?”
Evelyn’s silence answered him.
“Claire?”
“She was Eleanor Whitmore’s daughter.”
“She was my wife.”
“That never changed whose daughter she was.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You thought Claire would eventually come after Dad.”
“We knew she might learn things.”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“What things?”
Before Evelyn could answer, the doorbell rang.
Two men stood outside.
One carried a legal envelope.
“Adrian Vale?”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been served.”
He tore the envelope open.
Divorce petition.
Temporary custody request.
Asset preservation order.
And a notice demanding the preservation of all electronic recordings involving Claire and Noah Vale.
Adrian looked up sharply.
The hidden cameras.
Claire already knew.
His phone rang again.
Savannah.
For half a second, relief passed across his face.
He answered.
“Baby, I need you.”
Savannah’s voice trembled.
“Adrian, something happened.”
“What?”
“There are two federal investigators outside my apartment.”
Adrian’s face went blank.
“Why?”
“They’re asking about Reed Capital.”
He closed his eyes.
May you like
Then Savannah whispered the sentence that terrified him.
“They know about the transfers you told me to hide.”
