Chapter 4
Thomas had watched battlefield footage before.
He had reviewed incident recordings, training failures, security breaches, convoy angles, and body-camera clips from men who were trying not to sound afraid.
He thought he understood what it meant to look at evidence.
He was wrong.
Nothing compared to watching his daughter in grainy nursery footage, one hand over her pregnant belly, backing away from the man who promised to love her.
The phone screen was small.
The angle distant.
The details restrained.
But the story was clear.
Gero’s silhouette blocking the doorway.
Beate retreating toward the crib.
The belt in his hand.
The first violent motion.
Thomas stopped breathing.
He wanted to throw the phone.
He wanted to drive to Gero’s house and forget every rule he had lived by.
Instead, he pressed his thumb against the side of the device until the rage became shape.
Pause.
Duplicate.
Export.
Preserve.
He had taught soldiers that evidence must survive emotion.
Now he had to obey his own lesson.
Detective Sarah Brenner arrived while the file was uploading to the protected archive. She wore a navy suit, badge at her belt, blonde hair pulled back, face already serious from Thomas’s phone call.
She did not ask Beate to repeat everything immediately.
That earned Thomas’s respect.
She asked Dr. Richter about medical priorities first.
Then she asked Beate if she consented to evidence preservation.
Beate looked at Thomas.
He did not answer for her.
That mattered.
Gero had trained her to believe every decision would be taken from her. Thomas refused to become another person holding her life in his hands without permission.
Beate swallowed.
“Yes.”
Only then did Thomas hand the phone toward Brenner.
“The backup is cloud-synced,” he said. “The local device may be compromised. I have the original export time.”
Detective Brenner nodded.
“Good.”
Good.
Such a small word.
But Beate heard it and cried again.
Not because the footage was good.
Because someone believed it was real before Gero could explain it away.
Dr. Richter checked the baby’s heartbeat while Thomas kept his arm around Beate.
The sound filled the room.
Fast.
Alive.
Beate covered her mouth.
Thomas looked down, fury trembling behind his eyes.
May you like
Then Gero called.
Read Chapter 5 👉 Because Gero’s call came before anyone could reach him, and his first words proved he still believed fear owned the room.
