Chapter 5 - THE GIRL WHO COUNTED THE WRONG SECONDS
Lily Hayes had never liked clocks that ran fast.
Her father used to tell her that time was supposed to be honest.
A clock could be broken.
It could stop.
It could lose a minute.
But it should never pretend something happened twice.
That was why she noticed the security footage.
And why she noticed something else three days later.
Dante had arranged temporary housing for Emily and Lily through an independent security service after the threatening photograph appeared.
Emily agreed reluctantly.
She didn't trust wealthy men making decisions about her life.
Dante didn't blame her.
He had already made one decision that nearly destroyed her family.
Lily sat at the kitchen table drawing while Emily spoke with an attorney.
Dante entered carrying a small box.
Inside was Aaron's recovered recording unit.
The forensic team had completed its initial preservation work.
Dante placed a photograph of the device on the table.
“Lily, have you seen this before?”
Emily looked up sharply.
“Dante.”
He raised a hand.
“Only if she's comfortable answering.”
Lily studied the photograph.
Then nodded.
“Daddy had one.”
“Where?”
“In the garage.”
Dante's pulse quickened.
“Did he show it to you?”
She shook her head.
“But he told me it was important.”
Lily returned to her drawing.
Then stopped.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Yes?”
“The lady in the camera wasn't the first mistake.”
Dante crouched.
“What do you mean?”
She pointed toward her father's watch.
“Daddy showed me another video before he died.”
Emily froze.
“What video?”
Lily looked at her mother.
“The one with the blue truck.”
Emily's face drained.
“A blue truck?”
Lily nodded.
“It came out of the warehouse twice.”
Dante felt his chest tighten.
“Do you remember when?”
Lily thought carefully.
“After my birthday.”
Her birthday had been eleven months earlier.
Just days before Aaron's dismissal.
Dante asked Nora to search the recovered files for blue vehicles.
Hours later, the team found a clip.
A blue delivery truck entered a warehouse at 2:14 a.m.
Three minutes later, the recording repeated.
But the second time, a small detail had changed.
The truck's rear door was open.
The first time, it had been closed.
Nora examined the footage.
“Someone combined two recordings to conceal what happened between them.”
Dante stared.
“What happened?”
She advanced the frames.
A second vehicle appeared briefly in the reflection of a warehouse window.
A black SUV.
Its license plate was partially visible.
Marcus checked the registration.
The SUV belonged to a company controlled by Victor Salerno.
Dante leaned back.
The manipulated footage wasn't simply concealing stolen money.
It was hiding physical movements.
Deliveries.
Meetings.
Possibly people.
Then Nora opened a second file.
The blue truck appeared again.
This time, a man stepped out of the passenger side.
He wore a gray jacket.
His face was visible for less than a second.
Dante recognized him.
Detective Paul Brennan.
The officer who had investigated Aaron Hayes's fatal highway collision.
Dante stared at the screen.
The same detective who had ruled Aaron's death an accident had been meeting Victor Salerno at a warehouse shortly before Aaron died.
Dante stood.
“Get this to the independent investigators.”
Marcus nodded.
But Dante wasn't finished.
He looked at the cracked pocket watch sitting beside Lily's drawing.
Aaron Hayes had known something.
Something important enough to risk his career.
His family.
His life.
And now his daughter was helping reveal it.
May you like
Dante whispered, “What did you find, Aaron?”
The answer was waiting in the next recording.
