Chapter 6 - The Camera Randall Forgot
“Daniel Mercer.”
Luciano said the name like he didn’t believe it.
I looked between him and Vivien.
“Who is he?”
Vivien answered.
“Our attorney.”
“Your personal attorney?”
“Our family’s.”
Luciano took out his phone.
“He told me he was in London.”
Marissa remained on speaker.
“His access card opened the compliance floor at 3:42.”
“Camera?”
“Disabled.”
“Convenient,” I said.
Vivien’s expression hardened.
Daniel Mercer had handled contracts for the Duca family for two decades.
He had also represented their minority investment in Bellaforte.
Meaning he knew Evelyn.
Randall.
The finances.
The security structure.
Everything.
Luciano called him.
Voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Vivien stood.
“I want to see the original footage.”
Luciano shook his head.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I’m seventy-one, Luciano. Not seven.”
“It may not be safe.”
“I survived your father, two recessions, heart surgery and airline food. I will survive a restaurant basement.”
I almost laughed.
Luciano didn’t.
Thirty minutes later, we were at Bellaforte.
Police had already secured Randall’s office, but the old security room had not been formally processed yet.
Tyler was gone.
I called him.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
My anxiety rose.
We entered the security room.
The panel was open.
The recorder was there.
But the hard drive was gone.
“No,” I whispered.
I checked beneath the desk.
Nothing.
Luciano examined the doorway.
“No forced entry.”
“Someone had a key.”
Vivien looked at me.
“Tyler?”
“No.”
I answered too quickly.
She noticed.
“You trust him.”
“He risked his job helping me.”
“That does not answer my question.”
I called again.
Straight to voicemail.
Then I saw something under the keyboard.
A folded receipt.
I opened it.
Noel—
I took the drive.
I saw someone outside.
I didn’t know who else to trust.
T.
My knees weakened.
“He took it.”
Luciano read over my shoulder.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“If he believed someone was coming, removing the evidence was smart.”
“Unless they followed him.”
We checked the building cameras.
The modern system had gaps.
But one exterior camera still worked.
At 5:48 p.m., Tyler exited through the alley.
He carried his backpack.
Thirty seconds later, a black sedan rolled past.
No visible plate.
At 5:51, Tyler disappeared around the corner.
The sedan followed.
I called police.
Then his mother.
She hadn’t heard from him.
For two hours, nothing.
At 8:06, Tyler called.
“Noel?”
“Where are you?”
“A police station.”
I nearly collapsed.
“What happened?”
“Someone followed me.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He explained.
He had noticed the sedan.
Instead of going home, he walked into a crowded pharmacy and called police.
The car left.
Tyler handed the drive directly to officers.
Smart kid.
Very smart kid.
The original evidence was safe.
Forensic investigators began reviewing it.
By morning, they had more.
Much more.
Evelyn appeared repeatedly.
Randall.
Celia.
Payments.
Documents.
But no Daniel Mercer.
His access card at compliance remained unexplained.
Then Daniel called Vivien.
She put him on speaker.
“Vivien, I heard there’s some confusion.”
“Where are you?”
“London.”
Luciano placed his phone beside hers.
On his screen was travel information.
“Your passport entered the United States yesterday.”
Silence.
Daniel recovered.
“I returned early.”
“Why lie?”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
Vivien’s voice became cold.
“It matters now.”
He sighed.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Evelyn.”
I leaned closer.
Daniel continued.
“I suspected financial misconduct months ago.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us?” Luciano asked.
“I needed proof.”
“Did you enter Bellaforte compliance?”
“Yes.”
Marissa looked stunned.
“Why?”
“To retrieve files before Evelyn destroyed them.”
“Did you send the email to Randall?” I asked.
“No.”
“Someone used your access.”
“My card was stolen yesterday.”
Convenient again.
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Daniel said something none of us expected.
“But I know who has been sending Noel the anonymous messages.”
Silence.
“Who?” I asked.
“Someone inside Bellaforte who has been trying to expose Evelyn for almost a year.”
“Name.”
Daniel hesitated.
“No.”
My anger flared.
“You don’t get to do that.”
“They’re frightened.”
“So am I.”
“They have more to lose.”
That hit wrong.
I stood.
“You don’t know what I have to lose.”
Vivien interrupted.
“Daniel. Name.”
A long silence.
Then:
“Celia Monroe.”
Nobody spoke.
I laughed once.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“She framed me.”
“She participated in framing you.”
“That sounds like the same thing.”
Daniel explained.
Celia had joined Randall and Evelyn’s scheme months earlier.
At first willingly.
Then she discovered how much money Evelyn was actually taking.
She became frightened.
Started copying documents.
Started leaving evidence.
The anonymous warnings?
Celia.
The old security system note?
Celia.
The photograph of my father?
Daniel claimed that had not been a threat.
Celia had sent it to warn me that Randall had hired someone to follow me.
I felt sick.
“So she helped destroy me and then secretly helped save me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because when Randall decided to use you as the fall person, Celia realized she could be next.”
Not guilt.
Self-preservation.
That sounded believable.
But one thing didn’t.
“The video of Randall planting the bracelet,” I said. “Who recorded that?”
Daniel went silent.
“Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
The call ended twenty minutes later.
Police wanted Celia brought in again.
She wasn’t home.
Her phone was off.
Her car remained parked outside her apartment.
At 11:30 p.m., I returned to my apartment.
Luciano insisted on walking me upstairs.
“I can open my own door.”
“I know.”
“You say that a lot.”
“Because you remind me a lot.”
I unlocked the apartment.
Nothing looked disturbed.
He remained in the hallway.
“Good night, Noel.”
“Good night.”
I started closing the door.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
I KNOW WHO RECORDED RANDALL.
A second arrived.
IT WASN’T CELIA.
Then a photograph loaded.
It showed Randall planting Vivien’s bracelet in my locker.
The camera angle wasn’t from the ceiling.
It was from inside the locker itself.
I stared.
A final message appeared.
ASK LUCIANO WHY HE PUT THE CAMERA THERE.
May you like
I slowly raised my eyes.
Luciano was still standing outside my door.
