Chapter 170
Jonathan’s POV
Apartment – Late at night
The message was staring back at us.
We know the Blue Heart is with you.
I read it twice to see if I could figure out who sent it,
But I couldn’t make a tone out of the message to pinpoint who.
“Nicky?” I asked.
“When did you get this message p>
“Right now,” she said.
“Maybe a minute back p>
My expression hardened, but I didn’t panic as I didn’t want Veronica and the kids to worry.
“The Blue Heart p>
“It’s safe,” she said.
“I just checked, but the box was moved p>
I immediately reached for my phone to check on the CCTV footage.
Nothing seemed to seem disturbing.
The safe wasn’t touched or forced into.
The main door was locked all the time.
I checked the apartment, no door or window lock was broken.
Nor any damaged equipment as I came back.
Veronica watched me carefully as I came back.
“Well?” She asked cautiously.
“Nothing p>
I sat exhaling.
“If someone physically entered our room, there has to be some evidence p>
“I know,” I replied.
“But there isn’t p>
And that made me more concerned than ever.
“Whoever did this didn’t come from the front, he…she must have another access p>
Veronica saw me grab my phone again.
“Who’re you calling p>
“John,” I said.
“He’s the only one who can tell p>
John arrived within minutes along with his equipment and began immediately.
He logged into the apartment’s security system.
“This is the message,” I said, showing him Veronica’s phone.
“I just checked the box, it was moved, I can vow for that,” Veronica said.
“The message is not as serious as the box moving,” I said.
John nodded, agreeing.
“Don’t worry,” he said.
John began by accessing the camera connections of the apartment.
He checked the alarm activity which was none.
The electronic locks weren’t tempered with.
Overall everything appeared normal.
“Wait a minute,” John said, stopping.
My pulse started to beat faster as I realized he got something.
I saw him pull some camera logs.
“There seems to be a brief lost connection here,” He said as he leaned into the screen.
“They are a few minutes, but they are missing p>
We both came closer to him.
“It’s not a system-wide failure p>
“Just one camera, the room one p>
“The time??” He said tapping at his laptop.
“The timing is exactly when you both are always out of the room p>
“Seems like this person has been keeping tabs on this camera p>
“Wait a minute,” he said.
I saw John checking the exact period.
“The person logged out exactly as Veronica stepped into the room p>
I looked towards John as I realized no one had physically broken in which was worse.
As someone was accessing the camera of the room, and to think at times Veronica is alone in the room.
“Has the p>
“Don’t worry,” John cut my words midway.
“It’s only accessed when you both were out p>
“If I’m not wrong, because of his accessing the camera would move p>
“So, you would have known p>
“Over all,” John said.
“Someone didn’t want to watch you both p>
John reconstructed the video footage.
“There’s no forced entry p>
“Did you check p>
Again John cut my words.
“Jonathan, no one came so nothing would be missing p>
“The box is moved,” I said.
“Yes, that,” John said, smiling.
“It was Joshua’s ball,” he said, showing us the footage.
It seemed his ball hit the painting that caused a vibration on the vault door causing the box to move.
“So I got worried over nothing?” Veronica said, surprised.
“Not nothing,” John said.
“Had you not, we wouldn’t have known someone is accessing the room camera p>
“So, yes,” he continued. “There is a danger p>
“Is the Blue Heart safe?” He asked again.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Nicky just locked it in p>
“This also means they weren’t trying to steal it p>
John and Veronica looked at me as neither of them spoke for a moment.
“It’s simple,” I explained.
“If they wanted to steal it p>
“They would have by now p>
“Instead, whoever it was,” I continued.
“Only infiltrated into the system to confirm if the Blue Heart was here or not p>
“The message came right after Veronica entered the room p>
“This means he…she saw Veronica open the vault accomplishing their work…knowing where the Blue Heart is p>
As I stopped, I felt a cold weight settle inside of my chest.
We weren’t attacked.
We were being located,
Or rather the Blue Heart was p>
“They confirmed what they wanted to know p>
“Yeah,” John said.
“Their intrusion is damn sophisticated p>
“They didn’t disconnect the camera, and come here p>
“They just briefly accessed the camera, took a watch, and concealed their activity from you p>
“Let me see John typed away on his keyboard.
“A week after you gave Veronica the Blue Heart at the auction p>
“What?” we both said in unison.
“They began accessing your security a week after you bought the Blue Heart,” John said.
“And they’re using private servers p>
“Encrypted connections p>
“Like those used with corporate infrastructure type p>
I watched silently as I noticed he found something else.
“Wait a minute,” he said.
“I know this network p>
“Is he someone we know p>
“Not someone as in a person p>
“But a corporate network and it’s none other than Alex Vale’s company p>
My expression changed the moment he mentioned Alex’s name.
“How dare he p>
“Jonathan, relax,” John said, cutting my words.
“Relax??” I was shocked.
“Jonathan, this isn’t enough to accuse him p>
“He’ll clearly say someone might have used a compromised server, or hidden their identity considering he wants to sign a partnership with Harmon Designs p>
I nodded as I understood what he wanted to tell.
“How close are we p>
“Not close to accuse p>
I remembered his interest in Veronica,
His questions, him knowing so much about art.
His insistence on wanting a partnership with Harmon Designs.
“He wasn’t looking for a business relationship p>
I went over and picked the contract folder.
I noticed the restrictive clauses, his unusual interest in Harmon Designs,
His knowledge in Veronica,
His interest in her Harmon family.
And now the Blue Heart.
Every piece began to fall in place.
The partnership would give Alex legitimate reasons to access Harmon Designs material, and I think he thinks Blue Heart is one of them.
“Jonathan,” John said.
“This means he now knows you have the Blue Heart p>
My jaws tightened as I looked towards Veronica.
For the first time I regretted bringing the Blue Heart home.
I thought if it was close to me, I could protect it.
But I only endangered Veronica’s safety.
The Blue Heart is my mother’s legacy.
Veronica is my life.
“Then it can’t stay here p>
Both looked at me curiously.
I walked over to the safe and removed the box with the Blue Heart in it.
I opened the box one time and made sure it was safe.
I could see the worry on Veronica’s face as I knew she knew how much this gemstone meant to me.
But not entirely.
She knew it belonged to my mother.
She doesn’t know it survived the destruction that killed my maternal family.
“John,” I said as I handed him the box.
“Take it p>
“Where will I take it p>
“The Federal safe p>
“The River family wealth is in that box p>
I knew the federal safe was the only place it would be safe in.
John left for the Federal office and took the Blue Heart with him.
A drop of tear fell on my hand as I noticed tears were rolling down from Veronica’s cheeks.
“Nicky,” I put my arm around her.
“It’s only gone for a while p>
“Let’s see what he’ll do now when he finds out the Blue Heart is no longer here p>