Chapter 4 - The Locked Office.
Claire did not ask Leo another question until she had made hot chocolate and brought him back to the sofa.
She sat beside him beneath the blanket and let him decide how close he wanted to be.
He tucked himself against her arm.
Elise sat in a chair across from them with her phone facedown on the table.
"Sweetheart, you are not in trouble."
Leo nodded without looking up.
"I need to understand the video you mentioned."
He rubbed Mr. Bear's ear between his fingers.
"I was making a spaceship movie."
"Okay."
"I put my tablet behind the big plant because it was the moon camera."
Claire pictured the tall fiddle-leaf fig beside the study doors.
"Then Dad came in with Brooke."
"Were you in the room?"
"No."
"Where were you?"
"Behind the couch."
Elise leaned forward slightly.
Claire lifted a hand, signaling her not to interrupt.
"Why were you behind the couch?"
Leo's face became embarrassed.
"I was hiding from Grandma."
"Why?"
"She wanted me to practice sitting still."
Claire felt anger rise and forced it down.
"What does practicing sitting still mean?"
Leo pressed his knees together.
"I have to sit in the dining chair and not move until the timer beeps."
Claire stared at him.
"How long?"
"Sometimes ten."
"Ten minutes?"
Leo nodded.
"Sometimes fifteen if I mess up."
Elise closed her eyes.
Claire kept her voice even.
"What counts as messing up?"
"Getting down."
"Anything else?"
"Talking."
"Anything else?"
He whispered.
"Crying."
Claire's fingernails pressed into her palm.
"Who started this?"
Leo shrugged.
"Grandma says Brooke's daughter can do it."
The comparison again.
Claire reminded herself that Leo was telling a story, not testifying in a courtroom.
She would not lead him.
She would not feed him answers.
She would listen.
"Tell me about the video."
Leo nodded.
"Dad and Brooke came into the study."
"What happened?"
"They talked."
"Do you remember what they said?"
Leo frowned with concentration.
"Brooke said something about Northline."
Claire and Elise exchanged a glance.
"Anything else?"
"Dad said you always sign when Mara says it's normal."
Claire's pulse quickened.
"What happened after that?"
"Brooke laughed."
"Then what?"
"My tablet made the battery sound."
Leo swallowed.
"Dad found it."
Claire's heart hurt at the expression on his face.
"What did he do?"
"He asked why I was spying."
"What did you say?"
"I said I wasn't."
"Did he believe you?"
Leo shook his head.
"He deleted my spaceship movie."
"Then he locked the tablet away?"
"In his office drawer."
Claire looked toward Elise.
The estate study had a built-in office closet with a locking desk cabinet.
Dominic kept tax records and old contracts there.
He also kept a small safe Claire had never used.
"When was this?"
"Two sleeps ago."
Claire kissed the top of his head.
"Thank you for telling me."
Leo looked worried.
"Is Dad mad?"
"Dad is responsible for Dad's feelings."
"Is Grandma mad?"
"Grandma is responsible for Grandma's feelings."
Leo thought about that.
"Am I responsible for mine?"
Claire smiled faintly.
"You are allowed to have yours."
That answer seemed to settle something in him.
Within twenty minutes, he was asleep again.
Claire moved to the kitchen with Elise and called Mara.
She repeated Leo's account as precisely as she could.
Mara did not sound surprised.
"Do not question him further tonight."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"The tablet is in Dominic's office."
"Do you own the tablet?"
"I bought it for Leo."
"Is it on your family account?"
"Yes."
Mara paused.
"Do you know whether it backs up automatically?"
Claire's eyes widened.
She opened her laptop.
"I think so."
"Do not alter anything if you find the file."
"Understood."
Claire logged into the family storage account.
There were hundreds of photographs.
Leo building a cardboard castle.
Leo at the aquarium.
Leo asleep with pancake batter on his shirt after a Sunday breakfast.
Then a folder marked recently deleted.
Claire's hand stopped over the trackpad.
"Mara."
"What?"
"There is a recently deleted video from two days ago."
"Do not restore it yet."
Claire stared at the thumbnail.
It showed a tilted view of the study carpet and the lower leaves of the tall plant.
"Can I play it?"
"Yes, but screen-recording or copying may change timestamps depending on the system."
"Then what do I do?"
"Evan can collect it forensically."
Claire hated waiting.
"How soon?"
"He's still at the estate."
Claire went still.
"Dominic left."
"Correct."
"Then have Evan get the tablet."
"We need to be careful."
Mara's voice became deliberate.
"The device belongs to Leo, but the locked office is inside the residence, and we do not want Dominic claiming evidence was improperly taken or manipulated."
Claire exhaled.
"So we wait."
"We preserve the cloud copy now through proper collection."
"Do it."
Evan joined the call ten minutes later.
Claire granted temporary access to the family storage account.
He documented each step.
He located the deleted file.
He preserved a copy with its metadata.
Only then did Mara tell Claire she could listen.
The first thirty seconds were mostly Leo whispering about a cardboard spaceship.
The camera showed carpet.
Then footsteps.
A door shut.
Brooke's voice came first.
"Northline cannot keep taking this volume unless you move the Denver contracts through it."
Dominic answered.
"Claire will notice if the consulting line doubles."
"Then spread it."
A pause.
"She signs what Mara puts in front of her."
Dominic laughed softly.
"Mara reads everything."
"Then don't use Mara."
Claire felt the room narrow around her.
Brooke continued.
"Use the vendor addendum from operations and bundle it with the site package."
Dominic's voice dropped.
"I already told you I can get her signature."
The next words were muffled.
Then Brooke said something Claire could hear clearly.
"After that, Northline owns the leverage."
Claire looked at Mara.
Mara's face on the video call was expressionless.
The recording continued.
Dominic said, "And what about Leo?"
Claire's stomach turned.
Brooke answered.
"What about him?"
"He keeps hovering around."
"Then send him to your mother."
Dominic sighed.
"Claire calls him every night."
Brooke laughed.
"You let a six-year-old run this house."
There was a small rustling sound.
Claire realized it was Leo shifting behind the couch.
Then the tablet made a bright electronic chime.
Footsteps came quickly toward the camera.
Dominic's face appeared for less than a second.
The recording ended.
Claire sat motionless.
Elise was crying silently.
Mara spoke first.
"The financial portion matters."
Claire looked at her.
"And the rest?"
"The rest matters too."
"Can I use it in custody court?"
"That depends on authentication, relevance, and local evidentiary rules."
Mara's tone was cautious.
"But it tells us what questions to ask."
Claire nodded.
"Then ask all of them."
The next morning began with a motion from Dominic's newly hired lawyer.
He wanted temporary joint access to Leo on an alternating schedule.
He accused Claire of removing the child from the marital residence without discussion.
He accused her of weaponizing corporate control in a personal dispute.
He accused her of creating instability.
Claire read the filing twice.
The language was polished.
The facts were recognizable only in the way a distorted mirror still resembles a face.
One paragraph made her laugh without humor.
Dominic claimed Claire's frequent business travel had made him Leo's primary stable parent.
Elise read over her shoulder.
"He is using your work against you."
"Work that pays his salary."
"I don't think irony is admissible evidence."
Claire almost smiled.
Then her phone rang.
It was Dr. Hannah Reed, Leo's therapist.
Claire had left a message the night before requesting an appointment.
"I can see Leo at eleven."
"Thank you."
"Claire, I also received a call this morning from Dominic."
Claire's spine stiffened.
"What did he say?"
"He asked for Leo's treatment records."
"Did you give them to him?"
"No."
Dr. Reed spoke carefully.
"I explained that I need to review consent and applicable rules before releasing anything, especially during a custody dispute."
Claire looked out the window.
"Did he say why he wanted them?"
"He said he needed proof that Leo's anxiety existed before this week."
Claire went cold.
"Proof for what?"
"He didn't say."
Claire knew anyway.
Dominic was building a story in which Leo's fear had nothing to do with him.
He was going to turn their son's trauma into a shield.
Mara called five minutes later.
"Dominic's counsel requested an emergency board meeting."
Claire laughed once.
"Of course he did."
"He claims your decision to suspend him was retaliatory and damaging to operations."
"When?"
"Tomorrow at nine."
Claire looked at the frozen thumbnail of Leo's video on her laptop.
"Good."
Mara was quiet.
"Good?"
"Yes."
Claire closed the laptop.
"If Dominic wants a board meeting, let's give him one."
She stood.
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"And this time, let's make sure he understands what a camera can remember."
THE RAG ON MARBLE
