Chapter 7
The original server logs were mostly gone.
Routine retention policies had erased them after ninety days.
But an archived security report still existed.
Two days before Elena disappeared, Damian requested temporary administrator access to Cassandro’s personal messaging profile.
Reason:
Device synchronization issue.
Cassandro did not remember having one.
His phone records showed he had been in San Francisco that afternoon.
Damian had access while he was away.
Cassandro’s attorney cautioned him.
“This doesn't establish misuse.”
“I know.”
That phrase was becoming familiar.
Then they found another clue.
Elena had called a coastal rental agency in Santa Barbara.
She reserved a furnished house for thirty days.
The reservation was canceled the day after she disappeared.
Not by Elena.
By email.
The cancellation came from an address associated with Vivienne.
Cassandro confronted her again.
This time she stopped denying everything.
“Elena didn't arrive.”
“How did you know?”
“She was supposed to call me.”
“She didn't.”
“No.”
“So you canceled her house?”
“I panicked.”
“That makes no sense.”
Vivienne finally snapped.
“Nothing made sense!”
Her voice cracked.
“She disappeared. Damian said if the rental stayed active, people would find out we helped her leave. You were tearing the state apart looking for her. I was terrified you’d think we did something.”
Cassandro stared at her.
“I do think you did something.”
Vivienne started crying.
“I helped your wife get away from you.”
The sentence hit harder than she intended.
Cassandro did not move.
Vivienne covered her face.
“Elena was scared of your life. Of the house. Of what Audrey would grow up seeing.”
Cassandro believed that part.
He had already seen the attorney records.
The arguments.
His own memories.
Vivienne looked at him.
“You want this to be entirely about Damian and me because that hurts less than admitting she wanted out.”
Cassandro’s expression remained cold.
But inside, the words landed.
Elena had chosen distance.
Vivienne and Damian may have exploited it.
Both things could be true.
Cassandro went upstairs.
Audrey was asleep.
May you like
He sat beside her bed.
For the first time, he wondered whether finding Elena would mean discovering a wife who never wanted to return.
