Chapter 2 - The Missing Hours
Ethan moved before Vanessa could reach the kitchen.
He picked up her phone.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“Ethan.”
“No.”
Vanessa stared at him with a mixture of anger and panic.
Then she looked toward Sophie.
Her expression softened instantly.
It happened so quickly that Ethan finally understood what had fooled him.
Vanessa did not lose control accidentally.
She selected which version of herself each person was allowed to see.
“Sophie, honey.”
Sophie pressed closer to Ethan.
Vanessa smiled.
“You know I would never hurt you.”
Sophie’s breathing changed.
Ethan noticed it immediately.
“Don’t talk to her.”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“You cannot seriously believe a four-year-old over your wife.”
“I believe fear.”
He pointed toward Sophie.
“And my daughter is afraid of you.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Because you are frightening her right now.”
Ethan almost answered.
Then he stopped.
That was how Vanessa worked.
Shift the focus.
Make the other person defend himself.
Turn the accusation into proof that she was being mistreated.
He looked at the security panel instead.
The archive deletion request had failed.
His company maintained a remote backup system because the Malibu property contained confidential architectural plans and business records.
Vanessa apparently did not know that.
Ethan did.
He called his private security director, Noah Greene.
“I need every camera archive from this house preserved.”
Vanessa laughed sharply.
“You have lost your mind.”
“Kitchen, hallways, exterior cameras, staff entrances.”
“You are recording me without permission?”
“They are security cameras in my house.”
“Our house.”
“Not tonight.”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“Are you throwing me out?”
“I am asking you to leave until I know my daughter is safe.”
She stepped toward him.
Sophie whimpered.
That sound ended the conversation.
Ethan pointed toward the foyer.
“Leave.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“You promised me a family.”
“I promised Sophie one first.”
Something cold passed through Vanessa’s face.
Then it vanished.
She picked up her purse.
“I will stay at the Malibu Bay Hotel.”
Ethan said nothing.
At the door, she turned.
“You are making the worst mistake of your life.”
The words sounded less like grief than a warning.
When the door closed, Sophie remained completely still.
Ethan knelt beside her.
“She’s gone.”
Sophie looked toward the hallway.
“For tonight?”
“For as long as you need.”
Her lower lip trembled.
Then she whispered something Ethan would remember for the rest of his life.
“She always comes back after you leave.”
Ethan felt sick.
“How long has this been happening?”
Sophie looked confused by the question.
Children measured time differently.
She held up three fingers.
“Since my pink birthday.”
Her fourth birthday had been eight months ago.
Ethan had spent more than half of those months traveling.
He looked toward the security room.
Eight months.
If the cameras still existed, there were eight months of truth somewhere inside the system.
Noah called ten minutes later.
“Ethan, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Most of the recordings are intact.”
“Most?”
“There are missing blocks.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
May you like
“How many?”
“Every time you traveled.”
