Elena reached for the touch screen panel, tapping quickly on the security settings icon.
She had watched the installation technician set up the backup cloud drive a few weeks ago.
The system automatically saved real-time video files to a secondary local drive inside the master pantry server.
Brenda was currently upstairs in her bedroom, busy fixing her makeup to look like a victim.
Elena pulled a small USB memory stick from her purse, which she used for her college homework assignments.
She plugged the drive directly into the server panel port, initiating an instant file download sequence.
The progress bar moved slowly across the digital screen: ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent.
Her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird as she listened for footsteps in the hallway.
If Brenda caught her downloading private security footage, she would confiscate the drive immediately.
Elena: Come on, please move faster...
Outside the front gates, heavy tires crunched loudly against the gravel driveway of the estate.
David’s luxury black sedan had pulled up to the front entrance in record time from downtown.
The progress bar reached eighty percent as the sound of the grand front doors slamming echoed inside.
David’s furious voice called out through the high-ceiling foyer, demanding answers right away.
David: Brenda! Elena! Where is my daughter?!
Brenda: In here, darling! Oh thank God you are home!
Brenda rushed down the hallway, bursting into tears as she met David in the main foyer area.
The progress bar hit one hundred percent, and Elena quickly pulled the USB drive out of the slot.
She hid the small drive inside her apron pocket just as David entered the kitchen with Brenda.
David looked stressed and angry, his eyes sweeping across the room to check on young Lily.
The little girl ran straight to her father, wrapping her tiny arms tightly around his leg.
David: Lily, sweetie, are you hurt? What happened here?
Brenda: She tried to throw her, David! Elena went crazy!
Elena: That is an absolute lie, Mr. Vance!
David held up his hand firmly, demanding absolute silence from both women in the room.
He looked torn between his glamorous new wife and the housekeeper who had served his family faithfully.
The moment of truth had finally arrived, and the confrontation was about to explode into the open.