Chapter 2 - The Missing Thirty Seconds
Nobody spoke.
Marcus stared at Gabriel.
“What are you talking about?”
Gabriel unlocked the tablet.
“The camera began recording Isabella twenty-three minutes before Elaine opened the door.”
Khloe pushed herself higher against the pillows.
“And?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“There’s a conversation.”
“With who?”
“We don’t know yet.”
He pressed play.
The screen showed Isabella entering the suite alone.
She checked the hallway.
Closed the door.
Then removed her phone from her purse.
For almost a minute, she paced beneath the chandelier.
Finally, she called someone.
The camera had captured her side of the conversation clearly.
“I’m here.”
A pause.
“No, she doesn’t suspect anything.”
Another pause.
Isabella smiled.
Then she said something that made Khloe’s blood run cold.
“Marcus still hasn’t told her.”
Marcus stepped closer to the tablet.
“What?”
The recording continued.
Isabella listened.
Then laughed softly.
“He never had the courage.”
She ended the call.
Khloe looked at her husband.
“What haven’t you told me?”
Marcus looked genuinely confused.
“I don’t know.”
Gabriel studied him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
Khloe could hear the tension building between them.
“Stop.”
Both men turned toward her.
“I want the rest.”
Gabriel continued the video.
Minutes later, Khloe entered the suite.
The confrontation unfolded exactly as Khloe remembered.
The insults.
The threats.
The first shove.
The shattered glass.
The second attack.
Nothing Isabella had told security matched the video.
Her claim of self-defense disappeared instantly.
But then something unexpected happened.
Twenty-eight seconds before Marcus and Elaine opened the door, the recording froze.
The picture became static.
Then returned.
Isabella was standing near Khloe.
Marcus was entering.
Khloe frowned.
“What happened?”
Gabriel looked toward the security chief standing near the door.
“That’s what concerns me.”
The chief stepped forward.
“The footage wasn’t corrupted.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
“Then why is part missing?”
“Someone accessed the camera system remotely.”
Khloe felt the room grow colder.
“When?”
“Seven minutes after the attack.”
Gabriel folded his arms.
“Which means someone knew exactly which camera to access and exactly which section to remove.”
Marcus stared at the screen.
“Can it be recovered?”
“We’re working on it.”
Khloe watched her husband.
His face revealed something now.
Not guilt.
Recognition.
“Marcus.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“You know something.”
His jaw tightened.
Khloe had known him long enough to recognize the silence.
“Tell me.”
Marcus looked toward Gabriel.
Then the security chief.
Then back to his wife.
“There was someone who could access Thorne security systems.”
Gabriel’s voice hardened.
“Who?”
Marcus closed his eyes briefly.
“My father’s private security director.”
Khloe stared at him.
“Why would someone employed by your father access a hospital camera?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
That was when Khloe understood.
She turned toward Gabriel.
“Where is Isabella?”
“Being questioned.”
“I want to know who she called.”
“We’re tracing it.”
Marcus suddenly reached into his pocket.
His phone was vibrating.
He looked down.
The caller had hidden the number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a distorted voice spoke.
“You should have kept your wife away from the cameras.”
Marcus froze.
The call ended.
Khloe stared at him.
May you like
Gabriel quietly asked the question none of them wanted answered.
“Marcus, what exactly did your family bring into my niece’s life?”
