Chapter 7 Investigation Facing Challenges

Katherine's POV

A woman's scream pierced the silence from down the hall, followed by a man's angry growl. I hesitated for a moment, old protective instincts warring with bitter memories.

But I had my own mission - finding evidence to clear Kevin's name. I couldn't afford distractions.

Above me, that woman screamed again, the sound quickly muffled.

I straightened my blazer as I approached the security office of the Four Seasons Hotel, mentally rehearsing my story. After years of living under false identities, deception had become second nature.

The security guard looked up as I entered, his professional demeanor slipping slightly as he took in my appearance.

"Hi, Mike." I smiled, letting just a hint of vulnerability show through. "I'm hoping you might be able to help me with something?"

The guard - Mike, according to his nameplate - straightened in his chair. "Of course, ma'am. What seems to be the problem?"

"This is rather embarrassing," I said, touching my neck where a necklace would have rested. "I attended a business dinner here last week, and I seem to have lost a rather valuable piece of jewelry. I was wondering if I could review the security footage?"

Mike's expression shifted subtly. "When exactly was this dinner, ma'am?"

"Last Tuesday evening, in the Crown Ballroom. Around 8 PM?" I added just the right note of uncertainty to my voice. "It was a tech industry networking event."

His fingers hovered over the keyboard, but his eyes darted briefly to a memo on his desk. Something in official Hudson Financial Group letterhead, though I couldn't make out the details. "I'm very sorry, but we're actually in the middle of a quarterly system upgrade. Historical footage is temporarily inaccessible..."

Bullshit. The rehearsed response and carefully neutral expression told me everything I needed to know. Hudson Financial Group's influence ran deep, even here.

"Oh, that's such a shame," I sighed, maintaining my facade of disappointed sophistication. "Any idea when the system might be back up? The necklace has great sentimental value - it was my grandmother's."

"Hard to say, ma'am. These upgrades can be unpredictable. Perhaps you could file a report with lost and found? Sometimes our housekeeping staff..."

I made a show of writing down the lost and found contact information, all while noting the security system brand visible on his monitors. That would help Ryan later. I also caught a glimpse of the internal extension number on Mike's phone - direct access to security might come in handy.

"You've been so helpful," I said warmly, sliding the notepad back into my designer bag. "I really appreciate you taking the time."

Mike's relief at my easy acceptance was palpable. Poor man probably dealt with entitled guests throwing tantrums all day. "Happy to help, ma'am. I hope your necklace turns up."

Once safely in the elevator, I pulled out my phone and called my son's secure line. Ryan had set it up himself - at age four. Sometimes I wondered if my eldest son's genius was a blessing or a curse. He answered on the first ring.

"Mom? Is everything okay?" The background noise told me he was probably in his private coding space - the one he thought I didn't know about.

"Ryan, honey." I kept my voice low, though I knew Four Seasons elevators were soundproof. "I need your help accessing some security footage."

There was a pause, filled only by the soft sound of typing. "The hotel's running Axis Camera Station VMS. Give me a few minutes to create a backdoor... They've got decent firewalls, but nothing special. What's the timestamp you need?"

"Last Tuesday, Crown Ballroom, between 8 PM and midnight." I exited on the ninth floor, walking briskly down the plush carpeted hallway. The thick carpet muffled my heels - another security feature I remembered Alexander implementing. "They're claiming system upgrades, but-"

"Got it," Ryan interrupted. More typing, then a soft whistle. "That's... interesting. Mom, the footage exists, but someone's already exported and deleted the original files. This was a targeted removal - professionally done. They even wiped the backup servers."

I ducked into an alcove, processing this information. "Can you tell who accessed it?"

"Working on it... The credentials used belonged to a corporate IT admin account. Very professional job - they knew exactly what they were doing. Hold on... let me try something." The typing increased in speed. "They routed through multiple proxies, but... yeah, the final destination was a Hudson Financial Group server."

"Hudson Group," I muttered.

"Most likely. Want me to try recovering-" Ryan's voice suddenly cut off, replaced by muffled sounds and what might have been childish giggling.

"Ryan?" My grip tightened on the phone. "What's wrong?"

When he came back, his voice was different. Strained. "Nothing, Mom. Just... dealing with something here. A coding issue."

Mother's intuition, honed by years of protecting my children, flared to life. That definitely wasn't a coding issue I'd heard. "Ryan. What aren't you telling me?"

"It's nothing, really-"

"Don't lie to me." I kept my voice stern but quiet. "What's going on? And don't even think about trying to hack my phone to end this call."

A long pause. Then, "Ethan and Emma... they're not in Switzerland."

The world tilted slightly. "What do you mean, they're not in Switzerland?" The careful plans I'd made to keep my children safe began crumbling around me.

"They... they followed you to Seattle." The words tumbled out in a rush. "They're staying with Austin - you remember him? He used to babysit us sometimes, before... everything. They made me promise not to tell you. They said it wasn't fair that I got to help with the mission while they had to stay behind."

I closed my eyes, forcing down the surge of panic. My babies were here, in the same city as Alexander. As Sarah.

"How long?"

"They arrived yesterday. Mom, I'm sorry. They were so determined, and you know how they get when they set their minds to something. Especially Emma - she did that thing with her eyes, and Austin just caved. He swore he'd keep them safe, though. He's got them in his lake house on Bainbridge Island, totally off the grid."

I remembered Austin Powers. A brilliant programmer who'd always treated my children like prodigies. But still...

"Send me his address," I ordered. "And Ryan? We're going to have a long talk about keeping secrets from me. About encrypted channels and trust and family loyalty."

"I know, Mom. I'm sorry. I just... they really wanted to help Uncle Kevin too. Emma's been having those dreams again - the ones where she sees bad things happening. And Ethan... well, you know how he gets when Emma's upset."

The mention of Kevin brought me back to the immediate crisis. My gifted, complicated children would have to wait. "We'll deal with this later. Right now, I need you to focus on that security footage. There has to be a backup somewhere. The Porter sisters aren't as tech-savvy as they think they are."

"On it. I'll try to trace the exported files. Please don't be too mad at them. They miss you. We all do. It's been hard, pretending to be normal kids at that Swiss boarding school while you're out here risking everything."

The simple statement hit me like a physical blow. "I miss them too, baby. So much. But I need them safe, understand? Your father... if he finds out about your abilities..."

"I know, Mom. But maybe it's time we stopped running? We're stronger together."

After ending the call, I leaned against the wall, mind racing. My children were here, in Seattle. The security footage that might help Kevin had been deliberately erased. And knowing Sarah and Sophie Porter, this was just the beginning of whatever scheme they'd concocted.

I pulled up Austin's address on my phone, already planning my next move. First, I needed to see my children - make sure they were truly safe. Then I could focus on saving Kevin from whatever trap the Porter sisters had set.

But as I headed for the elevator, a familiar figure stepped out of one of the hotel rooms - Sarah herself, looking suspiciously disheveled. Her designer dress was wrinkled, her carefully styled hair in disarray, and was that... a bruise forming on her collarbone?

Our eyes met for a fraction of a second before she quickly looked away, hurrying toward the fire stairs. Her usual confident strut was replaced by something almost like... fear?

I had a feeling the deleted security footage would show Sophie doing something very different from her claimed activities on the night Kevin was arrested. Something that might explain why she'd been so quick to press charges against my brother.

I pulled out my phone again, sending a quick text to Ryan: [Check hospital records from last Tuesday night. See if Sophie Porter sought treatment anywhere.]