Chapter 4 - The Father Who Arrived Too SoonRobert didn't ask whether Noah was exaggerating.
That surprised him.
His father crossed the road in three strides and grabbed his shoulders.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
Martin interrupted.
“Robert, we need to—”
“Not you.”
Martin stopped.
Robert examined the rope marks on Noah's clothes and wrists.
Then looked at Emily.
“Tell me.”
Emily started crying.
“Mrs. Whitmore tied him to the tree.”
Robert went completely still.
“What?”
“She made me throw a rock at the hive.”
“Why?”
Emily couldn't answer.
Noah held up Victoria's phone.
“She wanted it to look like the bees killed me.”
Robert stared.
For several seconds he looked as if his brain physically rejected the sentence.
Then Martin stepped closer.
“This is getting out of control.”
Noah turned.
“He texted her.”
Martin's face remained calm.
Robert looked at him.
“What?”
Noah showed him the locked screen.
The notifications had disappeared after remote disablement.
Nothing.
Martin almost smiled.
“There's no message.”
“There was.”
“From me?”
“Yes.”
Martin shook his head sadly.
“Robert, I think Noah may be in shock.”
Noah lunged forward.
“You bastard—”
Robert caught him.
“Hey.”
“He told her to make it look like an accident!”
Martin sighed.
Thomas stood beside the SUV.
Silent.
Robert noticed him.
“Why are you here?”
Thomas answered carefully.
“Martin called security.”
“Why?”
“He said Noah was missing.”
Robert's eyes returned to Martin.
“When did you know Noah was missing?”
Martin hesitated.
“Victoria called me.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Noah laughed.
“Before or after she tried to kill me?”
Martin ignored him.
Robert looked at Emily.
“Where is Victoria?”
“In the garden.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Robert pulled out his phone and called 911.
Martin's calm slipped.
“You don't need police yet.”
Robert looked at him.
“My son says someone tried to murder him.”
“You don't know what happened.”
“Exactly.”
He gave the dispatcher the address.
Martin's jaw tightened.
Noah saw it.
Good.
Police were a problem for him.
Robert ended the call.
“Everyone stays here.”
Martin smiled.
“You don't command me.”
“No.”
Robert stepped closer.
“But until cops arrive, if you come anywhere near my son, you'll find out how much I don't care about your opinion.”
Martin's smile died.
They waited.
Ten minutes.
Then sheriff's vehicles arrived.
Victoria was found near the garden path.
Alive.
In pain.
Furious.
And ready.
Her story was immediate.
Noah had been angry because she confronted him about drugs she claimed to have found in his bedroom.
He became violent.
He threatened her.
Emily intervened.
Noah attacked both women.
The rope?
Victoria said Noah had been “playing some kind of stupid stunt” near the tree before losing control.
The hive?
Accidental.
The gunshot?
Victoria said she carried a licensed pistol because coyotes occasionally crossed the property.
Noah had tried to take it.
Every lie contained enough truth to sound possible.
Robert listened.
Noah watched his father's face.
For three years, this was where Victoria usually won.
She spoke calmly.
Noah got angry.
Robert tried to “find the middle.”
This time something was different.
When Victoria finished, Robert asked,
“Where are the drugs?”
She blinked.
“What?”
“The drugs you found.”
“In his room.”
“Where?”
“I left them.”
Robert nodded.
“Then police can find them.”
Victoria's eyes moved toward Martin.
Tiny.
Fast.
Robert saw it.
The sheriff saw it too.
Deputies searched Noah's bedroom.
They found a bag of pills inside his desk.
Noah stared at them.
“I've never seen those.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
“Oh, Noah.”
Robert looked at her.
She performed heartbreak perfectly.
Sheriff Colton bagged the pills.
“Anyone else have access to the room?”
“Household staff,” Victoria answered.
Emily stepped forward.
“I cleaned his room this morning.”
Victoria looked at her.
There it was.
The next scapegoat.
Emily understood too.
“No.”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know what to believe anymore.”
Noah wanted to scream.
Then Robert spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
He looked at Victoria.
“You told me Noah attacked you before Emily arrived.”
Victoria froze.
“I…”
Robert continued.
“But you just told the sheriff Emily intervened while he was attacking you.”
Victoria recovered.
“I was confused.”
“No.”
Robert's voice remained quiet.
“You're rehearsed.”
Noah stared at his father.
Robert turned toward Sheriff Colton.
“I want the house locked down.”
“Mr. Whitmore—”
“There are cameras.”
Victoria's face changed.
Noah's heartbeat jumped.
Security cameras covered most entrances, halls, and exterior paths.
Not the far garden.
But they might show Victoria and Emily taking Noah outside.
Thomas finally spoke.
“System is down.”
Robert looked at him.
“What?”
“Server failure.”
“When?”
Thomas hesitated.
“About an hour ago.”
Noah almost laughed.
Of course.
Robert didn't.
He looked at Thomas.
Then Martin.
Then Victoria.
Three people.
One missing hour.
Robert's expression became colder.
“Sheriff.”
“Yes?”
“I think someone inside my house erased the cameras.”
Thomas said,
“That's ridiculous.”
Then a deputy entered from the mansion.
“Sheriff?”
He held a small black device.
“We found this connected behind the security server.”
Thomas went pale.
The deputy continued.
“Looks like an external drive.”
Robert stared at his head of security.
Thomas whispered,
“I've never seen that before.”
The deputy turned it over.
A handwritten label was taped underneath.
May you like
BACKUP — THOMAS B.
And for the first time, the man who had guarded Noah since childhood looked truly afraid.
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