Chapter 4 - The Woman With Elena's Face.
Elena watched the security clip three times.
Each viewing made less sense than the last.
The woman moved like her.
She wore Elena's uniform.
She even had the same narrow silver bracelet Elena kept in the top drawer of her apartment dresser.
But at 2:13 that morning, Elena had been asleep at home.
She had proof.
At least, she hoped she did.
"My building has a lobby camera," she said.
Gabriel nodded toward the desk phone.
"Call the manager."
Celeste remained by the door.
Elena did not want to make the call in front of her.
Gabriel seemed to understand.
"Celeste, find out who gave Hale access through the north gate."
"Of course."
Celeste left.
The moment the door closed, Elena called her apartment building.
The manager answered after several rings.
Elena asked him to check the overnight lobby footage.
There was a long pause.
Then he said something that made her grip the phone harder.
The recording system had failed between midnight and four in the morning.
"Failed how?"
"Someone unplugged the network unit."
Elena looked at Gabriel.
He could hear enough from her expression.
"Was there a break-in?"
The manager hesitated.
"Your apartment door was open when the maintenance guy went by this morning."
Elena's blood went cold.
"You didn't call me?"
"Nothing looked missing."
"You went inside?"
"Just enough to check."
She ended the call.
Gabriel was already reaching for his jacket.
"We're going there."
"No."
"Someone entered your apartment."
"Which is exactly why I don't want you walking into it."
"Elena."
"No security team."
"Fine."
"No Celeste."
"Fine."
"And no Marcus Hale."
Gabriel gave her a look.
"That one was never on the table."
They left through the private garage.
Gabriel drove himself, something Elena had never seen him do.
His black sedan moved through afternoon traffic while Elena stared at her phone.
The threatening messages had disappeared.
Not deleted.
Gone.
The entire message thread had vanished.
"They got into my phone too."
"Turn it off."
"Why?"
"Because if it's compromised, it's also a microphone and a tracker."
She powered it down.
"You say things like that way too calmly."
"Panic is expensive."
"That's the most billionaire sentence I've ever heard."
"I'm not a billionaire."
"Congratulations on staying relatable."
He actually smiled this time.
The smile disappeared when they reached her building.
Elena's apartment door showed no damage.
That was worse.
Someone had used a key.
Inside, everything looked normal at first.
The couch cushions were straight.
The dishes were untouched.
Her framed family photographs still lined the bookshelf.
Then Elena entered her bedroom.
Every drawer had been searched and carefully rearranged.
She knew because she always folded her shirts with the seams facing left.
Now they faced right.
The silver bracelet was gone.
"That's what she was wearing in the footage," Elena said.
Gabriel checked the window locks.
"Anything else?"
She opened a small box in the bottom drawer.
Empty.
Her chest tightened.
"Mara's letters."
"What letters?"
"Four postcards she sent while she worked at the estate."
"What was on them?"
"Nothing important."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Apparently somebody disagrees."
Elena sat on the edge of the bed and tried to remember every word.
Mara had written about the gardens, the kitchen staff, the terrible coffee, and the long hours.
On one postcard, she had written a strange sentence that made no sense at the time.
When the old clock forgets midnight, look where the maid never sweeps.
Elena had assumed it was one of Mara's jokes.
She repeated it to Gabriel.
He went silent.
"What?"
"There's an old grandfather clock in the east library."
"Does it work?"
"It hasn't worked in years."
"Does it stop at midnight?"
"No."
His face changed.
"It stops at eleven fifty-eight."
Elena stood.
"Look where the maid never sweeps."
"Behind it."
They headed for the door.
Gabriel stopped in the living room.
One family photo had been moved.
It showed Elena and Mara at a county fair when Elena was seventeen.
The frame had been turned face down.
Gabriel lifted it.
A small square of paper was taped to the back.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
YOU KEEP FOLLOWING HER FOOTSTEPS.
YOU'LL END WHERE SHE DID.
Elena stared at the words.
Gabriel read them once and folded the note.
"You're not staying here tonight."
"I'm not moving into your house because somebody wants me scared."
"My house is already where the problem is."
"Exactly."
"And it's where the answers are."
Before she could respond, something clicked behind them.
The apartment door had closed.
Gabriel crossed the room and tried the handle.
Locked.
A thin line of smoke began drifting beneath the door from the hallway.
Elena backed away.
The building alarm did not sound.
Gabriel looked through the peephole.
"Smoke canister."
"How do you know?"
"Because whoever did this wants us to panic, not burn the building down."
He grabbed a kitchen towel and covered the gap beneath the door.
Then Elena heard her bedroom window slide open behind them.
She turned.
A dark figure climbed in from the fire escape.
The person wore a hood and gloves.
May you like
In one hand was Elena's missing silver bracelet.
In the other was Mara's postcard.
