Chapter 4 - The Loyal Man.
Damian read the message twice before allowing anyone else to see it.
Ella was still beside Harper, so he turned the screen facedown.
"Victor, with me."
They entered the adjoining study and closed the doors.
Damian handed him the phone.
Victor's face remained unreadable until he saw the photograph.
Then his eyes sharpened.
"This was taken inside the east family wing."
"I know."
"Only household staff and close security can enter without triggering an alert."
"I know that too."
Victor looked up.
"You think it's me."
Damian hated that the question hurt.
Victor had dragged him from a burning vehicle eight years earlier.
Victor had stood beside him at his father's funeral.
Victor had known every serious relationship, every threat, every weakness, and every password Damian had been foolish enough to speak aloud.
"I think someone used your card."
"That's not what I asked."
Damian held his stare.
"Then give me a reason not to."
Victor placed the phone on the desk.
"Because if I wanted Harper gone, you would not have found her alive."
The brutality of the answer made it convincing and disturbing at the same time.
Victor opened his jacket and removed his black master card.
"Check the chip history yourself."
Damian did.
The card had been used in the west corridor at 1:01 a.m. the night Harper vanished.
Victor's security log placed him at the north gate at that exact minute.
"Cloned," Victor said.
"Possible," Damian replied.
"Likely."
"For you."
Victor's mouth tightened.
A knock sounded at the study door.
It was Mara Chen, Damian's cybersecurity director, carrying a tablet.
"I traced the image message."
Damian let her in.
"Where?"
"It bounced through six servers, but the original upload came from inside the estate network."
Victor swore under his breath.
Mara continued.
"More specifically, from a device registered to the old guesthouse."
The guesthouse had been empty for months.
Damian ordered the inner grounds sealed.
Victor insisted on leading the search.
Damian almost refused.
Then he decided distrust was more useful when kept close.
They crossed the rain-dark lawn with six guards while Mara monitored the network from the mansion.
The guesthouse door was unlocked.
Inside, everything smelled recently cleaned.
The furniture had been covered with sheets, but one lamp was warm.
Victor drew his weapon.
Damian ignored the order to remain behind him.
They found a laptop on the dining table.
Its screen displayed a live feed of the mansion library.
Harper and Ella were visible from a hidden camera angle above the fireplace.
Damian's stomach turned.
"We're being watched now."
Mara spoke through Victor's earpiece.
"Disconnect nothing."
The laptop suddenly changed screens.
A video file began playing.
Damian saw himself entering his father's study three nights earlier.
He watched his own face turn toward the camera.
He watched his own hand use the master card.
He watched himself carry an unconscious Harper through the corridor.
Victor stared at him.
"That's impossible."
Damian knew where he had been that night.
He had been in Chicago, speaking at a private dinner in front of two hundred people.
The video showed him anyway.
Then the fake Damian looked directly into the camera and smiled.
A caption appeared beneath his face.
YOU TRUST WHAT YOU SEE.
The lights in the guesthouse went out.
A gunshot cracked from the hallway.
May you like
Victor dropped to the floor.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
