Chapter 5 - The Man Who Watched the DoorThomas Bell arrived at the estate before sunrise.
He hadn't slept.
The night before, Edward had called him three times.
Thomas ignored the first two calls.
He answered the third.
"Where's the backup copy?" Edward demanded.
"Somewhere safe."
"You're not authorized to retain household recordings."
"Mr. Mercer instructed me to preserve them."
Edward lowered his voice.
"You think Julian will protect you when Warren finds out?"
Thomas looked at the laptop on his kitchen table.
Six recordings.
Six occasions when a helpless child had cried while adults remained close enough to help.
And Thomas had stood in that house.
He hadn't known about every incident.
But he had seen enough to suspect something was wrong.
"Why didn't you stop her?" he asked.
Edward laughed bitterly.
"Because we were employed to protect the family."
"The child is family."
A long silence followed.
Then Edward said, "Be very careful."
Thomas ended the call.
Now, standing in Julian's office, he placed a thin folder on the desk.
"These are my shift notes."
Julian opened it.
Handwritten dates.
Times.
Door assignments.
Short descriptions of movements throughout the estate.
"I thought security maintained everything electronically," Julian said.
"We do. But I keep my own log. I learned a long time ago that electronic records can disappear."
Julian looked up.
"Disappear?"
Thomas nodded.
"Sometimes cameras went offline. Mr. Collins said there were technical problems."
"How often?"
"Whenever Miss Hart took Lily into the music room."
Julian stopped turning pages.
"Every time?"
"Not every time. But often enough that I started writing down when it happened."
He pointed to one entry.
10:14 a.m. — South hallway feed disabled. E.C. confirmed maintenance.
Another.
11:06 a.m. — Music room hallway feed unavailable. Child crying heard.
A third.
9:42 a.m. — Camera restored after C.H. exits music room.
Julian read the initials.
E.C.
Edward Collins.
C.H.
Celeste Hart.
A cold pressure built behind his ribs.
"Did you ever ask him why?"
"Twice. The second time, he threatened to replace me."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Thomas lowered his eyes.
"Because I thought I needed proof."
Julian wanted to demand more.
Why hadn't Thomas intervened sooner?
Why had everyone waited until Lily was terrified?
But the anger rising in him had a familiar edge.
The same force that had driven his hands against Claire's piano.
He pushed his chair back and stood.
Thomas stiffened.
Julian walked toward the window.
He looked out across the lawns Claire had loved.
Then he said quietly, "You should have spoken up."
"I know."
"So should I."
Thomas stared at him.
"I kept telling myself things were fine," Julian continued. "I was busy. Celeste seemed capable. Warren handled the finances. Edward handled security."
He turned.
"And Lily couldn't tell me what was happening in words I understood."
Thomas swallowed.
Julian took a breath.
"That doesn't make your silence right. But I need you to keep telling the truth."
Thomas nodded.
He opened a second folder.
"There's more."
It contained printed notices from the estate's security system.
Most showed routine maintenance.
But three included administrative access records.
On each occasion, someone with Edward's credentials had disabled the south hallway camera remotely.
Julian examined the entries.
"Can these be authenticated?"
"The provider keeps its own event history. I saved these, but we should request certified records."
Julian immediately forwarded the documents to Nora.
Then his phone rang.
Warren.
Julian answered on speaker.
"Good morning, little brother," Warren said smoothly.
Thomas froze.
Julian said nothing.
Warren continued.
"I hear you've fired half your security staff."
"No one's been fired."
"Well, I'm told you're conducting some kind of investigation."
"I'm protecting my daughter."
"You're embarrassing yourself."
Julian tightened his grip on the phone.
"Why are there fake medical expenses in Lily's trust reports?"
Silence.
Then Warren chuckled.
"Careful. You don't understand those accounts."
"Then explain them."
"Not over the phone."
"Why not?"
"Because you have a more immediate problem."
Julian heard a faint tapping sound.
Warren was typing.
A message arrived.
It contained a video.
Julian opened it.
The footage showed him shoving Claire's piano.
The camera angle excluded Lily.
It excluded Celeste's threats.
It excluded everything that had happened before he lost control.
Only Julian's violent outburst remained.
Warren spoke again.
"Imagine what a judge would think of that."
Julian stared at the screen.
May you like
His brother wasn't merely aware of the recording.
He was threatening to use it.
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