“The garage camera didn’t record her car,” the property manager, Mr. Greene, reported, voice grim. “But the gate


    footage… it shows her Lexus–registration matches–entering at


    08:47 PM exactly.”


    “Then the car–her car–vanished from every camera inside the


    He nodded. “Yes. But thenst night, around 09:45 PM, we see a


    Chevy leave the garage. License te was obscured.”


    “Someone tampered with the feed,” I said, turning to Gai. “Cross- reference all cameras for past fifty hours. Find anomalies: blind


    frames, jump cuts, missing files.”


    “Got it,” Gai replied crisply, tapping keys. “Also pulled the gate timestamp. Scanned for identical cars passing in and out other


    entry points.”


    –


    I slid my phone to quit the call now there were police on site, sirens muted – and spoke into silence. “Signal staff to hold any


    technicians on standby. No firmware resets. We need original


    data<i>. </i>Freeze everything.”


    The officer in charge, Detective Marquez, nodded gravely. “We’re already logging chain of custody for all drives and


    DVRs”


    “Good,” I said, forcing calm. “The longer we wait, the more


    chance someone erases evidence”


    Rustling footsteps alerted me to Ava approaching. Her face was


    pale.


    “Alexander,” she whispered, “they found something.”


    “What did they find?”


    A deer–in–headlights fear made her eyes flicker. “That same


    ck Malibu… it shows it entering the gate here three days ago.


    At midnight. We examined the timestamp: April 25th, exactly


    at 0:03 hours.”


    “Three nights ago. That’s exactly when Olivia left for Jersey.


    She’d been followed then too.” Ava swallowed.


    “And it wasn’t the same car,” Gai said, voice iron–quiet. “It’s


    identical make, model and license te of the one that leftst


    night.”


    I took a step back. “So anyone inside Duskhollow Pines could’ve


    known about her movements, even before tonight.”


    My jaw clenched. This wasn’t random. This had been nned


    long ago–someone had been tailing Olivia for days.


    Detective Marquez stepped forward, holding a portable drive


    and a notebook. “This is the gate feed. I’ve logged the Malibu


    night. Also, someone tried to delete the footage between entry


    and exit times. It’s heavily redacted.”


    I pried open the back of my mind, chillingly aware: this wasn’t


    just intimidation. Someone had been tracking Olivia’s every


    movement–knowing what time her car crossed each gate.


    This was personal. Dangerous. With the reach of two powerful


    families in motion, secrets I’d hoped were personal were now


    lethal.


    Alexander’s POV


    The screen glowed ominously as the surveince reyed the


    footage: a ck–d figure, hat pulled low, entering the 18th-


    floor corridor carrying a suitcase. He appeared confident-


    unconcerned by onlookers. Secondster, he exited, suitcase still


    in tow, and vanished from view. That was the first time anyone


    saw him.


    I leaned closer. “Freeze it on his face,” I muttered. Gai tapped the


    screen, erging the blurry image. His build was tall, athletic,


    the face obscured by shadow, but his hat seemed familiar. Too


    familiar.


    At my suggestion, the security techs reviewed earlier days. The


    man appeared again–leaving the floor swiftly after dropping


    the food bag at one apartment. We tracked him to a sleek ck


    SUV parked in the basement. It pulled away nearly


    immediately. No license te visible.


    “Ava.” I said, pressing record. “You heard about that pantry that


    delivers to Be’s apartment? I believe we may have our


    suspect.”


    Ava sat beside Detective Marquez, her voice trembling at first:


    “Be Windsor ordered that tonight. Nova’s friend told us the


    delivery guy insisted oning upstairs himself.” She looked <ol><li>up. “That delivery man is the same mysterious guy from the </li></ol>


    footage.”


    A hush settled. Detective Marquez leaned forward. “Be


    Windsor? Chole’s sister?” He looked between Ava and me. “That


    implies direct Windsor involvement in Olivia’s disappearance.“”


    My jaw clenched. The implications were immediate–my mind


    raced.


    I had thought this was a random abduction tied to rumors or


    Ethan. But I never considered thatBeWindsor–or someone


    acting on her–orchestrated the staged “delivery” offered


    confession to a stranger living in Olivia’s building. Now, I feared,


    the same logic could be used to snatch Olivia.


    I muted the phones and pressed my forehead into my hand.


    This wasn’t about rumors anymore–it was a premeditated


    invasion. Chole had imed Olivia “seduced” Ethan; but for


    Be’s involvement, someone at Windsor was already


    organizing hits on Olivia’s safety and location.


    “Detective, if the suspect is Windsor–connected,” I said firmly, “it


    risks blowing this entire situation back into the public with


    greater explosive force. Wemusttreat Windsor Group as a


    hostile actor.”


    Detective Marquez nodded. “We’ll proceed–discreetly. But we


    need a warrant. And fast.”


    I rose to my feet. “Then we keep moving. Ava?” She nodded.