Chapter 6 - THE NIGHT THE HOUSE WENT DARK
The power failed just after midnight.
Hannah had stayed late because a guest had arrived unexpectedly and the kitchen needed to be reset. She was collecting cleaning cloths when the lights went out.
Emergency lamps flickered on along the corridor.
Then came the sound of a crash from the pantry.
Hannah turned.
A man in dark clothing was moving through the service hallway. He was not a member of the household staff. She recognized none of his features.
He saw her and stopped.
“Where's the office?”
Hannah stepped backward.
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
A door opened behind him.
Rafael appeared with two security men.
“Move away from her.”
The stranger ran.
The guards pursued him toward the rear entrance. Hannah pressed herself against the wall, heart hammering.
Rafael checked her quickly.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Go to the staff room. Lock the door.”
“What happened?”
“Someone entered the house through the service gate.”
Hannah did as she was told.
A few minutes later, Luca came downstairs, fully dressed, his expression cold.
“Did you see him?”
“Only for a second.”
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
Luca looked toward Rafael.
“Was anything taken?”
“The office cabinet was opened. We don't know what he was looking for.”
Luca turned to Hannah.
“Did you see him near the kitchen?”
“He asked where the office was.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“Did he know your name?”
“No.”
Rafael's radio crackled.
The intruder had been caught near the outer wall. He carried a small device used to copy access credentials and a photograph of the household office entrance.
The police were called. The man refused to explain who had sent him.
By morning, the accountant had discovered that someone had attempted to access the payroll archive during the outage.
Luca looked at the access log.
“Vanessa's credentials?”
“An old token,” Rafael said. “It was disabled last week, but someone tried to use a copy.”
“Who had the original?”
“Vanessa. And the office administrator.”
Luca stared at the screen.
He now had reason to believe the payroll irregularities were not merely careless bookkeeping.
May you like
Someone was trying to get into the records.
And they were willing to send a stranger into his home to do it.
