Chapter 180: SOMEONE WAS LISTENING
CALLUM’S POV
I left Keisha on the bed and crouched beside the wardrobe, following the faint red light until I could reach beneath it.
My fingers closed around a small device, and when I pulled it out, I immediately recognized what it was.
A recorder.
I looked at Keisha and pressed a finger to my lips, silently telling her not to speak. She stared at me, her confusion quickly turning into alarm, but she stayed quiet while I crossed the room and pulled the curtains shut completely.
Once the room was dark, I stood still and allowed my eyes to adjust. I scanned the walls, furniture and corners carefully, looking for the slightest sign that there was another device hidden somewhere.
A few seconds later, another tiny red light blinked from across the room. I walked toward it, reached behind a cabinet and pulled out a second recorder. I returned to Keisha with both devices in my hand, and she stared at them as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
"What the fuck is that?" she whispered.
"Recorders," I answered quietly. "Someone put them in your room."
Her face immediately tightened with fear. "Recorders? You mean someone has been listening to us? They’ve been listening to everything we’ve said in here?"
"I don’t know how long they’ve been here, but that’s exactly what they were meant to do." I examined one of the devices before crushing it in my palm.
The plastic cracked under my fingers, and I did the same to the second one before dropping the broken pieces onto the floor.
Keisha kept staring at them, clearly trying to understand how something like that could have happened without her noticing. "Callum, how did they even get inside? Nobody comes into my room except the people who live here. The guards don’t just walk into my bedroom."
"That’s what concerns me." I sat beside her and lowered my voice. "Think carefully before you answer me. Has anyone unfamiliar been allowed into this room recently? Anyone you didn’t recognize, anyone who came with someone else, or anyone who had a reason to be here?"
She shook her head. "No. It’s only me, Nadia, Vera and Becca whenever she brings food or comes to check on me. That’s it. I’ve never seen anyone else come inside."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes." She looked toward the door before turning back to me. "Why would someone put these things here, Callum? What exactly were they hoping to hear? My conversations with Nadia? Things I said to you?"
"I don’t know yet, and I don’t want you frightening yourself by trying to answer questions we don’t have answers to." I took her hand when I saw how badly she was shaking. "What I do know is that whoever placed these devices wanted information. They didn’t put them here by accident, and they didn’t expect us to find them tonight. That means they’ve probably been listening for a while, which also means they’ve been careless enough to leave something behind. I’ll find out who did it."
Keisha swallowed hard. "What if there are more?"
"Then I’ll find every single one of them and destroy it."
"How are you so sure you can find everything?" Her voice cracked.
"Because I’m going to search this entire house." I squeezed her hand gently. "But you’re going to sleep first. You’ve had enough for one day, and I don’t want you staying awake all night wondering whether somebody is watching you."
She looked at me for a long moment before finally nodding. "Just promise me you’re not going to ignore this. This is serious."
"I wouldn’t dare.". I helped her settle back against the pillows and waited until she had closed her eyes before leaving.
I didn’t tell her how angry I was because there was no reason to add that to everything already weighing on her.
Someone had entered her room, hidden listening devices to remain close enough to hear things that were never meant to leave those walls. I needed to know how they had done it, but more importantly, I needed to know who had access to the house.
Downstairs, Becca was already preparing my dinner. She brought the plate to the dining table and set it down carefully before stepping back. "I’ve brought your meal, Alpha. Will you be needing anything else before I go to bed?" She had barely finished speaking when I stopped her.
"Becca, how long have you worked here?"
She looked surprised by the question. "You know the answer to that. I started working here before your wife died."
I nodded. "I remember. You’ve been here for years."
"Yes."
I leaned back in my chair and watched her. "You’ve seen this household through a lot. You were here when Nadia was younger, you stayed after my wife died, and you’ve continued working here all this time. You know how the house operates better than most people do."
Becca gave me a small smile. "I’ve been part of the household for a long time, Alpha. I suppose I know it fairly well."
"Who usually has access to the bedrooms?"
She hesitated for barely a second. "The family, the maids assigned to clean them, and the guards when they’re required to enter. Of course, there are times when other people are allowed inside if they’re guests or if someone needs to repair something."
"Anyone else?"
"No."
I studied her face, but she didn’t seem nervous enough to suggest she knew why I was asking. Still, I wasn’t going to tell her about the recorders. If she was innocent, there was no reason to frighten her. If she wasn’t, I certainly wasn’t going to warn her that I had discovered what she’d been doing.
"You can go," I said.
She nodded. "Goodnight, Alpha."
"Goodnight."
She turned and walked away, and I kept my eyes on her until she disappeared around the corner. I didn’t want to believe Becca was involved. She had been here for years, long before any of this started, and I had trusted her around my family without thinking twice.
But trust wasn’t evidence of innocence. If she had been the one who placed those devices in Keisha’s room, then I would find out, and when I did, the fact that she had served this family for years wouldn’t change what I would do.
I had barely started eating when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Nadia appeared in the dining room, looking tired and slightly irritated as she headed toward the kitchen. She stopped when she saw me. "Dad, you’re still awake? I thought you’d gone to bed by now."
"I could say the same about you."
"I woke up thirsty." She walked into the kitchen, poured herself a glass of water and came back with it in her hand. "How’s Keisha?"
"She’s asleep."
Nadia nodded, taking a sip. "Good. She looked exhausted earlier. Today was terrible, and I still can’t believe that maid was actually one of the people trying to hurt her. I keep thinking about how she used to walk around here like she was just another maid doing her job."
"So do I."
Nadia looked at me for a moment. "You’ll find whoever is behind it, right?"
"I will. Of course I will."
She seemed satisfied with that answer. "Okay. I’m going back to bed. Goodnight, Dad."
"Goodnight."
After she left, I finished my meal and began searching the house.
I started with Keisha’s room again, moving furniture, checking behind cabinets and inspecting places where someone could have hidden something small. I found nothing else there, but I didn’t stop. I checked Nadia’s room, then the guest rooms, then the sitting room and the study.
The farther I went through the house, the more convinced I became that whoever had planted the recorders wasn’t an amateur.
I found another one behind a cabinet in one of the rooms. Then another beneath a table. By the time I found the fourth, my patience was gone.
How long had these been there?
I stood in the middle of the hallway, holding another broken recorder in my hand.
Someone had been listening to us. Someone who had been inside this house for long.