Chapter 4 - EVERETT’S BEST FRIEND HAD ACCESS TO HIS BEDROOM CAMERASGraham Voss answered on the third ring.
“Everett?”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“Home.”
“Stay there.”
“What happened?”
Everett looked at Julian.
At the private-server address.
At the footage of Seraphina.
“Did Vantage receive video from my house?”
Silence.
That silence answered too much.
“Graham.”
“It’s complicated.”
Everett almost laughed.
“Then simplify it.”
“I can explain.”
“Did you have access to my cameras?”
“Yes.”
Doreen gasped.
Everett’s hand tightened around the phone.
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Years?”
“It started with Laurel.”
The room went completely quiet.
Everett whispered:
“What did you say?”
“Laurel asked me to set up an off-site backup.”
“When?”
“About four months before she died.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“She asked me not to tell you.”
Everett closed his eyes.
“Of course she did.”
Everyone had been protecting him through secrecy.
Or using that excuse.
“Why did Laurel want hidden backups?”
“She believed someone was entering the house when both of you were gone.”
“Who?”
“She didn’t know.”
“Did the cameras catch them?”
“Yes.”
Everett stopped breathing.
“Who?”
Graham hesitated.
“Seraphina.”
Everett’s vision blurred.
“My wife was in my house before Laurel died.”
“Yes.”
“How long before I supposedly met her?”
“Almost a year.”
Doreen sat down.
Everett felt like the floor moved.
Seraphina had repeatedly said she learned about Laurel from him.
She claimed she wished they could have met.
She had once stood in front of Laurel’s portrait and said:
“She must have been wonderful.”
Everett had loved her for saying it.
Now he wanted to be sick.
“What was Seraphina doing here?”
“Searching.”
“For?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
“The recorder.”
Everett’s jaw tightened.
“The old recorder Laurel hid.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Laurel copied something onto it.”
“What?”
Graham went quiet.
Everett snapped:
“Enough.”
“Not over the phone.”
“Why?”
“Because if the wrong person still has access to your system, this call might not be private.”
Everett looked at Julian.
Julian immediately began checking the mansion network.
“Come here.”
“I don’t think that’s smart.”
“Graham.”
A pause.
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
The line ended.
Everett turned to Doreen.
“How much did you know?”
“Not this.”
“Did Laurel know Seraphina personally?”
“I never heard the name.”
“What about Graham?”
“She trusted him.”
Everett laughed bitterly.
“Apparently more than she trusted me.”
Doreen’s expression softened.
“She loved you.”
“Then why did everyone hide everything from me?”
“Because you confronted problems head-on.”
“That’s usually considered good.”
“Not if the person you confront is watching your house.”
Everett stopped.
Doreen continued.
“Laurel once said she needed proof before you knew because if she told you too early, you’d walk into someone’s office and demand answers.”
She was right.
Everett hated that.
Julian lifted a hand.
“I found remote commands coming into the system.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“From Vantage?”
“No.”
“Where?”
“Another endpoint.”
He traced it.
“Someone logged in five minutes ago.”
Everett’s stomach tightened.
“Can they see us?”
Julian looked toward the camera above the security-room door.
“Yes.”
Everett slowly turned.
The green light stared back.
“Disable every camera.”
“I can cut power.”
“Do it.”
Julian reached for the system breaker.
Then stopped.
“If we cut it, we may lose volatile logs.”
“Can you isolate instead?”
“Yes.”
He unplugged the external network uplink while preserving the local recorder.
The green lights remained on.
But no traffic left the mansion.
Julian smiled.
“Now whoever was watching just went blind.”
Everett looked directly into the nearest lens.
“Good.”
A police detective named Mara Ellison arrived before Graham.
She reviewed the video.
The fake service report.
The hidden admin account.
The remote server.
Her expression hardened as the story grew.
“Mr. Whitmore, do not confront your wife alone.”
“She’s still in the house.”
“An officer is with her.”
“Good.”
“Your daughter needs a child-forensic interview.”
“I know.”
“And based on the footage Doreen recorded, child protection will be involved.”
Everett looked toward the stairs.
“Do whatever protects Hadley.”
Ellison nodded.
Then:
“Your friend Graham needs to answer questions too.”
“He’s coming.”
Right on cue, the doorbell rang.
Graham entered with both hands visible.
Tall.
Fifty.
Gray at the temples.
Usually unshakable.
Tonight he looked frightened.
Everett met him in the study.
Detective Ellison remained.
Julian too.
Graham saw the blue network diagram on the laptop.
“You found the second endpoint.”
Julian looked up.
“You knew there was one?”
Graham sat slowly.
“I discovered it two weeks ago.”
Everett stared.
“And didn’t tell me.”
“I was trying to identify who was using it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Seraphina?”
“She had admin access, but she wasn’t the only one.”
Everett felt cold.
“How many?”
“Four administrator keys existed.”
Julian frowned.
“I only see one.”
“Because three were hidden at the firmware level.”
“Who created them?”
“Laurel.”
Everett froze.
“My wife?”
Graham nodded.
“She built the surveillance trap.”
“What trap?”
“She suspected someone was stealing footage from wealthy homes.”
Everett stared.
“Stealing footage for what?”
“Leverage.”
“What kind of leverage?”
Graham looked at Detective Ellison.
“Blackmail.”
Silence.
He continued.
“Executives. Investors. Judges. Politicians. Anyone whose home had one of these systems.”
Everett’s stomach tightened.
“Northstar?”
“Not the company officially. Someone inside its enterprise-security division.”
“Why would Laurel care?”
“Because she discovered Whitmore Capital had invested in the parent company.”
Everett stopped breathing.
His firm.
His money.
Graham continued.
“She thought your investors were unknowingly financing a private surveillance network.”
“And Seraphina?”
“She worked for the contractor Laurel suspected.”
Everett’s face hardened.
“So Seraphina entered my home to steal evidence.”
“Yes.”
“And then years later married me.”
Graham looked down.
“Yes.”
Everett stepped closer.
“How much of my marriage was planned?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I genuinely don’t know.”
Before Everett could answer, Julian interrupted.
“I recovered one deleted clip.”
Everyone turned.
“When?”
“From the night before Laurel died.”
Everett went still.
Julian opened the file.
The foyer appeared.
Timestamp:
11:42 p.m.
Laurel entered the frame carrying a small black recorder.
She looked terrified.
Then another person appeared behind her.
Seraphina.
Years younger.
Everett stopped breathing.
Laurel turned and said:
“You were supposed to stay away from my daughter.”
Seraphina answered:
“I’m not here for Hadley.”
Laurel raised the recorder.
“Then tell your boss it’s over.”
Everett leaned closer.
Seraphina’s face hardened.
May you like
“You have no idea who my boss is.”
The clip cut to black.
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