Chapter 3 - ELENA'S VOICE
The mansion went into lockdown.
Nobody was allowed to leave.
Every gate closed.
Every guard doubled.
Dominic took the flash drive into his private office.
Clara expected to be dismissed.
Instead, Noah refused to release her hand.
Dominic looked at their joined hands for several seconds.
“Stay.”
Mrs. Hargrove was taken downstairs under guard.
Marcus connected the flash drive to an isolated laptop.
One folder appeared.
It was password protected.
Dominic tried Elena's birthday.
Wrong.
Their wedding date.
Wrong.
Noah's birthday.
Wrong.
Marcus frowned.
“Three attempts may trigger deletion.”
Dominic leaned back.
“Stop.”
Clara noticed the file name.
BLUEBIRD.
“What did Elena call Noah?”
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“Parents have nicknames.”
He stared at the screen.
Then his eyes widened.
“Little bird.”
He typed LITTLEBIRD.
The folder opened.
Inside were twenty-three video files.
The earliest had been recorded three weeks before Elena died.
Dominic clicked the first.
Elena appeared on screen.
Alive.
Clara immediately understood why Dominic had loved her.
She had warm brown eyes and the kind of face that looked kind even when frightened.
And she was frightened.
“If you're watching this, Dominic, something happened to me.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
Elena continued.
“I need you to listen before you get angry.”
Dominic whispered.
“Too late.”
Elena looked directly into the camera.
“Someone inside this house is working against you.”
Marcus stiffened.
“I don't know who I can trust.”
Elena glanced toward a door behind her.
“I started noticing things with Noah.”
“He wakes up screaming after afternoons with the household staff.”
“He says a woman takes him to the old wing.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Clara looked at Noah.
The boy was holding the elephant.
Elena continued.
“I asked Hargrove.”
Dominic's eyes opened.
“She told me Noah was imagining things.”
“But yesterday I found needle marks on his arm.”
Dominic stood so abruptly his chair fell backward.
“No.”
Elena's voice shook.
“I had the blood tested privately.”
“There were sedatives in his system.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
Marcus whispered a curse.
“I confronted Samuel Mercer.”
Elena looked close to tears.
“He told me Dominic authorized the treatments.”
Dominic slammed his fist against the desk.
“I NEVER DID!”
Noah jumped.
Dominic immediately stepped back.
“Sorry.”
His voice became soft.
“I'm sorry, buddy.”
Clara placed a hand near Noah's shoulder.
He relaxed.
The video continued.
“I knew Dominic hadn't authorized anything.”
“So I followed Mercer.”
“He met with someone from Vale Holdings.”
Dominic frowned.
“Who?”
Elena looked into the camera.
“I couldn't see the person's face.”
“But I heard them talking about Noah.”
“They called him leverage.”
The room became silent.
Elena swallowed.
“And they said something worse.”
“They said Dominic would eventually become easier to control once grief made him careless.”
Dominic stared at his dead wife.
Clara felt cold.
Elena leaned closer.
“If I disappear, don't believe the first story you're told.”
The video ended.
Dominic stood motionless.
Marcus opened the second file.
It showed Elena walking through the north wing.
The camera shook.
She entered the white room.
The same room they had just discovered.
The leather straps were visible.
Then a man's voice came from outside the frame.
“What are you doing here?”
Elena turned.
The video ended.
Dominic immediately opened the next file.
Corrupted.
The next.
Corrupted.
Then file seventeen played.
Elena was sitting inside her car.
She was crying.
“Dominic, I know who's behind it.”
Dominic leaned toward the screen.
“Say it.”
Elena looked over her shoulder.
“They know I'm recording.”
“Say the name, Elena.”
“I can't come home.”
Dominic's voice cracked.
“Please.”
Elena continued.
“If anything happens tonight, don't trust—”
The recording suddenly cut.
Dominic punched the desk.
“DAMN IT!”
Marcus checked the remaining files.
Most were damaged.
Then Clara saw one labeled N.
“Try that.”
Marcus clicked it.
Black screen.
For twelve seconds, only breathing could be heard.
Then Elena whispered.
“Noah saw everything.”
Dominic froze.
“He saw what?”
The recording continued.
“If they realize what he remembers, they'll make sure he never talks.”
Noah dropped the elephant.
The toy hit the floor.
He covered his ears.
“No.”
Clara crouched.
“Noah?”
“No.”
His eyes were fixed on the laptop.
Then he screamed.
“CAR!”
Dominic knelt.
“What car?”
“Mom car!”
“What happened to Mom's car?”
Noah began hitting his own forehead.
Clara caught his hands.
“Don't force it.”
Dominic looked desperate.
“He knows.”
“He's terrified.”
“He knows who killed Elena.”
“And someone has spent two years making sure he's too scared to tell you.”
A guard suddenly entered.
“Mr. Vale.”
Dominic stood.
“What?”
“We searched Mrs. Hargrove's room.”
“And?”
The guard held up a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a syringe.
And beside it was a photograph.
Dominic took the photograph.
It showed Elena's SUV on the night she died.
The picture had been taken before police arrived.
May you like
On the back were four handwritten words.
THE BOY SAW EVERYTHING.
