Chapter 2 - The Security Footage
Back at the Newport estate, the party had long since dispersed. The glittering lights of the terrace were turned off, leaving only the security floodlights cutting across the manicured lawns.
Jude Barrett sat in the resort’s high-tech security office on the lower level of the mansion. The glow of three multi-monitor setups illuminated his face. He pulled up the encrypted archives from the secondary camera—the one overlooking the service entrance and the western corridor of the terrace.
He rewound the footage to exactly 6:42 PM, ten minutes before the incident at the pool.
The screen flickered to life. Paige Renshaw and Callum Hargrove appeared in the frame, standing near the shadow of the tall cypress trees. They thought they were alone, hidden from the guests.
Jude watched as Paige grabbed Callum’s arm, her face twisted in fake tears.
“Callum, if you don’t stop her from digging through the corporate audits, she’s going to find the offshore transfers,” Paige’s voice, captured by the high-gain directional mic on the service camera, echoed softly in the quiet security room. “She’s going to ruin everything we built. You need to get rid of her.”
Callum looked hesitant, rubbing his temples. “Paige, she’s pregnant. She’s my wife.”
“She’s a liability!” Paige hissed, stepping closer and pressing her body against him. “Choose, Callum. Her and her little audit, or me and the new Singapore resort contract. If she causes a scandal at this party, your investors will pull out before Monday.”
Jude’s jaw clenched. He exported the high-definition video file onto a secure encrypted flash drive, pocketed it, and picked up his desk phone.
He dialed my hospital room.
"Marin," Jude said the second I answered. "Can you talk?"
"Yes," I whispered, holding my phone tight against my ear while resting in my hospital bed. "Dr. Sterling says the baby is stable, but I have to stay overnight for observation. Where are Callum and Paige?"
"They left the estate an hour ago," Jude replied grimly. "Callum took her back to her penthouse in Providence to 'calm her down.' But I have something better than an eyewitness account, Mrs. Hargrove. I have the unedited service camera footage. Paige orchestrated the whole thing. And Callum fell right into her trap."
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I stared out the hospital window at the dark ocean horizon. The grief in my chest was gone, replaced by something cold, sharp, and immovable.
"Bring it to me, Jude," I said quietly. "And bring a copy of the financial audit of the Singapore accounts."
