Chapter 9 - The Eleven Missing Minutes
Adrian swore he had not put the transmitter inside the wolf.
Dorian believed him.
Audrey wasn’t sure whether that was instinct, love, or denial.
“I bought it from a shop on Royal Street,” Adrian said. “It was already boxed.”
“Who knew you planned to give it to Caleb?” Audrey asked.
“My assistant.”
“Name?”
“Sophie Marsh.”
“Anyone else?”
“My driver.”
“Security?”
“Probably.”
Dorian turned toward Nolan.
“Get the shop footage.”
Within hours they discovered the miniature wolf had been exchanged.
Adrian purchased one with a solid base.
The object delivered to Caleb had been substituted before Adrian reached the mansion.
That saved Adrian from immediate suspicion.
It did not explain who had done it.
Nolan placed another report on the table.
“I reconstructed the security outage.”
Dorian looked up.
“The eleven minutes?”
“Yes.”
10:41 p.m. to 10:52 p.m.
During those minutes, the system was not simply disabled.
It was redirected.
“Meaning?”
“Someone played an earlier recording through the monitors.”
Audrey frowned.
“So the guards thought everything was normal.”
“Yes.”
“Who could do that?”
Nolan hesitated.
“Myself. Two senior technicians. Mr. Ashford. Adrian.”
Dorian’s eyes hardened.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Where were you?”
“At the north gate.”
“Proof?”
“Camera and six witnesses.”
“A camera system you just admitted can be manipulated?”
Nolan met his gaze.
“Yes.”
Audrey saw Dorian’s problem.
Every answer produced another person capable of creating a false answer.
“What happened during those eleven minutes?” she asked.
Nolan changed the display.
Caleb’s room.
A hallway.
The blue basement door.
“We found cached data from one camera that wasn’t fully overwritten.”
The footage was damaged.
Dark.
Fragmented.
But enough remained.
10:44.
A small figure moved through the lower hallway.
Caleb.
Walking.
Not being dragged.
Not struggling.
He followed someone.
Only the person’s shoulder appeared.
Black coat.
At 10:45, Caleb stopped.
The unknown figure turned.
A hand reached toward him.
Silver wolf ring.
Then the image broke.
At 10:47 the blue door opened.
At 10:48 they disappeared.
Audrey felt sick.
“He went willingly.”
“At least initially,” Nolan said.
“Because he trusted them.”
Dorian stared at the screen.
The footage returned briefly at 10:51.
Only the open blue door.
Then something else.
A second figure entered from outside.
Audrey leaned closer.
“There were two people.”
Nolan nodded.
The second figure was taller.
No ring visible.
They closed the door.
At 10:52, normal security resumed.
Dorian whispered, “One person took Caleb out.”
Audrey finished the thought.
“Another came back.”
That explained the river mud beneath the hinge.
The conspiracy required at least two people.
Possibly more.
Dorian requested every employee record.
Audrey went upstairs to Caleb.
He sat beneath his desk.
“What are you doing?”
“Hiding.”
“Can I hide too?”
He looked at her.
“You’re too big.”
“Rude.”
He moved slightly.
Audrey squeezed beside him.
For several minutes they said nothing.
Then Caleb whispered, “He said Dad had an accident.”
Audrey’s heart jumped.
“Who?”
Caleb shook his head.
She didn’t push.
“What happened after he said that?”
“He said we had to leave fast.”
“Through the blue door?”
A nod.
“Was somebody waiting outside?”
Caleb began breathing faster.
Audrey changed direction.
“Did you get into a car?”
“Yes.”
“Were you scared then?”
“No.”
That mattered.
“When did you become scared?”
Caleb closed his eyes.
“When we went past the hospital.”
Audrey understood.
If Dorian had been injured, they should have been driving toward medical care.
“What did you ask?”
“I asked where Dad was.”
“And?”
“He said Dad wasn’t hurt anymore.”
Audrey felt a chill.
“What did that mean?”
Caleb whispered, “He said Dad would be hurt if I didn’t listen.”
“Did he take you to the bridge?”
Caleb nodded.
“Did he push you?”
Silence.
His fingers tightened.
“Caleb?”
The child whispered, “He told the other man to make it look like I climbed.”
Audrey’s entire body went cold.
So Caleb had heard them.
He knew enough to identify at least one voice.
“Did you see the second man?”
“Mask.”
“The first?”
Caleb began crying.
Audrey stopped immediately.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I want to.”
“I know.”
“I can’t.”
“That’s okay.”
“He said if I say his name, you go in the river next.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
The threat had been specific.
Personal.
The person who took Caleb knew Audrey’s name before she even found him.
Which meant Caleb’s kidnapping had not gone entirely according to plan.
Someone had been watching the bridge.
Watching the rescue.
Maybe even watching Audrey pull him from the water.
That evening Dorian ordered Audrey moved to a secured bedroom beside Caleb’s.
“You’re treating me like a prisoner.”
“I’m treating you like a target.”
“I need to work.”
“No.”
Audrey stared.
“Excuse me?”
“Not safe.”
“You do understand I have bills?”
“I’ll cover them.”
“No.”
“Then your employer will receive compensation for your absence.”
“No.”
Dorian looked frustrated.
“Why do you refuse every practical solution?”
“Because I don’t want my life purchased!”
The words echoed.
Dorian became silent.
Audrey softened slightly.
“I know you’re trying to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“But control and protection are not the same.”
That landed.
Dorian looked toward the security monitors.
“I don’t know how to do one without the other.”
“Learn.”
He looked at her.
For a long moment neither spoke.
Then he nodded.
“All right.”
Audrey blinked.
“All right?”
“I’ll have security drive you to work tomorrow. They will remain outside. You will keep your schedule.”
“No men following me through hallways.”
“Outside only.”
“And no intimidating my manager.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You definitely were.”
Dorian almost smiled.
Then Nolan entered.
“Sir.”
The expression on his face destroyed the moment.
“We identified the second figure from the service door.”
“Who?”
Nolan placed a photograph on the table.
Victor Shaw.
Dorian’s father’s former security chief.
The same man currently serving a twenty-year prison sentence.
Audrey stared.
“How?”
Dorian looked at Nolan.
“When was he released?”
Nolan’s face was grim.
“He wasn’t.”
Silence.
“Then that can’t be him.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
Nolan placed another document beside the photograph.
Victor Shaw had died in prison six months earlier.
Yet someone wearing his exact old security jacket, walking with his distinctive limp, had entered Dorian Ashford’s basement on the night Caleb disappeared.
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Someone wanted Dorian to believe a dead man had returned.
And somebody inside the family knew exactly how to make the ghost convincing.
