Chapter 7 - MATTEO'S MISSING YEARThe teddy bear had a hidden zipper beneath its left arm.
Vincent discovered it because Matteo showed Clara where to look.
The boy sat quietly on his bed while Clara turned the bear over.
"There?"
Matteo nodded.
Clara opened the zipper.
A tiny black recording device fell into her hand.
Vincent stared.
"How long has that been there?"
Matteo didn't answer.
Dominic checked the device.
"Battery's almost dead."
"Play it."
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice.
Vincent knew it immediately.
His wife's.
"Adrian isn't the person you think he is."
Vincent closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
"He doesn't want money anymore."
A pause.
"He wants control."
Then a man's voice.
"Where is the boy?"
Vincent opened his eyes.
His wife's voice answered.
"You'll never get him."
Static.
Then silence.
Dominic looked at Vincent.
"There may be another file."
He pressed a button.
A second recording started.
Matteo's voice.
Small.
Confused.
"Papa?"
His mother answered.
"Don't tell him what you saw."
Matteo whispered something.
The recording distorted.
Then his mother said:
"Promise me."
The file ended.
Vincent stared at the device.
"Why would she tell him not to tell me?"
Clara answered quietly.
"Maybe she didn't know who she could trust."
Vincent looked at her.
"You think she didn't trust me?"
"I think she was afraid."
"Of me?"
"Maybe."
He looked away.
The possibility hurt more than he expected.
A third file began.
A man's voice.
"Where is she?"
Another voice.
"I don't know."
Then Matteo.
"Not Uncle Adrian."
Vincent leaned forward.
The recording ended.
Dominic replayed it.
Again.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Matteo pointed toward the monitor.
"Papa."
Vincent followed his finger.
The camera.
"Papa was watching."
Clara crouched beside him.
"Your father was watching?"
Matteo nodded.
"On camera."
Vincent looked at the security feed.
His stomach turned.
"What did you see?"
Matteo's fingers tightened around the bear.
"He was watching."
"Who?"
Matteo didn't answer.
Instead, he pointed at Vincent.
Then the camera.
Vincent stepped back.
For eleven months, he had watched Matteo through those screens.
He had convinced himself surveillance meant protection.
But Matteo had been trying to tell him something.
Someone had used the surveillance system that night.
Someone had manipulated the footage.
Someone had watched the family from inside the house.
Dominic checked the administrator logs.
"It's active again."
Vincent turned.
"Where?"
"Security room."
"Here?"
Dominic nodded.
"Someone has been using a physical access port."
He crouched beneath the console.
A small panel came loose.
Inside was a hidden device.
A data-transfer module.
Vincent stared at it.
"How long?"
Dominic checked.
"Eleven months."
Clara's face tightened.
"The same night."
Vincent nodded.
He finally understood.
The person controlling the cameras didn't need to break into the mansion.
They already had access.
They didn't need to watch Matteo from outside.
They had been inside.
And they had used Vincent's greatest source of certainty against him.
His cameras.
A phone rang.
Everyone looked at Vincent.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice said:
"You're finally looking in the right place."
Vincent went completely still.
"Adrian."
A quiet laugh came through the speaker.
"You've been looking for me for six years."
"Where are you?"
"Closer than you think."
Vincent's hand tightened around the phone.
"What do you want?"
"Control."
The line went dead.
Matteo whispered something.
Clara looked at him.
"What?"
The boy pointed toward the door.
"Uncle."
Vincent turned.
May you like
Nobody stood there.
But the door was slowly closing.
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