Chapter 8 - The Second Camera
The answer frightened Khloe more than she expected.
The working camera belonged to Gabriel.
Six months earlier, Mercer Capital had funded a private security upgrade for the hospital’s executive suites.
Most of the system remained disconnected while attorneys argued over privacy regulations.
But Suite 1704 had been activated for testing.
Gabriel had forgotten about it.
Or so he claimed.
“That camera feeds into a separate encrypted server,” the technician explained.
“The hospital shutdown request never touched it.”
Khloe looked at her uncle.
“So Isabella thought she had disabled the only camera.”
“Yes.”
“And someone knew I would be in that suite.”
Elaine Parker raised her hand slightly.
“I assigned the suite.”
Everyone turned.
Elaine looked terrified.
“Khloe told me she needed somewhere quiet.”
“I chose 1704 because it was empty.”
“Did anyone ask you where she was?”
Elaine hesitated.
“Dr. Voss.”
Voss’s face tightened.
“That’s a lie.”
Elaine shook her head.
“You asked where Mrs. Thorne had gone.”
“You said Mr. Thorne was looking for her.”
Marcus stared at Voss.
“I never asked him to find Khloe.”
Voss stood.
“This is becoming ridiculous.”
Detective Price ordered him to sit.
The number behind contact M was traced.
It was not Marcus’s phone.
It was a prepaid device purchased three months earlier.
Cash.
No registration.
But one detail mattered.
The phone had connected repeatedly to the private Wi-Fi inside Dr. Voss’s home.
Voss stopped smiling.
Marcus stared at him.
“You used Isabella.”
Voss said nothing.
Isabella’s expression changed.
“What?”
Marcus turned toward her.
“He was pretending to be me.”
“No.”
Isabella shook her head.
“No, Marcus texted me.”
Detective Price placed the phone in front of her.
“Did you ever hear M’s voice?”
Isabella hesitated.
“Sometimes.”
“On this phone?”
“No.”
“Where?”
Her eyes moved toward Marcus.
“At hotels.”
“At his apartment.”
Khloe looked at Marcus.
“You had an apartment?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Another secret.
Khloe almost laughed.
The lies seemed endless.
Marcus nodded.
“A corporate apartment.”
“Isabella and I used it.”
Gabriel looked disgusted.
Detective Price asked Isabella another question.
“Did M ever call you from the prepaid phone?”
“No.”
“Then you assumed the messages were Marcus because they contained information only he would know.”
Isabella stared at Voss.
Slowly, understanding appeared on her face.
Voss had known about the affair.
The paternity test.
The trust.
Khloe’s medical information.
Everything needed to imitate Marcus.
Isabella whispered.
“You told me the camera was off.”
Voss stood abruptly.
Two officers restrained him.
“You stupid woman.”
The room froze.
Isabella stared at him.
Voss realized what he had said.
Too late.
Detective Price smiled faintly.
“That sounded familiar.”
Then Isabella’s face changed from confusion to fury.
“You set me up.”
Voss said nothing.
“You told me Marcus wanted the baby gone.”
Voss’s silence confirmed more than denial ever could.
Khloe looked at Marcus.
He had not ordered the attack.
May you like
But his affair had given the real architect exactly the weapon he needed.
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