Chapter 4 - THE MAN INSIDE THE HOUSEMarco was out of the security room before Autumn could speak.
He came smiling.
That was the first thing Autumn noticed.
Not hurried.
Not nervous.
Smiling.
He stepped out of a black Mercedes wearing a navy suit and carrying a bakery box tied with white string.
Security had already been doubled, yet Gabriel strolled through the front gates as if nothing had changed.
“Where’s my favorite niece?” he called.
Dominic watched him from the upstairs security room.
Wren sat against Autumn on a leather couch, wrapped in a blanket despite the August heat.
Marco stood near the monitors.
“Want me to stop him outside?” Marco asked.
“No,” Dominic said.
Autumn looked at him.
“You’re letting him inside?”
“I want to hear what he says.”
“Your daughter just accused him of terrifying her for two years.”
“My daughter said a distorted voice belongs to him.”
“She said he killed her mother.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“And I am going to find out whether someone taught her to say that.”
Autumn almost snapped back.
Then she stopped.
This was his brother.
His only sibling.
Gabriel had reportedly helped build Dominic’s empire from nothing.
Trust did not collapse neatly.
Even in the face of horror, part of Dominic was still desperately searching for another explanation.
Gabriel entered the foyer.
“Dom?”
Dominic pressed an intercom button.
“Library.”
Two minutes later, Gabriel walked into the room downstairs.
Dominic went to meet him.
Autumn remained upstairs with Wren and Marco, watching through the cameras.
Gabriel placed the bakery box on a table.
“You close the gates, confiscate everyone’s phones, and don’t answer mine. Should I be worried?”
Dominic sat opposite him.
“Where were you yesterday at nine?”
Gabriel laughed.
“What?”
“Answer.”
Gabriel studied him.
Then something subtle changed.
Not fear.
Calculation.
“At home.”
“Alone?”
“No. Celia was there.”
His wife.
Dominic nodded.
“You ever go into Wren’s bedroom when she isn’t there?”
Gabriel leaned back.
“What is this?”
“Answer.”
“Of course. I’ve helped put her to bed a hundred times.”
“Do you know she cries every night at nine?”
Gabriel’s expression softened convincingly.
“I know she struggles.”
“Do you know why?”
“She lost her mother.”
Upstairs, Wren began trembling.
Autumn held her tighter.
Gabriel continued.
“You lost Isabelle too. Grief doesn’t follow rules.”
Dominic’s gaze remained fixed on him.
“Do you recognize this?”
He placed the blue music box on the table.
Gabriel looked at it.
Just briefly.
But Autumn saw his pupils change.
Marco saw it too.
“That belonged to Isabelle,” Gabriel said.
Dominic leaned forward.
“You told me you’d never seen it before.”
Gabriel blinked.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“When?”
“Three months after the funeral. Wren kept asking for a blue box. You said you didn’t know what she meant.”
Gabriel smiled faintly.
“Dom, that was two years ago.”
“And now you remember?”
“I’ve probably seen a hundred toys in this house.”
Dominic opened the music box.
The ballerina turned.
Gabriel’s smile disappeared.
Upstairs, Wren whimpered.
Autumn whispered, “You’re safe.”
Gabriel looked toward the ceiling.
“Is Wren here?”
Dominic did not answer.
“You shouldn’t interrogate me over some toy in front of her.”
“She isn’t in the room.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Autumn stared at the monitor.
Gabriel somehow seemed aware that Wren was nearby.
Dominic changed tactics.
“Tell me about Isabelle’s accident.”
Gabriel’s eyes sharpened.
“We’ve been over this.”
“One more time.”
“She was driving home from Lake Geneva. A truck crossed the median.”
“Why was she in Lake Geneva?”
“She was visiting someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Interesting.”
Gabriel sat back.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
Dominic reached into his pocket.
He removed the threatening photograph.
Gabriel read the message.
His expression transformed.
“My God.”
Autumn watched closely.
It was perfect.
Shock.
Concern.
Disbelief.
Too perfect.
“Where did you find this?”
“Wren’s room.”
“You need to get her out of this house.”
Dominic’s expression remained unreadable.
“Why?”
“Because whoever put that there had access.”
“So did you.”
Gabriel stood.
“Oh, come on.”
“Sit.”
“I’m your brother, not one of your soldiers.”
“Sit down.”
For one frightening second, neither man moved.
Then Gabriel sat.
Upstairs, Marco muttered, “He’s hiding something.”
Autumn looked at him.
“You already suspected him?”
Marco didn’t answer.
That answer was enough.
“You did.”
Marco stared at the monitor.
“Two months before Isabelle died, she asked me something.”
“What?”
“She wanted to know whether Dominic kept backups of company accounts somewhere Gabriel couldn’t access.”
Autumn’s pulse quickened.
“What did you tell her?”
“That I didn’t know.”
“Was that true?”
Marco hesitated.
“No.”
Autumn stared at him.
“You lied to her?”
“I was loyal to Dominic.”
“And Isabelle?”
“I thought she was trying to protect herself financially.”
“From whom?”
“I didn’t know.”
Downstairs, Gabriel leaned forward.
“Dom, think. Somebody wants us fighting.”
“Who?”
“Our enemies. Pick one.”
“They know my daughter’s bedtime?”
“Employees talk.”
“They remotely trigger a modified toy inside her bedroom every night?”
That shook Gabriel.
“What did you say?”
Dominic’s gaze sharpened.
“You didn’t know?”
Gabriel’s face drained.
Dominic continued.
“The box contains a transmitter.”
For the first time, Gabriel looked genuinely afraid.
But not of being caught.
Of something else.
He stood abruptly.
“You need to destroy it.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“Destroy the box.”
“Why?”
“Because Isabelle found it.”
Autumn leaned toward the screen.
Dominic remained motionless.
“Explain.”
Gabriel paced once across the library.
Then lowered his voice.
“Six weeks before she died, Isabelle came to me. She said she thought someone had planted listening devices in the house.”
Dominic’s anger rose.
“And you never told me?”
“She begged me not to.”
“Why?”
“She thought the person responsible was someone close to you.”
Dominic stared.
“Who?”
“She never said.”
“Then why did Wren name you?”
Gabriel stopped.
The silence stretched.
Finally he said:
“Because someone wants her to.”
Upstairs, Wren suddenly spoke.
“He’s lying.”
Autumn looked down.
Wren was staring at the monitor.
“How do you know?”
“Because Mommy did tell him.”
“Tell him what?”
Wren swallowed.
“Who she was scared of.”
Autumn crouched in front of her.
“Did you hear them talking?”
The girl nodded.
“What did your mother say?”
Wren looked toward the monitor again.
“She said, ‘Gabriel, if anything happens to me, you know who did it.’”
Autumn’s stomach tightened.
“And what did Gabriel say?”
Wren whispered:
“‘Then stop digging before Dominic loses both of you.’”
On the monitor, Gabriel was still talking.
Dominic was listening.
Neither man knew Wren had just remembered the conversation that could change everything.
Autumn reached for the intercom.
Marco grabbed her wrist.
“Wait.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because if Gabriel isn’t the man…”
He glanced toward the camera feeds.
“…then whoever is may be watching us right now.”
Autumn slowly looked around the security room.
Twenty-four camera feeds covered the mansion.
Hallways.
Kitchen.
Garage.
Grounds.
Front gate.
Then she saw it.
Camera twelve.
Wren’s bedroom.
A figure stood beside the bed.
But Wren was sitting beside Autumn.
Dominic and Gabriel were downstairs.
Every employee had supposedly been accounted for.
Autumn pointed.
“Who is that?”
Marco turned.
The figure on the screen wore black gloves.
He picked up Wren’s pillow.
Placed something beneath it.
May you like
Then looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
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