Chapter 4 - SOMEONE WAS WATCHING
Mark immediately called Detective Hale.
Police arrived within minutes.
Sarah refused to leave Noah’s side.
The photograph had been taken the previous night.
That meant someone had been outside their house while police were still investigating the kitchen.
The security system showed no motion alert near the nursery window.
That seemed impossible.
Until the security technician discovered that one exterior camera had been remotely disabled for seventeen minutes.
“Who has administrative access?” Hale asked.
Mark answered.
“Sarah, me, and the installation company.”
Elena stood near the doorway.
“What about Brenda?”
Mark shook his head.
“She shouldn’t.”
Sarah caught the word.
“Shouldn’t?”
Mark looked uncomfortable.
“She helped Dad install a similar system at his house.”
“Same company?”
“Yes.”
Detective Hale ordered the system credentials changed.
Then he turned to Mark.
“We need everything connected to your sister.”
“Accounts.”
“Properties.”
“Employees.”
“Friends.”
“Anyone who might help her.”
Mark nodded.
Sarah watched him carefully.
He looked frightened.
But she could no longer tell whether he was frightened of Brenda or frightened of what else might be discovered.
That afternoon, the test results from the bottle arrived.
Detective Hale avoided naming the compound in front of Sarah.
He simply explained that the substance was dangerous and absolutely did not belong anywhere near food.
Sarah appreciated that.
She did not need the technical details.
She only needed to know Brenda had knowingly placed her child at risk.
A warrant was issued.
Brenda’s photograph appeared across local news.
By evening, Sarah’s home was surrounded by reporters.
She closed every curtain.
At nine, Mark received a call from the Caldwell company’s chief financial officer, Daniel Reese.
Mark answered on speaker.
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Someone accessed William’s archive.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Mark stood.
“From where?”
“The old Riverside warehouse.”
Sarah looked at the photograph from William’s file.
Storage buildings.
The handwriting.
BRENDA KNOWS WHERE IT IS.
Mark grabbed his keys.
“I’m going.”
Sarah blocked the door.
“No.”
“That may be where Brenda is.”
“Which is exactly why you are not walking into a warehouse by yourself.”
Detective Hale was contacted.
Police headed to Riverside.
Sarah expected Mark to remain home.
Instead, he paced like a trapped animal.
“My father kept original company records there.”
“What kind of records?”
“Contracts.”
“Property deeds.”
“Old financial ledgers.”
“Anything Brenda might want destroyed?”
Mark stopped pacing.
“Yes.”
Twenty minutes later, Hale called.
The warehouse was empty.
But someone had been there.
A locked archive room had been forced open.
Several boxes were missing.
One box remained.
Inside were copies of payments from Caldwell Commercial Properties to a company called BRC Strategic Services.
Sarah stared at the initials.
“BRC.”
Mark nodded.
“Brenda Rose Caldwell.”
The records showed payments totaling $1.8 million.
But another document mattered even more.
It was a handwritten memo from William.
If anything happens to me, investigate Brenda and Daniel.
Sarah looked toward the phone still on speaker.
“Daniel?”
Mark whispered.
“The CFO.”
The same man who had just told them someone accessed the warehouse.
Detective Hale’s voice sharpened.
“Do not contact Daniel Reese.”
But it was too late.
Mark’s phone buzzed.
A message from Daniel appeared.
May you like
I FOUND BRENDA.
COME ALONE.
