Chapter 6 - The Traitor Inside
Panic gripped Liam's chest like a vice as he sprinted wildly through the massive, dark hallways of the estate.
He shouted Chloe's name, throwing open every guest room door and searching every hidden corner of the mansion.
The entire staff was rudely awakened and ordered to search the expansive gardens and the surrounding woods with flashlights.
Claire emerged from her master bedroom wearing a silk robe, pretending to look deeply shocked and concerned.
"I warned you that she was completely unstable, Liam, this is why she needed that disciplinary school," Claire sighed dramatically.
Liam ignored her venomous words and ran directly to the mansion's main security control room.
He pushed past the technicians and stared at the massive wall of glowing surveillance monitors.
"Rewind all the hallway cameras near the nursery to exactly midnight," Liam commanded the head of security.
The security chief, a burly man named Marcus who had worked there for five years, hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Marcus nervously typed on the keyboard, and the screens flickered back to the requested time.
The video clearly showed the empty hallway, proving that Chloe had never walked out of her bedroom door.
"The cameras must have experienced a brief technical glitch during the storm last night," Marcus lied smoothly.
Liam narrowed his eyes, noticing a tiny bead of sweat rolling down the side of the security chief's face.
Liam suddenly remembered that he had given Chloe a customized, waterproof smartwatch for her birthday last month.
The watch contained a military-grade GPS tracker that ran on a completely independent satellite network.
Liam pulled out his own cell phone and quickly opened the hidden tracking application.
A bright red dot blinked on the digital map, showing that Chloe was definitely not running away on foot.
The tracker indicated she was currently moving at sixty miles per hour down the interstate highway.
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Liam looked up from his phone and stared directly into the eyes of his betraying head of security.
"You helped that monster kidnap my daughter right out of her own bed," Liam growled, pulling a heavy brass statue from the desk.
