Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE SECURITY FOOTAGE
By noon, the locks were changed.
The passwords were changed.
The bank accounts were under review.
And Linda had stopped pretending she was invincible.
Rachel, however, had become more dangerous.
She kept filming.
Every conversation.
Every argument.
Every time I spoke.
I knew why.
She wanted a version of the story where I looked like the villain.
So I gave her one.
Or at least, I let her think I did.
At 3:15 that afternoon, I called the condo security company.
“Can you send me the footage from the last six months?”
The technician hesitated.
“We can.”
“Every entry.”
“That's a lot.”
“I'll pay the retrieval fee.”
Three hours later, I had a hard drive.
Caroline and I watched the footage in silence.
At first, nothing.
Linda entering.
Rachel entering.
Mark leaving.
Then, six weeks earlier...
A man appeared.
Tall.
Dark jacket.
Baseball cap.
He entered the building behind Rachel.
I paused the footage.
“Who's that?”
Caroline leaned forward.
“I don't know.”
We continued.
The man entered our condo.
Twenty-three minutes later, he left.
I checked the date.
It was the same week I had discovered documents missing from my home office.
“Zoom in.”
Caroline did.
His face remained partially obscured.
But there was something familiar about the way he walked.
I watched again.
Then I noticed the vehicle.
Black SUV.
I wrote down the license plate.
Caroline immediately started searching.
Ten minutes later, she looked up.
“Registered to RMR Holdings.”
My stomach dropped.
“That's Linda's company.”
“Yes.”
We continued watching.
The man appeared twice more.
Both times, when I wasn't home.
Then came the footage from three weeks ago.
The man entered carrying a banker box.
He left forty minutes later carrying nothing.
I stood.
“My documents.”
Caroline nodded.
“Exactly.”
That night, I confronted Mark.
He was sitting alone in the living room.
“Who is he?”
Mark looked at the screen.
His face went pale.
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
“I swear.”
I placed a photograph in front of him.
“Then explain why his car is registered to your mother's company.”
Mark stared at it.
“I don't know.”
I stepped closer.
“Your mother is trying to borrow money against my condo.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I found out yesterday.”
“And you still haven't told me everything.”
He closed his eyes.
“There's something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“My mother has debts.”
“How much?”
“More than you think.”
“How much?”
He swallowed.
“Eight hundred thousand.”
I stared.
“And she owes other people.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That's convenient.”
“She said she could fix it.”
“With my condo?”
“No.”
“With my identity?”
He said nothing.
That silence answered me.
I turned away.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice spoke.
“Mrs. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“You don't know me.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Daniel Price.”
“What do you want?”
“I was hired by your mother-in-law.”
My blood ran cold.
“To do what?”
There was a pause.
“To find out how much money you have.”
I gripped the phone.
“Why?”
“Because she told me you were hiding assets from your husband.”
I looked at Mark.
He had gone white.
Daniel continued.
“But I found something else.”
“What?”
“You aren't hiding money.”
He paused.
May you like
“Someone is hiding money from you.”
Then the call ended.
