Chapter 2 - THE MISSING MINUTE
Ethan carried Oliver inside while the estate doctor examined him.
Maya followed until a security guard blocked her.
“You stay here.”
“That baby nearly drowned.”
“And Mr. Caldwell said you stay here.”
Maya looked through the glass doors.
Oliver was coughing but awake.
That was enough to keep her standing.
For now.
Vanessa sat beside Ethan, shaking dramatically while another employee wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
She hadn’t touched the water.
Yet somehow she was the one being comforted.
Ten minutes later, Ethan returned.
“He’s stable.”
Maya closed her eyes.
“Thank God.”
His expression didn’t soften.
“We’re checking the camera.”
“Good.”
Vanessa walked behind him.
Her eyes met Maya’s.
There was no fear in them now.
Only warning.
Security director Grant Mercer entered the control room with Ethan, Vanessa, and Maya.
A wall of monitors showed different parts of the Caldwell estate.
Grant clicked through files.
“Pool camera. Eight forty-seven.”
Maya stood forward.
“That’s when it happened.”
Grant opened the footage.
The video showed guests laughing.
Maya crossing the patio with a tray.
Vanessa standing near the stroller.
Then—
Black screen.
The image returned sixty-eight seconds later.
The stroller was gone.
People were running toward the pool.
Grant frowned.
“That’s strange.”
Maya’s stomach dropped.
“No.”
He replayed it.
Same result.
A missing minute.
Ethan turned toward Maya.
“You said the camera recorded everything.”
“It did.”
“Then where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa whispered, “Because nothing was recorded.”
Maya spun toward her.
“You knew the camera was there.”
“So?”
“You looked at it when I pointed.”
Vanessa gave a weak laugh.
“Everyone looked.”
Grant began typing.
“The system indicates a manual interruption.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Manual?”
“Yes.”
“From where?”
Grant hesitated.
“The internal security network.”
Maya pointed at the monitor.
“Someone deleted it.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“This is ridiculous.”
Grant kept working.
“The login came from a staff account.”
Maya suddenly felt cold.
“Whose?”
Grant looked at her.
Nobody spoke.
“Yours.”
Maya stared at the screen.
“No.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“The footage was deleted using Maya Brooks’s employee credentials seven minutes before the incident.”
“That’s impossible.”
Vanessa slowly stood.
“She planned this.”
Maya backed away.
“I wasn’t near a computer.”
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“Your account accessed the camera.”
“I was serving dinner!”
“Passwords can be used anywhere.”
“Then somebody stole mine.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Convenient.”
Maya walked toward Ethan.
“Ask the staff. Ask anyone. I was outside.”
“I will.”
“And check the server logs.”
Grant nodded.
“I’m doing that.”
Maya looked directly at Vanessa.
“She pushed Oliver.”
Vanessa’s tears returned immediately.
“Why would I hurt the man I love by hurting his son?”
Maya had no answer.
Not yet.
Then one of the younger security officers entered.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Grant looked up.
“We found something beside the west hedge.”
He held up a small black object inside a clear evidence bag.
A staff access badge.
Maya recognized it instantly.
Her picture was on the front.
“My badge.”
The officer nodded.
“It was lying beside the camera control box.”
Ethan looked at Maya.
Her heart sank.
May you like
Someone hadn’t just deleted the video.
Someone had prepared for Maya to take the blame before Oliver ever hit the water.
