Chapter 6 - THE FIRST BETRAYALVincent didn't accuse Dominic immediately.
He waited.
That was how Dominic knew something was wrong.
They stood alone in the security room while rain struck the narrow basement windows.
Vincent held a tablet.
"There are twelve missing minutes."
Dominic looked at the screen.
"Yes."
"You knew."
"Yes."
Vincent slowly turned.
"Why?"
Dominic took a breath.
"Because Matteo was in the footage."
"That doesn't answer me."
"He was terrified."
Vincent's voice became colder.
"What happened?"
"I deleted it."
"You don't delete evidence from my system."
"I know."
"Then explain."
Dominic looked at the monitor.
"I saw you watching him every night."
Vincent said nothing.
"You weren't sleeping. You weren't eating properly. You were sitting here watching recordings of a child who was already afraid."
Vincent's jaw tightened.
"So you decided you knew better than me."
"No."
"Then what?"
"I decided Matteo needed one person in this house who wasn't trying to turn his fear into evidence."
Vincent stepped closer.
"Show me the footage."
Dominic hesitated.
Then he restored it.
The screen came alive.
Eleven months earlier.
The hallway outside Matteo's room.
Matteo stood alone.
His mother approached.
She knelt.
They spoke.
Then she walked away.
A few seconds later, another figure appeared.
Vincent leaned toward the screen.
The man turned.
Adrian.
Alive.
Vincent stopped breathing.
"No."
Dominic said nothing.
Vincent watched the footage again.
The figure disappeared around the corner.
"That's not possible."
"It happened."
"My brother died six years ago."
"I know."
"Then who is that?"
Dominic looked at him.
"That's what we've been trying to find out."
Clara entered.
She saw the screen.
"What is that?"
Vincent turned.
"Evidence."
"Of what?"
"Someone was here that night."
Clara looked at the footage.
"That's Adrian."
"Supposedly."
She watched the figure disappear.
Then she looked at Vincent.
"You're asking the wrong question."
"Again?"
"Yes."
"What question should I ask?"
"Why would someone who wanted to hide Adrian put him on camera?"
Vincent stared at her.
Dominic looked between them.
Clara continued.
"Unless the footage wasn't meant for you to find."
Silence.
Vincent looked toward the cameras.
"Someone wanted me to believe he was there."
"Exactly."
He suddenly remembered something.
The teddy bear.
"Where is Matteo's bear?"
Dominic frowned.
"In his room."
Vincent walked toward the door.
Clara followed.
"What are you looking for?"
"I don't know yet."
They reached Matteo's room.
The boy was asleep.
His teddy bear lay against the pillow.
Vincent looked at it.
For almost a year, he had assumed it was simply a comfort object.
Now he wondered whether it had been there because someone wanted Matteo to remember something.
He reached toward it.
Matteo stirred.
Vincent stopped.
The boy opened his eyes.
For a second, he looked frightened.
Then he saw Clara.
His expression softened.
Clara sat beside him.
"You're okay."
Matteo looked at Vincent.
Then at the bear.
His lips moved.
"Not Uncle."
Vincent leaned closer.
"What?"
Matteo hugged the bear.
"Not Uncle Adrian."
Vincent looked at Clara.
"What does that mean?"
She didn't answer.
Because Matteo wasn't looking at them anymore.
He was looking at the camera in the corner.
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And for the first time, Vincent realized the boy wasn't afraid of what the cameras recorded.
He was afraid of who was watching them.
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