Chapter 7 - The Security Camera Connects
The camera above the television rotated again.
A blue light blinked once.
Derek looked up.
“Who is watching?”
Leah answered:
“Someone who knows how to preserve a chain of evidence.”
Frank’s longtime friend, Major Elaine Porter, had retired from the Marine Corps and become a federal fraud investigator.
Frank contacted her after receiving the envelope.
She instructed Leah to redirect the security feed to a secure server.
The system had been recording since before Frank entered.
Derek’s statement was preserved.
“She earns what she gets.”
So was the attempted punch.
The locked-room discovery.
The forged account records.
Elaine’s voice came through Frank’s phone.
“Frank, the backup is secure.”
Sarah stared at the device.
“Is she calling police?”
“Not yet,” Frank said.
Derek exhaled.
Then Elaine continued:
“She’s calling federal investigators.”
Derek’s relief vanished.
The charity funds crossed state lines.
Several donations came from military families in different states.
Misuse of those funds could trigger federal charges.
Derek looked toward the hallway.
“I need clothes.”
“No one is stopping you from getting dressed,” Frank said.
Derek did not move.
His clothing was in the bedroom.
So was the laptop investigators needed.
Leah said:
“He won’t go in there because of the safe.”
Sarah looked at her.
“What safe?”
A hidden floor safe sat beneath the bedroom rug.
Derek believed Sarah did not know.
Leah found it while searching for her phone.
Inside were passports, cash, foundation checks, and a second mobile device.
The second phone received messages from someone saved only as C.
Derek’s face changed when Leah mentioned it.
Sarah noticed.
“Who is C?”
He looked away.
That fear was different from his fear of Frank.
May you like
C was not a mistress.
C was someone connected to the money.
