Chapter 2 - THE LOCKED DOORS
The customers rushed toward the entrance.
The steel doors would not move.
A wealthy man pounded against the glass.
“Open this door!”
Vincent raised both hands.
“Please remain calm.”
“This is only a temporary security malfunction.”
Noah ran back to the control panel.
He pressed several commands.
Nothing responded.
“The system isn’t malfunctioning,” he said.
“Someone activated the emergency lockdown from the manager’s office.”
All eyes turned toward Vincent.
Vincent’s face remained still.
“That is impossible.”
Noah pointed toward the dark monitors.
“Only three people have authorization.”
“Me.”
“You.”
“And the owner.”
Mrs. De Los Santos folded her arms.
“This employee is becoming hysterical.”
Valentina looked toward the manager’s office.
The door was slightly open.
A shadow moved behind the frosted glass.
“Mom,” she whispered.
“Someone is in there.”
Elena turned.
Vincent immediately stepped in front of the office.
“There is no one inside.”
Valentina pointed.
“I saw someone.”
Vincent lowered his voice.
“You have caused enough trouble today.”
Elena moved between him and her daughter.
“Do not speak to her like that.”
“She did nothing wrong.”
Vincent looked at Elena with quiet contempt.
“People like you should be grateful you were allowed through the door.”
The customers went silent again.
Elena’s face tightened.
“People like me?”
Vincent did not answer.
Noah left the control desk.
“We need to contact the police.”
Mrs. De Los Santos moved quickly.
“No police.”
Noah looked at her.
“You framed a child for theft.”
“You do not get to decide that.”
She leaned close to him.
“You have no idea what you are involving yourself in.”
Noah’s jaw tightened.
“I know exactly what I saw.”
He reached for the phone behind the counter.
The line was dead.
He pulled out his cell phone.
There was no signal.
“The signal jammer is active,” he said.
A woman near the entrance looked terrified.
“What kind of jewelry store has a signal jammer?”
Vincent’s eyes shifted toward Mrs. De Los Santos.
Elena saw it.
This was not a random act.
It was planned.
Valentina squeezed her hand.
“Mom, I want to go home.”
“We will,” Elena said.
She hoped her daughter could not hear the fear in her voice.
Noah opened a cabinet beneath the surveillance desk.
The backup drive was missing.
He turned toward Vincent.
“Where is it?”
Vincent shrugged.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“The backup drive.”
“The footage was copied there thirty seconds ago.”
Mrs. De Los Santos smiled.
“Perhaps your precious evidence never existed.”
Noah’s face went pale.
Then Valentina slowly unzipped her backpack.
Everyone stared at her.
She reached inside and removed a small black object.
“I found this under the necklace,” she said.
Noah took it from her.
It was a tiny memory card.
He inserted it into a portable reader.
A video file appeared.
The footage showed Mrs. De Los Santos planting the necklace.
But there was another file beneath it.
The second recording had been made six years earlier.
Noah pressed play.
A man appeared on the screen.
Elena covered her mouth.
It was her dead husband.
May you like
He looked directly into the camera and said,
“If you are watching this, they finally found me.”
