Chapter 15 - The Mole Discovered
|
“Arthur controls the primary security feeds,” Nora explained, pacing the media room. “He can delete any footage of himself in your father’s office. If we go to Richard now, it’s my word against his, and Arthur has already laid the groundwork to frame me for theft.”
Madison’s jaw tightened. “Arthur has worked for my dad for six years. He knows everything about our network. But he doesn't know everything about this house.”
Nora stopped pacing. “What do you mean?”
“When I was a teenager, I used to sneak out,” Madison smirked, a mischievous glint in her eye. “My dad caught me twice, so he installed hidden nanny-cams in the hallways and the study. They aren't connected to the main security grid Arthur manages. They feed directly to a private, encrypted server in my dad’s closet.”
Nora’s eyes widened. “Does Arthur know about them?”
“No,” Madison said confidently. “Dad only told me about them to scare me into staying home. If we can access that server, we’ll have video proof of Arthur downloading those files.”
“We have to get into your father’s closet before Arthur realizes we’re onto him,” Nora said.
They moved quickly. Madison led the way into the master suite. Elaine was sleeping peacefully in the adjoining room, completely unaware of the espionage occurring feet away.
Madison opened the massive walk-in closet, moving aside a row of heavy winter coats to reveal a small, locked metal panel in the wall. She punched a four-digit code into the keypad. The panel clicked open, revealing a glowing server tower.
Madison plugged her laptop directly into the server, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
“Got it,” Madison whispered excitedly. She pulled up the video feed from the study.
The screen clearly showed Arthur standing at Richard’s desk, inserting the flash drive, and downloading massive amounts of data. It even captured the audio of his confrontation with Nora in the doorway.
“It’s undeniable,” Nora breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, the bedroom door clicked open.
Nora and Madison froze.
Arthur stepped into the master suite. He held a small, velvet jewelry box in his hand—Elaine’s missing diamond earrings. He was coming to plant them in Nora’s belongings, exactly as he had threatened.
May you like
When he saw the two women standing in the closet with a laptop connected to the hidden server, the color drained entirely from his face.
“Well,” Arthur sneered, dropping the jewelry box onto the bed and reaching inside his jacket, revealing the handle of a concealed firearm. “It seems I underestimated the both of you. Step away from the computer.”
