Chapter 4
I screamed for Dad.
He reached my room in seconds.
Marcus searched the hall while two security officers checked every window.
No one was found.
Dad studied the photograph.
It showed me asleep after we arrived at the house.
Someone had been standing beside my bed.
On the back, four words were written in red ink.
You are never alone.
Dad ordered everyone into the main living room.
There were nine members of the security team inside the house.
One of them had either taken the photograph or allowed someone to enter.
Marcus collected their phones.
A young officer named Evan Brooks refused.
“My phone contains private information.”
Dad stepped toward him.
“My daughter was photographed while sleeping.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Then unlock it.”
Evan hesitated.
That was enough.
Marcus grabbed his wrist.
The phone fell.
Evan shoved him and ran.
He reached the front hall before Dad tackled him.
A small device slid from Evan’s pocket.
It was a signal jammer.
Dad’s security team restrained him.
Evan finally broke.
Ryan had paid him for access to the house, the emergency server, and the family’s schedule.
He admitted deleting part of the ring recording.
But he denied taking the photograph.
“I only left the bedroom camera disabled for five minutes,” he said.
“Who entered?” Dad demanded.
“I never saw a face.”
“Then what did you see?”
“A woman.”
Mom stopped crying.
“What woman?”
Evan swallowed.
“She wore a dark coat. She knew the alarm code.”
Only four people knew that code.
Dad.
Mom.
Victor.
And me.
Diane did not know it.
Ryan did not know it.
At least, they were not supposed to.
Dad looked at Mom.
She shook her head.
“I never gave it to anyone.”
Evan was handed over to the police, but the discovery did not make me feel safer.
Someone close to us had entered my room.
Someone wanted me terrified before I met Ryan.
At dawn, I made my decision.
I would go to my house.
But I would not go alone.
Dad wanted armed officers surrounding the property.
I refused.
“Ryan will see them.”
“We can conceal them.”
“He found a traitor inside your team. What makes you think he won’t recognize the others?”
Marcus placed a small listening device inside the lining of my jacket.
Unlike the ring, it transmitted through an independent network.
Dad hated the plan.
I could see it in his eyes.
But he understood Ryan better now.
A direct assault would put Victor at risk.
At eleven forty-five, I parked one block from the house and walked the rest of the way.
The broken front door had been covered with plywood.
A yellow police notice hung across it.
The back door was open.
“Ryan?” I called.
No answer.
I entered the kitchen.
There was dried dog food on the floor and a whiskey bottle on the table.
My wedding photograph had been placed beside it.
Ryan had scratched Dad’s face out of the picture.
Then I heard Victor groan.
He was tied to a chair in the dining room.
His mouth was bleeding.
“Emily, leave,” he whispered.
I rushed toward him.
A hand closed around my throat.
Ryan pulled me backward.
He pressed a knife against my side.
“You always were too loyal.”
“Let him go.”
“Give me the ring.”
I removed it slowly.
Ryan snatched it from my hand.
He examined the ruby.
“This tiny thing ruined everything.”
“No. You ruined everything.”
He slapped me.
Victor struggled against the ropes.
“Touch her again, and I’ll kill you.”
Ryan laughed.
“You already destroyed her life.”
He turned to me.
“Ask your uncle who chose you.”
I looked at Victor.
His face collapsed.
Ryan explained that Victor had not merely recognized him.
Victor had given him my name.
When Ryan demanded access to Dad, Victor suggested he get close to me.
The room spun.
“You offered me to him?”
Victor’s eyes filled with tears.
“I thought Ryan only wanted information.”
“You handed him my life.”
“I was desperate.”
Ryan leaned near my ear.
“Your family built this marriage.”
I wanted to fall apart.
Instead, I looked at Victor’s chair.
One rope around his wrist was loose.
He was working his hand free.
I kept Ryan talking.
“What do you want from Project Ruby?”
“The master access key.”
“It doesn’t exist.”
Ryan pressed the knife harder against me.
“Your father built one.”
A car door slammed outside.
Ryan smiled.
“Right on time.”
Diane entered through the kitchen carrying a metal case.
Beside her was my mother.
Mom would not look at me.
She walked to the table and entered the alarm code into the case.
The lock opened.
May you like
Inside was the original Project Ruby control unit.
Mom had betrayed us.
