Chapter 9 - THE RECORDING
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Nora agreed to meet Bianca in a crowded café near the Public Garden.
Holly insisted on sitting at another table.
Marcus waited outside.
Bianca arrived ten minutes late wearing sunglasses and a dark coat.
She looked irritated when she saw Nora.
“You brought people.”
“I brought witnesses.”
Bianca sat down.
“Fine.”
Nora placed her hands on the table.
“What do you have?”
Bianca removed a small flash drive.
“The original hospital footage was copied before the security system was wiped. I found it in a private archive.”
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because Camden is going to sacrifice me if things go wrong.”
Nora studied her.
“So this is about saving yourself.”
“Of course it is.”
At least Bianca was honest about that.
Nora took the drive but did not connect it to anything.
“What does the footage show?”
“Your mother leaving St. Anne's with two men.”
Nora's breath caught.
“Was she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where did they take her?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what good is this?”
Bianca leaned forward.
“It shows your grandfather's security director. The same man who later worked for Camden.”
Nora looked at her.
“Name?”
“Arthur Pike.”
Marcus appeared beside the table.
He had heard enough.
“Give me the drive.”
Bianca pulled it back.
“Not until I get something.”
Nora's expression hardened.
“You said you wanted to give me the truth.”
“I want protection.”
“From whom?”
“Camden. The Whitmores. Anyone who decides I'm the easiest person to blame.”
Marcus sat down.
“If you have evidence of a kidnapping, you need to provide it to the authorities.”
Bianca laughed without humor.
“You think the authorities will protect me?”
Nora looked at the woman who had stood beside her husband while he publicly humiliated her.
For a moment, she felt the old anger rise.
Then she remembered the child beneath her heart.
“What do you want?”
“A written statement that I cooperated. And immunity from any civil claims connected to the Northstar payments.”
“That's not my decision.”
“Then make it someone else's problem.”
Marcus took the drive.
“We'll preserve it. Your attorney can negotiate through counsel.”
Bianca stood abruptly.
“Camden has another copy. He keeps it in a safe in his office.”
Nora froze.
“Why?”
“Because he wanted leverage over your family.”
“What leverage?”
Bianca looked toward the window.
“Your grandfather wasn't the only one involved in your mother's disappearance.”
Then she walked out.
Marcus watched her leave.
“She's holding something back.”
Nora nodded.
The drive was taken to a forensic specialist that afternoon.
By evening, Holly received a call.
The footage was authentic.
It showed Eleanor Whitmore leaving the hospital with two men.
She was conscious.
She was struggling.
And one of the men was Arthur Pike.
The second man was not visible clearly.
But when the specialist enhanced the image, he found a reflection in the glass entrance.
A younger Camden Rourke stood beside a black car.
Nora stared at the screen.
“He was there.”
Holly nodded slowly.
“We need to know whether he was involved.”
Nora looked at the reflection.
Then she noticed something else.
Camden was holding a small child’s coat.
May you like
Her coat.
The yellow coat she had been wearing the day she was found.
