Chapter 15 - Beneath the FloorPolice entered the Blue Harbor cabin shortly after sunrise.
Emma remained at Vincent's house with Grace.
She hated waiting.
Luca hated leaving her.
Detective Hayes insisted.
"This is a search scene, not a family field trip."
Luca had almost argued.
Emma stopped him.
"Go."
"I'll stay with two officers."
"Find what Marco wanted you to find."
Luca nodded.
Three hours passed.
Then four.
At eleven thirty, Luca called.
"We found something."
Emma stood.
"What?"
"A compartment beneath the bedroom floor."
Her heart raced.
"What's inside?"
"Documents."
"A laptop."
"And a dash camera memory card."
Emma closed her eyes.
"From Marco's car?"
"We don't know yet."
"Come back."
"I will."
Luca returned with Hayes before two.
Neither looked relieved.
Emma knew immediately.
"What did you see?"
Hayes sat down.
"The memory card appears to be a backup from Marco's dashboard camera."
"And?"
"It recorded part of the night he died."
Emma held Grace tighter.
"Show me."
Hayes hesitated.
"It's not graphic."
"Show me."
They played the footage on a laptop.
Rain covered the windshield.
Marco's hands were visible on the steering wheel.
A phone call played through the car speakers.
Adrian's voice.
You need to stop.
Marco answered.
You used my company.
You made it look like I stole from my own family.
Adrian replied.
You don't understand what was at stake.
Marco laughed.
Money.
That's always what's at stake with you.
Adrian's voice became sharper.
Turn around.
No.
Marco.
I'm taking everything to Luca.
Silence.
Then Adrian spoke.
Luca already knows more than you think.
Emma looked at Luca.
He remained motionless.
The recording continued.
Marco ended the call.
Several minutes of driving followed.
Then headlights appeared behind him.
A black SUV.
The same one from the photograph.
The SUV followed closely.
Marco spoke aloud.
"Adrian, you idiot."
The video shook as Marco changed lanes.
The SUV followed.
Then another vehicle appeared from a side road.
A gray sedan.
It moved between Marco and the SUV.
Hayes paused the video.
"Watch the driver."
The image was blurry.
But the face became visible for half a second beneath a streetlight.
Emma recognized him.
"Connor."
Hayes nodded.
The video resumed.
Connor's sedan slowed in front of Marco.
Marco tried to pass.
The black SUV remained behind.
Then the recording abruptly stopped.
Emma stared at the blank screen.
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"Did Connor cause the crash?"
Hayes shook her head.
"We can't tell from this footage."
"But they were following him."
"Yes."
Luca's voice was cold.
"Adrian lied."
Hayes nodded.
"At minimum, he lied about not seeing Marco that night."
Emma looked at Luca.
"What did Adrian say when you confronted him?"
"He says Connor was supposed to scare Marco."
"Scare him?"
"Convince him not to go to the police."
Emma's eyes filled with anger.
"And the second car?"
"Adrian says he doesn't know what Connor did."
Hayes closed the laptop.
"Connor is asking for a lawyer."
"He knows we're close."
Emma looked down at Grace.
"What about the laptop from the cabin?"
Hayes paused.
"Encrypted."
"Can you open it?"
"We're trying."
Luca looked toward the door.
Vincent entered.
He had heard enough.
"My brother sent Connor after Marco."
Hayes nodded carefully.
"That's what the evidence currently suggests."
Vincent sat down heavily.
Emma watched grief replace every trace of authority in his face.
"I protected Adrian."
Luca looked at him.
Vincent continued.
"For years."
"Because he was my brother."
"Because I believed family problems stayed inside the family."
His voice broke.
"And now one son is dead."
Luca looked away.
Vincent covered his face.
Emma had no comfort to offer him.
Her phone buzzed.
A new email.
No sender name.
She opened it.
One attachment.
A photograph.
Grace sleeping in the crib upstairs.
Taken less than five minutes earlier.
Emma stopped breathing.
"Luca."
He saw her face.
"What?"
She showed him the screen.
Everyone moved at once.
Luca ran upstairs.
Hayes called the officers.
Emma followed with Grace already in her arms.
The nursery window stood slightly open.
May you like
On the floor beneath it lay a familiar object.
Marco's missing notebook.
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