CHAPTER FIVE #2
“I began with a stolen bracelet.”
“You began distrusting her at the gate.”
“She has justified it daily.”
Julian placed the tablet on the counter. “Damian, regardless of who used the code, the account is compromised. Revoke it. Reissue all administrative credentials. Audit every device connected to the estate system.”
“Do it,” Damian told Mateo.
“And restrict access until the audit is complete,” Alyssa said.
Damian nodded. “Agreed.”
“Vanessa should remain in the guesthouse.”
“She already does.”
“She enters the main house whenever she chooses.”
“For meals.”
“She was near your study yesterday.”
Damian looked at Carmen.
Carmen confirmed it with a reluctant nod. “I saw her in the corridor.”
“She said she was looking for the library,” Alyssa added.
“The rooms are beside each other,” Damian said.
“The library is on the opposite side of the house.”
“She is unfamiliar with the layout.”
“She remembered it before crossing the front door.”
Damian rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll speak to her.”
“No. Restrict her card.”
“She does not have one.”
“That has not stopped her.”
A security officer entered and handed Mateo a printout.
Mateo scanned it. “The guesthouse entry log shows three staff visits this morning. Housekeeping, catering and the nurse.”
“Anything unusual?” Julian asked.
“No.”
Damian looked at Alyssa. “Charles may be attempting to penetrate the estate network. Security needs to know where Vanessa and Sophie are at all times.”
“Agreed.”
“I’m issuing Vanessa a temporary access card.”
Alyssa thought she had misheard him.
“You are expanding her access because footage was deleted?”
“The card will log her movements.”
“It will also open the main house.”
“Public rooms only.”
“She found your bedroom without one.”
“Which is why a recorded card is safer than staff opening doors whenever she knocks.”
“Make her request an escort.”
“That treats her like a prisoner.”
“She is a guest suspected of stealing from me.”
“Suspected by you.”
The words landed harder in front of staff.
Julian glanced at the monitors. Mateo studied the printout with great dedication. Carmen’s face showed nothing.
Alyssa kept her voice even. “The bracelet was in her bag.”
“We have discussed this.”
“You have avoided it.”
Damian took the new access card from Mateo. “Program this for the guesthouse, main entrance, kitchen and family room. No private floor, offices or security areas.”
Mateo nodded.
“Damian,” Alyssa said.
He turned.
“Do not give her access to my home over my objection.”
His gaze held hers.
“Our home,” he said.
The correction had become a weapon.
Alyssa looked at the card between his fingers. “You use that phrase only when you want your decision to outrank mine.”
“That is unfair.”
“So is granting your former fiancée more freedom after evidence disappears.”
“We do not know that Vanessa removed it.”
“You know I did not.”
“I never accused you.”
“No. You ask whether I forgot.”
Damian’s face tightened.
Julian picked up his tablet. “I’ll oversee the device audit.”
He left with Mateo, taking the staff witnesses with him. Carmen remained near the door until Alyssa dismissed her with a nod.
Once they were alone, Damian placed the card on the counter.
“I am trying to protect everyone in this house.”
“Vanessa is the only person whose comfort improves after each incident.”
“Her movements will be logged.”
“Unless another six hours vanish.”
“The new credentials will prevent that.”
“Provided she does not photograph the next password from your desk.”
His gaze sharpened. “That is speculation.”
“Carmen saw her near your study.”
“Near it.”
“You defend every inch separately. The shirt came from our bedroom, but perhaps she wandered. The bracelet came from her bag, but perhaps I misplaced it. The footage was removed with your code, but perhaps Charles hacked the system from Naples.”
“Charles has motive.”
“So does Vanessa.”
“For what?”
Alyssa looked at him.
He knew the answer. Refusing to name it allowed him to treat it as jealousy.
“To replace me,” she said.
Damian stared at her for several seconds. “You cannot believe that.”
“She told me I no longer satisfy your need to rescue people.”
“She apologized.”
“She burned her hand ten seconds later.”
“You are connecting accidents because you dislike the pattern they create.”
“I dislike the pattern because I can see it.”
His voice lowered. “Vanessa is not trying to steal your life.”
“She already wears your clothes, tells stories about the house you planned for her and presents herself to reporters as another woman inside our marriage.”
“You are my wife.”
“Start acting as though that carries authority.”
“It carries every authority that matters.”
“Except credibility.”
The control-room door opened before he answered.
Sophie stood there.
Vanessa remained several feet behind her in the garage corridor, one hand pressed to her throat.
“I told her not to come in,” Vanessa said.
Sophie looked at Alyssa. “Are you making us leave?”
Alyssa stepped away from the counter. “No.”
“Mom said security is changing because of us.”
“Security changes when there is a problem.”
“Are we the problem?”
“No.”
Vanessa approached slowly. “She heard the guards talking.”
Damian moved toward Sophie. “Nobody is sending you away.”
The girl looked at Alyssa instead. “Do you hate us?”
“No.”
“You don’t want us here.”
“That is an adult matter. It is not your fault.”
Vanessa lowered herself beside Sophie. “Mrs Vader has every right to want her home back.”
Alyssa felt the trap close.
“You have not lost your home,” Vanessa told the child. “Damian is trying to keep us safe.”
“Stop,” Alyssa said.
Vanessa looked up. “I’m reassuring her.”
“You are teaching her that I am the reason she might become homeless.”
“I would never do that.”
Sophie’s eyes filled. “Mom said if you make us go, Dad will find us.”
Vanessa went pale. “Sweetheart, that isn’t what I said.”
“You said Mrs Vader wants us out.”
“I said she values privacy.”
“That is enough,” Damian said.
He reached for Sophie. The child stepped into him at once, burying her face against his shirt.
Vanessa stood and covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. She has been frightened for weeks. I should have chosen my words more carefully.”
Damian rested a hand on Sophie’s back. His attention went to Alyssa.
As though Vanessa’s apology required a response from her.
Alyssa looked at the child trembling against her husband and chose each word with care.
“You are safe today,” she told Sophie. “Adults are deciding where your mother can stay while the police investigate. You do not need to earn a place here. You do not need to be good enough. None of this is your responsibility.”
Sophie lifted her face.
Vanessa’s expression remained soft. Her eyes did not.
Damian handed her the temporary access card.
“This will open the guesthouse, kitchen and family room,” he said. “Use only those areas.”
Vanessa stared at it. “I don’t need access to the house.”
“It lets security track movement.”
“If Alyssa is uncomfortable—”
“My comfort has not influenced the decision,” Alyssa said.
Damian gave her a warning look.
Vanessa accepted the card.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
By late afternoon, a thunderstorm had moved over the bay.
Alyssa worked in her office with the door locked.
She sent the security timestamps, bracelet photographs and a written account of the missing footage to a private folder on the foundation’s external server. Damian’s name appeared in none of the file titles. Vanessa’s did.
At five-thirty, Sophie knocked.
Alyssa opened the door.
The child held a folded drawing. “This is for you.”
Alyssa took it.
Sophie had drawn the estate from the water. The main house filled the center of the page. A small figure stood at one upstairs window.
“Is that me?”
Sophie nodded.
“Where are you?”
“In the guesthouse.”
Alyssa found the smaller building near the edge of the paper. Sophie had drawn herself beside Vanessa under a dark roof.
“Thank you,” Alyssa said.
Sophie looked down the corridor. “Mom says you think Dad hacked the cameras.”
“Charles is your father.”
“I call him Dad.”
“Of course.”
“She says Damian will protect us.”
“I’m sure he will.”
“Will you?”
Alyssa studied the child’s anxious face.
“Yes.”