Chapter 5 - Searching for the Blind Spot
Elena knew she could not approach the front gates again without risking immediate arrest, so she relied on her knowledge of the estate’s sprawling perimeter. Growing up near the hills, she knew every inch of the dense perimeter brush that backed up against the cliffside property. Dressed in dark clothing and wearing a canvas hood, she crept through the damp undergrowth until she reached the rear stone wall, hidden from the security cameras by a dense row of overgrown oak branches. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she hoisted herself over the masonry, landing softly on the manicured lawn near the tennis courts. Her objective was the old pool equipment shed, which housed an auxiliary router connected directly to the security system's backup drive—a technical quirk Marcus had once mentioned during a casual conversation. As she slipped inside the shadowed interior of the shed, the scent of chlorine and fertilizer filled her nostrils. She knelt beside the metal utility box, pulled out a small USB drive she had purchased earlier that morning, and plugged it into the manual diagnostic port, praying that Victoria hadn't thought to wipe the local hardware backup as well.
